Rust Server Not Showing in Server List: Fixes for 2026

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Rust server not showing in the server list? Check Show Empty, the UDP query port, encryption 2, the -insecure flag, the Modded tab and the player's filters.

Rust logo in front of a dark forest and a large radar dish

Your Rust server is running and you can join it with connect in the F1 console, yet it is missing from the in-game server list, or it turns up under Modded while you looked in Community. The browser only lists a server that answers on its query port, meets Facepunch's security rules and gets past the player's filters. Below are the causes, cheapest check first, verified on 31 October 2026 against Facepunch's wiki, devblogs and guidelines and the Oxide and Carbon documentation.

Quick answer: If your Rust server is not showing in the server list, wait until the console prints Server startup complete, then search for the server's name with Show Empty switched on: the Community and Modded tabs hide empty servers by default. With Oxide or Carbon installed, look under Modded, because both mark the server as modded unless you change their setting. Still missing? Open the UDP query port (if you never set it, the higher of the game and RCON ports plus 1, so 28017 next to 28015 and 28016), take -insecure out of the start line and keep server.encryption at 2, which Facepunch has required for the browser since 4 September 2025.

The Causes at a Glance

What you seeCause to checkWhere to look
Missing for a few minutes after a startThe server is still startingStep 1
New server, nobody on it yetEmpty servers are hidden by defaultStep 2
Missing for one friend onlyTheir filters, a new account, PremiumStep 3
Missing for everyone, connect worksQuery port closed or wrongStep 4
Missing for everyone, query port test passes-insecure or encryption below 2Step 5
Under Modded instead of CommunityOxide or Carbon sets the modded flagCommunity section
Gone after a forced updateFramework and Rust build out of stepUpdate section
Still missing after all of thatConflicting tags or a delistingLast section

Step 1: Let the Server Finish Starting

Facepunch's server guide says a server takes several minutes to start fully and tells you to wait for Server startup complete in the console. Until that line appears, nothing answers the browser. Facepunch publishes no delay for the list itself, so once the line is there, give it a few minutes and refresh before you change settings. If the line never comes, read the errors above it: a server that crashes or hangs during startup cannot be listed.

Step 2: Search for It With Show Empty On

Open the server browser, pick the Community or Modded tab, search for a distinctive word from your server name and switch on Show Empty. Since a March 2021 update, Facepunch hides empty servers by default everywhere except the Official, Friends, History and Favorites tabs, and toggling Show Empty forces a refresh of the Community and Modded tabs. A new server with nobody on it is invisible to everyone who has not switched that filter on, you included. In November 2024 Facepunch gave the same tip to players whose favourite Facepunch server had dropped off their favourites list: use the search bar and, if needed, "enable the 'show empty servers' option".

Search for the name the server really uses: server.hostname in the server console prints it. Facepunch's guide says server.cfg in server/<identity>/cfg/ takes priority over the command line, so a name set there wins. On Linux, send console commands over RCON or from your panel; our Rust console commands list covers the RCON settings.

Step 3: Rule Out the Player's Own Filters

When only some players cannot find the server, look at their side first:

  • Tag filters. Since October 2022 a tag search returns servers that carry all of the selected tags, not any of them. A player filtering on EU and Weekly never sees a server tagged only weekly. Facepunch added a button that clears all filters.
  • New accounts. Facepunch's Tutorial Island page says brand-new players have the tutorial filter on the first time they open the browser, and that filter looks for the tut tag. A friend who just bought Rust has to switch it off. If your server suits the tutorial, enable it with server.tutorialEnabled true (it is off by default) and add tut to your tags.
  • Location. Since May 2026 the browser sorts servers by distance. It places the server by its IP address through MaxMind, and the player by an estimated location that the player can change in the country selection. If your server shows in the wrong country, Facepunch asks you to file a MaxMind data correction and to ask your host to make sure MaxMind uses its Geofeed.
  • Premium. With server.premium true your server is a Premium server, and Facepunch shows those only to players whose Rust Steam inventory meets a value threshold: $15 when Premium servers launched in March 2025, a figure Facepunch says may change. Set it to false if everyone should see the server.

Step 4: Open the Query Port

When nobody can find the server but connect works, check the query port. Facepunch's guide says server.queryport "is needed for your server to appear in the game's server browser list", that the query port and server.port are both UDP and both have to be open and accessible, and that they cannot be the same port.

If you never set server.queryport, the server uses the higher of server.port and rcon.port, plus 1. RCON defaults to the game port, so:

  • server.port 28015 with rcon.port 28016 gives query port 28017
  • server.port 28015 without rcon.port gives query port 28016

If a host assigned your ports, use the numbers it gave you.

Test from a PC outside the server's own network; for a home server, ask a friend. Since June 2023 Rust also accepts the query port in a connect command, so press F1 and try both, with your server's public IP:

connect 203.0.113.10:28015
connect 203.0.113.10:28017

If the first connects and the second does not, the game port is open and the query port is not. On a Linux VPS, check which UDP ports the server listens on and open both in UFW, plus any firewall in your provider's panel:

sudo ss -ulpn | grep RustDedicated
sudo ufw allow 28015/udp
sudo ufw allow 28017/udp

On Windows, in a Command Prompt run as administrator:

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Rust server UDP" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=28015,28017

At home, forward both ports to the server's LAN address as UDP; Facepunch advises against the router's "both" or "all" protocol option. Also check two settings that hide a server on purpose: a query port moved to an obscure number and blocked, as Facepunch's hidden server guide describes, and server.ip set to a LAN address, which keeps outside players out. By default the server listens on all addresses.

