Wipe day is the Super Bowl of Rust server hosting. It's your busiest hour, highest player count, and the moment where performance problems are most visible. Here's your complete checklist.
48 Hours Before Wipe
- [ ] Test the new seed (if changing): Load on a test server, fly around, verify monuments
- [ ] Update server software: Apply any Rust updates
- [ ] Update Oxide: Download latest Oxide release
- [ ] Update plugins: Check umod.org for plugin updates, especially critical ones
- [ ] Test plugin compatibility: Start the test server with updated plugins, verify no errors
- [ ] Announce wipe time: Discord, server description, in-game broadcasts
1 Hour Before Wipe
- [ ] Final backup: Full server backup including map, player data, and Oxide files
- [ ] In-game warning: Broadcast countdown messages every 15 minutes
- [ ] Prepare new map file: If using custom map, have it uploaded and ready
- [ ] Pre-write server.cfg changes: Any configuration changes ready to apply
Wipe Execution
Standard Map Wipe
# Stop the server
# Delete map and save files
rm -f server/my_server/*.sav
rm -f server/my_server/*.sav.*
rm -f server/my_server/*.map
# If changing seed, update startup parameters
# Start the server
Full Wipe (Map + Blueprints)
# Stop the server
rm -f server/my_server/*.sav
rm -f server/my_server/*.sav.*
rm -f server/my_server/*.map
rm -f server/my_server/*.db # Blueprint data
# Start the server
Plugin Data Wipe (Optional)
Some plugins maintain per-wipe data that should be reset:
- Economy balances
- Home locations
- Statistics/leaderboards
Check which plugins in oxide/data/ contain wipe-specific data.
First 30 Minutes After Wipe
This is your critical window. Maximum players, fresh world generation, and peak resource usage.
Monitor
- [ ] Server FPS: Should be 25-30 within 5 minutes of start
- [ ] Console errors: Watch for Oxide plugin errors, null references
- [ ] Player count: Verify players can connect (check for connection issues)
- [ ] Memory usage: Fresh map should start at 4-6GB
Common Day-One Issues
Server FPS low immediately after wipe:
- World is generating terrain and spawns. Normal for first 10-15 minutes.
- If FPS stays low after 15 minutes with few players, check plugins.
Players can't connect:
- Verify port forwarding and firewall rules
- Check if the server process is actually running
- Restart if startup was incomplete
Plugin errors on fresh data:
- Some plugins expect data files that were deleted during wipe
- Check console for null reference exceptions
- Reload affected plugins:
oxide.reload PluginName
Peak Hour Management (First 2-4 Hours)
- Monitor server FPS every 30 minutes
- Watch entity count growth rate
- Be available on Discord for player reports
- Have a moderator online to handle rule violations
- Don't make configuration changes unless something is broken
Hardware Demands
Wipe day is when your hardware investment pays off. On Space-Node Rust hosting:
- Ryzen 9 7950X3D handles the concurrent world generation and player actions without bogging down
- DDR5 memory keeps up with rapid entity creation as players spread across the fresh map
- NVMe SSD manages the world generation I/O and frequent early-game saves
Post-Wipe (24-48 Hours)
After the rush settles:
- [ ] Review server logs for errors or security issues
- [ ] Check entity count growth rate (plot it over the first 24 hours)
- [ ] Verify all plugins are functioning correctly
- [ ] Read community feedback on Discord
- [ ] Document any issues for next wipe
Wipe day gets easier every time you do it. Build a checklist, follow it consistently, and adjust based on what you learn.
