Rust Wipe Schedules: Weekly, Biweekly, and Monthly Strategies

Wipe schedules define your server's rhythm. The right schedule keeps players engaged. The wrong one drives them to competitors. Here's how to choose.

Understanding Wipe Types

Map Wipe

Deletes the world map - all buildings, deployables, and terrain modifications are removed. Players keep their blueprints, level, and learned items.

Blueprint Wipe (BP Wipe)

Resets player blueprints and learned items. Players start from scratch on the tech tree. Usually done alongside a map wipe for a fully fresh start.

Forced Wipe

Facepunch (Rust's developer) forces a map wipe on the first Thursday of every month with Rust's monthly update. All servers must wipe. This is non-optional.

Choosing Your Schedule

Weekly Wipe (Every Thursday)

Pros:

• Constant fresh-start energy
• Smaller bases, faster PvP
• Players don't need to commit long-term
• Lower entity count = better performance

Cons:

• Players who can only play weekends get one day of progression
• Large group builds are impossible
• Casual players feel rushed
• Higher administrative overhead

Best for: Competitive PvP servers, solo/duo/trio servers

Biweekly Wipe (Every Other Thursday)

Pros:

• Good balance of fresh starts and progression
• Enough time for meaningful bases without sprawl
• Matches Facepunch's forced wipe rhythm
• Most popular schedule in the Rust community

Cons:

• Second week can feel stale for sweaty players
• Server pop often drops significantly in week two
• Entity buildup more noticeable than weekly

Best for: Community servers, group servers, most server types

Monthly Wipe (First Thursday)

Pros:

• Maximum progression time
• Epic bases and mega projects
• Casual-friendly - players have weeks to progress
• Only wipes when Facepunch forces it

Cons:

• Entity count becomes a major problem
• Server performance degrades over the month
• Population drops after week two
• Dominant groups become untouchable

Best for: PvE servers, roleplay servers, heavy modded servers

BP Wipe Frequency

Blueprint wipes should happen less frequently than map wipes:

| Map Wipe | BP Wipe Recommendation | |----------|----------------------| | Weekly | Monthly (every 4th wipe) | | Biweekly | Monthly (every 2nd wipe) | | Monthly | Every other month or quarterly |

Frequent BP wipes frustrate players who invest time learning blueprints. But never wiping BPs creates a massive advantage for veterans over new players.

Implementing Automated Wipes

Using Oxide Plugins

AutoWipe plugin handles scheduling automatically:

{
  "WipeDay": "Thursday",
  "WipeTime": "14:00",
  "WipeInterval": 7,
  "WipeBlueprints": false,
  "PreWipeWarning": 30
}

Using Server Startup Parameters

Set wipe behavior in your startup command:

+server.seed RANDOM
+server.worldsize 4250

Using +server.seed RANDOM generates a new seed each restart, effectively creating a new map.

Manual Wipe Process

1. Announce wipe time to your community (Discord, in-game broadcasts)
2. At wipe time: stop the server
3. Delete map files: *.sav, *.sav.1, *.map in the server directory
4. For BP wipe: also delete *.db player data files
5. Update server seed if desired
6. Start the server

Wipe Day Performance

Wipe day is the heaviest load your server will face:

• Maximum concurrent players (everyone wants to join fresh)
• Massive world generation as players spread out
• Concentrated PvP near monuments

On Space-Node's Rust hosting, wipe days run smooth thanks to the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and NVMe SSD. The CPU handles the generation load while SSD eliminates I/O bottlenecks during the initial terrain creation surge.

Community Expectations

Communicate your wipe schedule clearly:

• Put it in the server name: "[US] MyServer | Biweekly | BP Wipe Monthly"
• Post on your Discord server
• Use in-game broadcasts before wipe day
• Stick to your schedule - inconsistency drives players away more than any other factor