On our Rust server hosting the panel gives you file access and SFTP, so you can check server.cfg and oxide/oxide.config.json yourself. If the query port test fails, our support is online from 08:00 to 20:00 UTC by live chat, Discord and email.

Step 5: Run It Secure, With Encryption 2

Facepunch changed the rules in 2025. Its Harder Core devblog of 7 August 2025 replaced the server.secure convar with a -insecure startup parameter, and on 4 September 2025 Facepunch removed server.secure and started "requiring a minimum encryption level of 2 on servers that wish to be considered 'secure' and appear on the Rust Client server browser". Older guides that tell you to set server.secure are out of date. Check three things:

  1. Your start line has no -insecure.
  2. server.encryption is 2. That is the default, so look for a line that lowers it in the start line or in server.cfg. Type server.encryption in the server console to see the value in use.
  3. Restart the server after a change.

Do not confuse this with the Secure tag. Since March 2026 that optional tag marks servers that require TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot from every player (server.useServerWideRequiredSystemConfig), and a server does not need it to be listed.

Rust Server Not Showing in the Community List? Check the Modded Flag

Rust lists community servers in two tabs, Community and Modded, and both plugin frameworks put your server under Modded by default:

  • Oxide reads "Modded": true in the "Options" section of oxide/oxide.config.json (OxideConfig.cs). Set it to false and restart, and Oxide prints this warning at startup (RustCore.cs): "The server is currently listed under Community. Please be aware that Facepunch only allows admin tools (that do not affect gameplay) under the Community section".
  • Carbon has "IsModded": true in carbon/config.json, which in Carbon's words enables "the modded flag on the server, making the server to show up on the Modded Rust browser tab".

So a server with changed gather rates, kits, teleports or other gameplay plugins stays in Modded. Facepunch's server guidelines, last updated 15 July 2025, ask for servers that are "fairly labelled to players" and warn that breaking the guidelines "may result in delisting from the server browser". If your plugins are admin tools only, set the flag to false and restart. A server without Oxide or Carbon is listed under Community.

The reverse happens too: when a modded server suddenly shows under Community, check whether Oxide or Carbon is still installed, because an update can remove it.

After a Forced Update: Oxide or Carbon Out of Step

After a monthly or mandatory update, Rust and the framework have to match again:

  • Oxide's install guide: "For every server update by Facepunch, there is an Oxide update. Don't mismatch version of Oxide and version of servers."
  • The same guide warns that your start script must not run SteamCMD, and Facepunch's server guide says running SteamCMD in your start script "will always keep your files vanilla". That takes Oxide off the server on every restart, so your plugins stop running and the modded flag disappears.
  • When a major change such as a wipe day update lands, Carbon with SelfUpdating enabled "only self updates if you update to the latest Rust version" (Carbon auto updates), so update the game files first.

The order on update night: update Rust with SteamCMD (app 258550), install the Oxide or Carbon build made for the new Rust build, start the server and read the console until Server startup complete. Our Halloween update checklist walks through the full routine with the commands.

When It Still Does Not Show

If the query port answers, the server runs secure with encryption 2, and a search by name with Show Empty on still finds nothing, look at your tags and at Facepunch's rules:

  • Set tags with server.tags as comma separated values, for example server.tags weekly,vanilla,EU, and never two from the same group, such as monthly and weekly or two regions. Facepunch's tags page warns that this "will not work properly with search and cause your server to not show up for specific tag queries".
  • Facepunch's guidelines forbid calling your server official, blocking Facepunch DLC that players own and giving that DLC to players who do not. A breach can mean delisting, and in 2021 Facepunch said it removes servers "that are spamming, advertising, or lying to try and get ahead". The guidelines point general questions to Facepunch's support team.

FAQ

Why is my Rust server not showing in the server list? Check, in this order: the server has finished starting, the player has Show Empty on, you are looking in the right tab (Oxide and Carbon list it under Modded), the UDP query port is open, and the server runs without -insecure and with server.encryption 2, which Facepunch has required for the browser since September 2025.

Why does my Rust server not appear in the Community list? Oxide and Carbon mark servers as modded by default, so they show under Modded. Oxide's "Modded" and Carbon's "IsModded" setting changes that, but by Oxide's own warning, Facepunch only allows admin tools that do not affect gameplay under Community.

How long does it take for a new Rust server to show up? Facepunch gives no listing time. The server has to finish starting first, which Facepunch says takes several minutes. After Server startup complete, search for it by name with Show Empty on and refresh.

Which port does the Rust server list use? The query port, over UDP. Unless you set server.queryport, it is the higher of the game port and the RCON port plus 1, which is 28017 with the common 28015 and 28016. It has to be open and cannot be the same as the game port.

Do I still need server.secure true? No. Facepunch removed the server.secure convar on 4 September 2025. A server is secure unless it starts with -insecure, and it needs server.encryption 2 to appear in the browser.

My server shows for me but not for a friend. Why? Compare filters. You may have Show Empty on while they do not, a tag search only returns servers with every selected tag, brand-new players start with the tutorial filter on, and Premium servers are hidden from players below Facepunch's inventory threshold.

Sources

All opened on 31 October 2026: