Rust wipes: map wipe vs blueprint wipe

Explains the difference between a map wipe and a blueprint wipe on your Rust server, what each one deletes, and how to trigger them from the panel.

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

"Wiping" a Rust server means resetting some or all of its data so players start fresh. There are two main kinds, and it helps to know exactly what each one clears before you pull the trigger.

Map wipe

A map wipe generates a brand new map and clears everything built or placed in the world. Bases, deployables, storage boxes and their contents, tool cupboards, and any loot lying around all disappear. The world seed can stay the same or change depending on your settings, but either way the map regenerates as if the server just started.

What a map wipe does NOT touch: players keep their learned blueprints, meaning the recipes they have unlocked. So after a map wipe, everyone starts with no base but still remembers how to craft the things they had researched.

Blueprint wipe (BP wipe)

A blueprint wipe does everything a map wipe does, and on top of that it resets every player's learned blueprints back to zero. After a BP wipe, players have to research and unlock items all over again from scratch.

The short version:

• Map wipe: fresh map, bases and loot gone, blueprints kept.
• Blueprint wipe: fresh map, bases and loot gone, blueprints also wiped.

A blueprint wipe is the bigger reset of the two. Many owners run BP wipes less often than plain map wipes, because a full blueprint reset changes the early game quite a lot.

The files that hold this data

Rust stores this state in save files on the server, usually inside the server/ identity folder. The map and world state live in the .sav save files, and blueprint and player data live in the server's persistence storage. Deleting the relevant files forces the server to regenerate them clean on the next boot.

Because the exact filenames and folders can shift between Rust updates, it is worth double checking what is in the folder before you delete anything. If in doubt, take a backup first from the Backups page so you can roll back.

How to trigger a wipe from the panel

On GuavaHost you do not have to delete files by hand. The built-in Rust Wiper does it for you:

1. Sign in at customer.guavahost.com, open My servers and click Manage on your Rust server.
2. Take a backup on the Backups page first, so you can roll back.
3. In the server menu, under Rust tools, open Wipes.
4. Under Need a fresh start now? click Manual wipe.
5. Click Wipe map for a map wipe, or Wipe map + blueprints for a blueprint wipe. If your Blueprints setting is On every wipe, only the second button appears.
6. Type WIPE to confirm. The wipe starts within a minute: the server restarts with a fresh map, and anyone online is disconnected while it happens.

The same page can roll the world seed and map size on each wipe; see How to schedule automatic Rust wipes.

Wiping by hand instead

If you would rather delete the files yourself:

1. Stop the server with Stop at the top of the server page. Never delete save files while the server is running, or it may write them straight back.
2. Go to the Files tab and open the server identity folder that holds your world data (commonly under server/ and then your server identity name).
3. For a map wipe: delete the map save files (the .sav and related map files). This clears the world so a fresh map generates on next start.
4. For a blueprint wipe: delete the map save files as above, AND delete the player blueprint and persistence data so learned blueprints reset too.
5. Start the server again with Start. Watch the Console: generating a new map can take a little while, so give it time before you try to connect.

Facepunch's monthly force wipe

Facepunch, the studio behind Rust, pushes a mandatory update on the first Thursday of every month. That update changes the game files enough that the old world save is no longer compatible, so the server is effectively forced into a map wipe whether you want one or not. The old .sav simply cannot be loaded by the new version.

What this means in practice:

1. Once a month, on that first Thursday, expect your map to reset when you update to the new build.
2. Update your server to the latest Rust build after Facepunch releases it, then start it. It will generate a fresh map.
3. A force wipe is a map wipe by nature. It does not automatically reset blueprints, so if you also want a BP wipe that month you still need to clear the blueprint data yourself.

Plenty of server owners line up their own wipe schedule around this monthly force wipe, for example running extra map wipes weekly or every two weeks in between.

With GuavaHost you can automate all of this. The Rust Wiper on your server's Wipes page lets you set a wipe schedule (for example weekly or every fortnight, alongside the monthly force wipe), choose whether blueprints are wiped only on force wipes or on every wipe, and post an announcement to your Discord when it runs.

Troubleshooting

• Server loaded the old map after a wipe: the server was probably still running when you deleted the files, so it wrote them back. Stop it fully, delete again, then start.
• Blueprints did not reset after what you thought was a BP wipe: you likely only cleared the map save and not the blueprint or persistence data. Stop the server and remove the blueprint and player data too.
• Server will not start after a monthly update: make sure you actually updated to the latest Rust build. A save from the previous month cannot load on the new version, so an out of date server can get stuck.
• Not sure which files to delete: use the Wipes page instead, or take a backup from the Backups page first so you can restore if you remove the wrong thing.

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

• rust
• wipe
• map wipe
• blueprint wipe
• force wipe

Host a Rust server From $15.99/mo, with instant setup and DDoS protection.

Still need help? Our team is online 24/7 to answer questions.

Contact support