How to Make a Rust PvE Server: TruePVE and Server Settings

Rust is a PvP game with no PvE mode in its menus, so a Rust PvE server is one where the owner has turned player-versus-player damage off. There are two ways to do that. The built-in server.pve convar is one line and very blunt. The TruePVE plugin on Oxide or Carbon is what most PvE communities actually run, because you decide exactly what can damage what.

This guide sets up both, then covers the server-side settings that make PvE worth playing: the browser tag, decay, gather rates and PvP zones. The plugin details come from TruePVE's own source code (version 2.4.4, September 2026), and the panel steps match the Startup tab on GameServerKings Rust servers.

What Makes a Rust Server PvE

Nothing in Facepunch's game modes does it. The server.gamemode convar offers vanilla, softcore, hardcore, primitive and a few test modes. None of them switch PvP off. Softcore only takes 25% off PvP damage and keeps some of your loot on death. So "PvE" on Rust always means one of these:

Both need a server you control. You can't make someone else's server PvE.

Option 1: The Built-in server.pve Convar

Add it to server.cfg so it survives restarts. On a GameServerKings server that file is server/myserver/cfg/server.cfg. Open it from the File Manager tab:

server.pve true

Or put +server.pve true in the Additional Arguments field on the Startup tab. Restart and the server shows the PvE tag in the browser: Facepunch's tag documentation says "server.pve will automatically apply the PvE tag."

Beyond the tag, Facepunch doesn't document exactly what server.pve changes in combat, and it gives you none of the control a real PvE ruleset needs: no exceptions for raiding events, NPCs or zones.

That's fine for a few friends who agree not to shoot each other. For a public server, you need the plugin.

Option 2: TruePVE on Oxide or Carbon

True PVE by nivex is free on uMod and still actively updated (2.4.4 released 10 September 2026). It hooks every damage event and checks it against a ruleset, so you get rules like "players cannot hurt players" and "npcs can hurt players" instead of one on/off switch.

1. Turn server.pve off

It sounds backwards, but TruePVE wants the engine in normal PvP mode. If server.pve is on when it loads, it logs:

ConVar server.pve is TRUE!  TruePVE is designed for PVP mode, and may cause unexpected behavior in PVE mode.

Remove server.pve true from server.cfg and Additional Arguments, or set it to false.

2. Install a modding framework

TruePVE is an Oxide plugin, and Carbon runs Oxide plugins too. On our panel, open Startup, set Modding Framework to oxide or carbon, and restart. How to install Oxide for Rust and How to install Carbon for Rust have the full steps and the checks that show it loaded.

3. Add the plugin

Download TruePVE.cs from its uMod page and upload it with the File Manager:

The framework picks up new plugins on its own. You don't need to restart. Once it has loaded, players can no longer hurt each other.

4. Test it with two accounts

Before you advertise PvE, have a second player try to shoot you, and try to damage a wall and a door they own. Also test a turret or trap you placed with them standing in front of it. All of that should do nothing.

What TruePVE Blocks Out of the Box

The default ruleset (named default) is a list of plain-English rules. Anything no rule allows is blocked, because each ruleset has defaultAllowDamage set to false. That's why bases can't be raided without you writing a single line. The rules and flags that matter most:

There is much more in the file (vehicles, helicopters, sleepers, tugboats), and TruePVE adds to it with every update. If you want to start again, tpve.def loads the default configuration and data.

Tuning the Rules

A ruleset in TruePVE.json looks like this. The top-level sections are Default RuleSet, Mappings, Schedule, RuleSets and Entity Groups:

"RuleSets": [
  {
    "name": "default",
    "enabled": true,
    "defaultAllowDamage": false,
    "flags": "AuthorizedFarmableDamage, HopperCannotTargetEnemyLoot, HumanNPCDamage, LockedBoxesImmortal, LockedDoorsImmortal, PlayerSamSitesIgnorePlayers, TrapsIgnorePlayers, TurretsIgnorePlayers",
    "rules": [
      "anything can hurt players",
      "players cannot hurt players",
      "npcs can hurt players"
    ]
  }
]

Edit it through the File Manager, then reload the plugin (oxide.reload TruePVE on Oxide). Tools worth knowing:

Two options in the same file are worth knowing on a PvE map: Allow PVP Damage In Deep Sea and Allow Raiding In Deep Sea. Both are off by default.

