How to Quickly Find and Join Your Rust Server
This guide will show you the different methods you can use to quickly find and join your Rust server.
Direct Connect Command
By far the quickest and easiest method, you can connect to your server directly by issuing a command in the in-game Console.
To open the Console, press the F1 key from the Rust Main Menu. A text bar will appear near the bottom of the screen where you will issue the command: client.connect IP:QueryPort. It will look something like this: client.connect 000.000.00.00:28016
You will then start to be transported to your server. Press the F1 key again to close the Console.
Steam Favorites
Instead of waiting for your server to appear in the in-game listings in the title screen, another easy method is to simply add your Rust server as a "favorite" server in Steam.
In the upper left corner of Steam, click on the word "View" across the top of the screen. A drop down menu will appear, then click on " Game Servers" on that menu.
A window will appear, select the "Favorites" tab, then click on the Plus "+" button.
In the small box that appears, enter your IP address. Make sure you include the query port information like so: 000.000.00.00:28016
The IP address of your Rust server will be shown on the "Overview" tab of the Nodecraft control panel.
The Server Information box is auto-filled, so the Game Server Port displayed is not the Query Port, which you use to join the server.
When added correctly, it will show in the "Favorites" tab of the "Servers" window with the correct server name.
Now, you can join your server!
From the main menu of Rust, click on "Play Game." Then click on the "Favorited" tab of the server listings, and you will see the server that you just added listed there.
Server Listings
You can also join your server directly from the server listings. This method can be a bit slower, as Facepunch Studios's server listings has a process that it goes through to make sure the server meets specific criteria before they will be displayed in the listings. Sometimes if you have a server in your Favorites, it won't "double list" the server for you on your client in the other categories.
Note: Rust will only list 5,000 servers at a time, yours may not appear right away!
To make it much easier to find your server, be sure to give your server a unique name in the Game Settings tab of your NodePanel. Keep in mind that names that are too long or have some special characters may not work and let the server show in the listings.
Click on "Play Game" in the main menu of the game. Depending on if your server has uMod installed or not, you'll look in either the "Community" or "Modded" sections. Our server doesn't have uMod installed, so ours will show in "Community." The servers are sorted by ping, so to make it a bit faster to find our server, we'll use the search bar.
Have fun playing on your server! If you have any issues connecting to your Nodecraft Rust server with any of these methods, please reach out to us in Support!
