How to edit Rust convars: hostname, world size, seed and max players

Your Rust server's name, world size, seed, and player cap are controlled by convars, which you set in Startup settings or the server.cfg file in your GuavaHost control panel.

3 min read · Updated Sep 24, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team

Convars (console variables) are the settings that tell Rust how to run. You can change the important ones without touching a single file.

Two ways to change settings

• Startup settings on your server's Settings tab is the easy route. It exposes the core settings as simple fields, and the panel rebuilds your start command for you.
• The server.cfg file and the Console tab are the advanced route, giving you access to every convar Rust supports.

Editing Startup settings

1. Sign in at customer.guavahost.com, open My servers and click Manage on your Rust server.
2. Open the Settings tab and scroll to Startup settings.
3. Edit the fields you want. Common ones include Hostname (your server name), World Size, Seed, Max Players, Description, Server URL and Server Image.
4. Click Save next to each field you change. Fields listed under Set by GuavaHost are locked to keep your server working with your plan.
5. Restart the server with Restart at the top of the page so the new values load.

Browser tags have their own Server tags card on the same Settings tab. Add your wipe schedule and region there, click Save changes, then restart.

Common Rust convars

If you prefer to set things by hand, these are the ones you will use most:

• server.hostname sets the name shown in the server browser
• server.description is the blurb on your server info page
• server.worldsize sets the map size, usually between 1000 and 6000 (around 3500 to 4000 is typical)
• server.seed picks the map layout
• server.maxplayers sets the player cap
• server.headerimage is the banner image URL
• server.url links to your website or Discord
• server.tags adds browser tags like weekly or vanilla

Editing server.cfg directly

Your config lives in server/<identity>/cfg/server.cfg, where <identity> is your server's identity folder (usually rust). The easiest place to edit it is Server properties under Rust tools in the server menu. It shows whichever of server.cfg (Server console settings) and serverauto.cfg (Server console settings (auto-saved)) exist on your server, as plain text with a Save changes button. You can also open the file on the Files tab.

A fresh server has no server.cfg until someone creates it, and the Files page has no new file button. Make a text file called server.cfg on your computer, open the server/rust/cfg folder on the Files tab and use Upload files, or create it over SFTP. Rust rewrites serverauto.cfg itself every time the server stops, so edit that one only while the server is stopped.

You can also set a convar live in the Console and make it permanent by running:

server.writecfg

That writes your current settings back to server.cfg so they survive a restart.

Changing world size or seed

Changing server.worldsize or server.seed generates a brand new map on the next restart, which clears everything built in the world just like a map wipe. Because of that, take a backup on the Backups page first if the server is live. For a clean, scheduled way to roll the seed and size, use the built-in GuavaHost Rust Wiper on your server's Wipes page, which handles the change and can announce it to your Discord. Also keep in mind that a larger world size uses more RAM, so raise it gradually and watch your memory.

Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.

• rust
• config
• convars
• startup
• server-cfg

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