Adding PvP Zones with Zone Manager

Plenty of PvE servers keep one contested spot, like a monument, an arena or an event area. Zone Manager draws the zone, and TruePVE decides what the rules are inside it:

1. Install Zone Manager, stand where you want the zone and create it (/zone_add, then /zone_edit and /zone_flags). Rust Plugins: The Best Oxide & Carbon Plugins has the permissions and flags.
2. Stand inside the zone and run tpve map. With no arguments, it maps the zone you're standing in to exclude, and TruePVE stops protecting players there, so it becomes a PvP zone.
3. To give the zone its own ruleset instead, run tpve map <zoneID> <rulesetName>. The target has to be an existing ruleset or exclude. tpve unmap (standing in the zone) or tpve unmap <zoneID> removes the mapping. Use the space form, tpve map, when you pass arguments. The dotted tpve.map only works with none.

Using the map commands needs the truepve.canmap permission (Oxide permissions 101).

Server Settings That Make PvE Worth Playing

Taking away PvP removes Rust's main source of loss. These settings are what keep a PvE server from being empty or boring by week two.

Tell players it's PvE

With TruePVE, server.pve is off, so the browser tag isn't added for you. Put pve in the Server Tags field on the Startup tab. It's comma-separated, for example pve,monthly,EU. Don't put two tags from the same group, like two wipe schedules. Facepunch warns that breaks tag search and your server stops showing up for those filters.

Ease off decay

TruePVE handles damage between players, not decay. Upkeep still runs, and casual PvE players who log off for a week come back to a ruin. Two vanilla convars, both set in server/myserver/cfg/server.cfg:

decay.scale 0.5
decay.upkeep_period_minutes 2880

decay.scale is a decay multiplier (default 1; lower means slower decay). decay.upkeep_period_minutes is how long one upkeep payment lasts (default 1440, so 24 hours). Doubling it halves the upkeep cost.

Reduce the grind

PvE players stay for building and progression, so most PvE servers raise rates:

• Gather rates: GatherManager
• Stack sizes: StackSizeController
• Starter and VIP kits: Rust kits
• Homes and teleports: NTeleportation. There are no raids to block, so it can be generous
• Something to fight: Raidable Bases gives PvE players NPC bases to raid instead of each other

Don't change game mode mid-wipe

If you're also changing server.gamemode, do it at a wipe. Facepunch warns that switching mid-wipe "will reset all players and their inventory with no possibility to revert this". When Is the Next Rust Wipe? has the schedule, and Setting up Automatic Schedules can automate the restarts.

FAQ

Is there a PvE mode in Rust?

There's no menu option and no PvE game mode. The closest built-in setting is the server.pve convar, which marks the server as PvE and reflects player damage rather than blocking it. Real PvE servers use a plugin such as TruePVE on Oxide or Carbon.

Should I use server.pve with TruePVE?

No. Keep server.pve off. TruePVE warns at startup that it "is designed for PVP mode, and may cause unexpected behavior in PVE mode" when the convar is on. Add the pve server tag yourself instead.

Can players still raid on a TruePVE server?

Not each other's bases, with the default rules. Damage no rule allows is blocked, locked doors and boxes are immortal, and traps and turrets ignore players. If you want raiding, give it NPC bases with Raidable Bases, or use a Zone Manager zone mapped to a ruleset that allows it.

Does TruePVE work on Carbon?

Yes. Carbon runs Oxide plugins. Put TruePVE.cs in carbon/plugins/, and the config appears in carbon/configs/.

Can I have PvP in one part of a PvE map?

Yes. Draw the area with Zone Manager, then run tpve map while standing in it to exclude it from TruePVE's protection.

Do I need a new server to switch to PvE?

No. TruePVE loads on a running server with no wipe. A wipe is still the fair moment to switch, because bases built for PvP won't make sense once raiding stops.

To set a server up from scratch first, see How to Make a Rust Server.

Made with 💜 by GameServerKings