Troubleshooting: Server Crashes and Performance Issues

## Server Crashes If your server keeps crashing or going offline, work through these steps in order. ## Step 1: Check the Console Output Go to the **Console** tab in your game panel and look for error messages. The error tells you what went wrong. Copy the error — you'll need it if you contact support. ## Step 2: Is It Update Day? Rust updates happen on the **first Thursday of every month** (forced wipe). After an update: - Oxide/uMod may stop working until a compatible version is released - Plugins may break and need updates - Update Oxide first, then update your plugins one by one Check umod.org for the latest Oxide version after each Rust update. ## Step 3: Disable Recently Added Plugins If the server was working before and started crashing after adding a new plugin: 1. Go to **Files** then oxide/plugins 2. Remove the last plugin you added (or rename it from .cs to .cs.bak) 3. Restart the server 4. If it stabilizes, the removed plugin was the problem ## Step 4: Check Disk Usage Rust generates large save files and logs over time. Check your disk usage in the panel header. If you're near the limit: - Delete old log files in the logs folder - Remove old backups you no longer need ## Step 5: Restart Regularly Rust servers accumulate memory usage over time. A daily restart during off-peak hours (when few players are online) helps keep things stable. You can schedule automatic restarts using an RCON tool like BattleMetrics. ## Step 6: Review Your Plugin List Some plugins use more resources than others — especially those that: - Scan all entities on the map frequently - Run on short timers (every few seconds) - Store large amounts of data If you have many plugins installed, try disabling ones you don't actively use. ## When to Contact Support Open a support ticket if: - The server crashes with **no plugins installed** - Crashes happen immediately on startup - You've tried the steps above and the issue persists Include in your ticket: - The console output / error message - What you changed recently (new plugins, settings, etc.) - Approximate time of the crash