Every object in Rust is an entity: walls, foundations, loot crates, dropped items, sleeping bags, stashes, even corpses. By Day 15 of a monthly wipe, a popular server can have millions of entities, and performance tanks.
Understanding Entity Growth
| Wipe Day | Typical Entity Count (100 pop) | TPS Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 50,000-100,000 | None |
| Day 3 | 200,000-400,000 | Minimal |
| Day 7 | 500,000-800,000 | Noticeable |
| Day 14 | 1,000,000-1,500,000 | Significant |
| Day 30 | 2,000,000+ | Severe |
Most entities come from player structures. A single stone 2x2 base has roughly 30-40 entities. A large compound with external walls, turrets, and multiple floors can exceed 2,000 entities.
Decay Configuration
Decay is your best friend for entity management. When players stop maintaining their base (by not opening doors), decay destroys the structure over time.
Recommended decay settings for a monthly wipe:
decay.scale 1.0
decay.tick 600
decay.scale 1.0is default decay speed. Lowering it extends structure lifetime but makes entity accumulation worse.decay.tick 600controls how often decay is calculated (in seconds). Default is 600. Don't change this unless you have good reason.
Plugin Solutions
Rust Entity Cleanup
Install a plugin that automatically removes unnecessary entities:
oxide.load EntityCleanup
Configure it to remove:
- Dropped items older than 5 minutes
- Corpses older than 10 minutes
- Small stashes not accessed in 48 hours
- Arrows and projectiles as quickly as possible
Building Grade Limits
Limit how many building blocks a player can place:
| Player Type | Suggested Limit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Solo | 1,500 entities | Prevents castle building |
| Small group (2-3) | 3,000 entities | Reasonable compound |
| Large group (4-8) | 5,000 entities | Large base |
| Clan (8+) | 8,000 entities | Massive compound |
Plugins like RemoverTool and EntityLimit let you enforce these caps. Players who hit the limit can't place new objects until they remove old ones.
Server Configuration
Stability Checks
server.stability true
Keep stability enabled. It ensures buildings that lose their structural support collapse, removing entities naturally. Servers that disable stability end up with floating bases that never decay.
AI and Entity Processing
ai.think true
ai.move true
spawn.min_rate 0.3
spawn.max_rate 1.0
Reducing NPC spawn rates means fewer AI entities consuming server resources. Most players won't notice slightly fewer animals and scientists, but your server will run noticeably smoother.
Monitoring Entity Count
Check your entity count with:
global.ent count
Watch for sudden spikes. A player using a dupe exploit can add thousands of entities in minutes. If you see entity count jump by 50,000+ in an hour, investigate immediately.
Hardware Impact
Entity processing is CPU-bound and benefits directly from single-thread performance. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D processes entity updates faster than any other available CPU, buying you extra days before performance degrades.
On budget hardware, a 100-pop server hits unplayable performance around Day 10-14. On the 7950X3D, the same server stays smooth through Day 20-25 with proper entity management.
Good entity management combined with good hardware means your monthly wipe actually lasts a full month.
