Understanding Wipe Types
Rust servers use two types of wipes: map wipes (resets the world but keeps blueprints) and full wipes (resets everything including blueprints). Most servers run weekly or bi-weekly map wipes with monthly blueprint wipes to keep gameplay fresh. The official Rust update schedule is the first Thursday of each month — this is when Facepunch releases updates and forces all servers to wipe.
Installing Automated Wipe Plugins
From your Oxide plugin manager, install 'AutomaticWipe' or 'RustWipeHelper'. These plugins handle the entire wipe process: sending countdown warnings in chat, saving player data, stopping the server, deleting map files, updating Oxide, and restarting. Configure the wipe schedule in the plugin config: set the day of week, time, and wipe type. Test with a manual trigger before scheduling automated wipes.
Configuring Wipe Schedules in the Panel
Our control panel has built-in scheduled tasks for wipe automation. Create a new schedule: set the trigger time (e.g., Thursday 19:00 UTC), add a 'Send Console Command' step with 'server.save', add a 30-second delay, then add a 'Restart Server' step. Enable the 'Run wipe script before restart' option and paste your wipe command. The panel handles the entire sequence — no external cron jobs needed.
Player Notification System
Keep your community informed about upcoming wipes. Configure in-game chat announcements starting 1 hour before the wipe, with messages at 60, 30, 15, 10, 5, and 1 minute intervals. Connect Discord webhooks to automatically post wipe schedules and countdown reminders to your community server. Players appreciate knowing exactly when the wipe happens so they can plan their play sessions.
Post-Wipe Checklist
After the automated wipe completes, verify the server is online by checking the control panel. Confirm the new map seed generated correctly. Check that all plugins loaded without errors in the console. Verify Oxide updated to the latest version. Test joining the server yourself to ensure a clean spawn. If blueprints were preserved, confirm players can see their learned blueprints. Enable or disable any event-specific plugins for the new wipe cycle.
Troubleshooting Failed Wipes
If the automated wipe fails, check the control panel logs. Common issues include: insufficient disk space for the new map generation (ensure at least 2 GB free), corrupted save files (delete the .sav files manually), outdated Oxide version incompatible with the latest Rust update (update Oxide from the Plugin Manager), or a plugin conflict preventing the server from restarting (disable all plugins and re-enable one by one).
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