Set your Rust server name, tags and description

Your server name, description, banner image and browser tags are what players see before they ever connect, and all four are convars you can set from your GuavaHost panel.

6 min read · Updated Oct 21, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team

In the Rust server browser you get a line of text, a flag, a player count and, if someone clicks you, a short blurb and a banner. That is the entire pitch. Getting it right is the difference between a server nobody opens and one people join.

The five settings that matter

These are convars (console variables, Rust's name for settings). You can set them in Startup settings on your server's Settings tab, which is the easy route, or in server.cfg. How to edit Rust convars covers both, including where the file lives and why a fresh server has no server.cfg until you make one.

After setting them live in the Console, run server.writecfg so they survive a restart.

Writing a hostname that works

The browser shows one line and cuts off whatever does not fit, and the width depends on the player's window, so assume less room than you think you have. Front-load the information people filter for.

A hostname that reads well usually has three parts, in this order: who you are, what the server is, and the wipe schedule.

server.hostname "GuavaHost EU | 2x Weekly | Solo/Duo"

What to put in, roughly in order of how much players care:

1. Region, if you have not already made it obvious. People want to know their ping before they click.
2. Rates or the core gimmick: 2x, Vanilla, Solo/Duo, No BPs.
3. Wipe day. Weekly or Thu Wipe earns its characters.
4. Your community name.

Keep it under roughly 60 characters and you will rarely get cut off. Leave out rows of symbols and emoji, which make the line harder to scan rather than easier, and anything that is not true.

The description

server.description is the paragraph players read once you have earned a click. It supports line breaks with \n, so you can lay it out:

server.description "2x gather, weekly Thursday wipe.\nSolo and duo only, enforced.\nBPs wipe monthly.\nDiscord: discord.gg/example"

Keep it short. A few hundred characters of plain information beats a wall of text, and very long descriptions get truncated. The things worth stating, because they are what players ask in Discord anyway:

• gather and craft rates, if you have changed them
• group limit, and whether you actually enforce it
• wipe schedule, including when blueprints wipe
• the handful of plugins that change how the server plays
• where to get help

Avoid pasting your entire rule list in here. Put the rules in your Discord and link it with server.url.

Banner image and URL

server.headerimage takes a direct link to an image file, meaning a URL that ends in the image itself rather than a link to a page showing it. Rust expects a banner at 512 by 256 pixels, so design for that ratio and keep the file small so it loads quickly in the browser. Host it somewhere stable: if the link dies, players see a blank space, and a free image host that expires takes your banner with it.

server.url is the link on your info panel. A Discord invite is the usual choice, because it is where new players will go with questions. Use a permanent invite rather than one that expires.

Tags, and which filters find you

server.tags is a comma-separated list of keywords. The Rust browser's filter sidebar reads them, so a player filtering for weekly wipes and 2x rates only sees servers whose tags say so. Untagged servers quietly disappear from most searches, which is one of the most common reasons a new server gets no traffic.

server.tags "weekly,vanilla"

On GuavaHost there is also a Server tags card on the Settings tab. Add your tags there, click Save changes, then restart.

The tags the official filters recognise cover wipe schedule and server type. The ones in regular use are:

• wipe schedule: weekly, biweekly, monthly
• type: vanilla, softcore, hardcore, roleplay, pve, creative, minigame, training, battlefield

Facepunch adds and retires tags over time, so check the current filter list in the in-game browser if one you expect is not matching. Rust also generates some tags itself, such as your current and maximum player counts, so you do not need to add those.

Tags have to be honest

This is not just etiquette. Facepunch actively polices tag abuse, and the penalty for lying is being removed from the server list, which ends your server. Specifically:

• do not tag vanilla if you run Oxide or Carbon plugins that change gameplay
• do not tag weekly if you wipe when you feel like it
• do not stack every tag on the list hoping to appear in more searches

The practical version: tag what you are, accurately, and nothing else. A server that appears in the right five searches does better than one briefly appearing in thirty and then delisted.

Worth knowing, too, that your flag comes from a lookup on your IP rather than from a tag, so you cannot set it. Rust shows the wrong country flag explains that one, including why it never affects ping.

After you change any of this

1. Restart the server with Restart at the top of the server page. These values are read at startup.
2. Open the Rust browser, pick the right tab (Community for vanilla, Modded if you run a framework) and search your exact hostname.
3. Clear any leftover filters in the browser. Your own max ping or minimum player filter will happily hide your own server from you.

If it still does not show up, Rust server not showing in the Community or Modded list works through the usual causes, which are almost always the map still generating or a query port that cannot be reached.

One last thing: if your hostname advertises a wipe day, automate the wipe so it is always true. How to schedule automatic Rust wipes sets that up, and it can announce each wipe to your Discord.

Common questions

How long can a Rust server name be?

There is no hard limit you are likely to hit, but the browser only shows one line and cuts off the rest, so anything past roughly 60 characters risks being invisible. Put the region, rates and wipe day at the front where they will always be read.

Why do no filters find my Rust server?

Almost always because server.tags is empty. Players filter by wipe schedule and server type, and a server with no tags does not match any of those filters, so it only appears to someone scrolling the raw list or searching your exact name.

Can I change my server name without a wipe?

Yes. The hostname, description, banner, URL and tags are all cosmetic settings read at startup, so changing them needs only a restart and touches nothing in your world. Only server.worldsize and server.seed regenerate the map.

Do I need a banner image for my Rust server?

No, and plenty of good servers run without one. It only appears once a player has already clicked your server, so it is worth less than a clear hostname and honest tags. Add it when you have the other three right.

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

• rust
• server-list
• hostname
• tags
• convars

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