Install Oxide / uModThe plugin framework for your Rust server

Published on August 4, 2026 · last updated on November 8, 2026

What is Oxide / uMod?

Oxide is a modding extension that hooks into the Rust dedicated server and provides a plugin interface. The plugin platform behind it is called uMod (umod.org) today - there you will find thousands of free plugins, from kits and clans to complete event systems. Without a framework, your server runs "vanilla", meaning without plugins.

Activate Oxide in the web interface

At MainHoster.de, you choose the framework directly in the panel instead of installing it by hand:

1. Open the server configuration of your Rust server in the web interface.
2. Select Oxide / uMod as the modding framework.
3. Restart the server. The matching Oxide version is installed during startup.

After the installation, the folder oxide/ exists with the subfolders plugins/, config/, data/ and lang/.

Upload plugins

Plugins are single .cs files. This is how you install them:

1. Download the plugin from umod.org (the file PluginName.cs).
2. Connect via WebFTP or SFTP and put the file into oxide/plugins/.
3. Oxide loads new plugins automatically (hot reload) - alternatively, use oxide.reload PluginName in the console.

Fine-tuning and permissions are explained in the guide Install & configure plugins.

Important: update Oxide after the force wipe

With the monthly force wipe update, Facepunch updates the game files - and the Oxide extension is overwritten and initially unusable. Your plugins only run again once an Oxide version matching the new game build is installed. In practice, that means: after the update, wait a little until the new Oxide build is available, then restart the server or reinstall Oxide. If you want to be ready to play right away on wipe day, Carbon is an alternative that is often updated faster.

Permissions: groups instead of individual rights

Oxide comes with its own permission system that works independently of the Rust admin rights. With it, you control exactly who may use individual plugins - without giving anyone full access to the server.

o.group add moderator
o.grant group moderator pluginname.use
o.usergroup add 76561198XXXXXXXXX moderator
o.show groups

The effort pays off from the moment more than one person moderates. Instead of granting rights to each individual, you maintain groups - and whoever leaves the team is removed from the group, done. Rust's own auth levels are not affected by this and are still granted via ownerid and moderatorid.

By default: without explicit permission, nobody can use a plugin. If a command does not work for a moderator, it is almost always exactly this permission that is missing.

Understanding plugin configurations

On its first start, every plugin creates a JSON file under oxide/config/ - before that, there is nothing to edit. If you look for the file before the plugin has been loaded once, you simply will not find it.

When editing, the usual JSON rule applies: no comma after the last entry, all brackets in pairs. A syntax error makes Oxide discard the file and use default values - the plugin then runs, but your settings have no effect. After making changes, reload the plugin with o.reload pluginname; no server restart is needed for that.

Separately, oxide/data/ holds the data generated by plugins - zones, points, statistics. These files are the truly valuable part: configurations are quickly set up again, grown data is not. Back up both folders regularly via WebFTP or SFTP; with us, backups are self-service across the board, see Create backups.

When a plugin does not load

This order gets you to the cause fastest:

1. o.plugins via RCON shows all loaded plugins. If one is missing, it was never accepted in the first place.
2. Check the location: oxide/plugins/, as a .cs file, without an extra subfolder.
3. Check whether the plugin version matches the current Oxide version. After a force wipe, that is the most common cause.
4. When it tries to load the plugin, the server console names the error including the line number - that is usually enough to narrow it down.

Oxide loads plugins while the server is running: a newly uploaded file becomes active by itself after a few seconds, no restart needed. That makes trying things out pleasant - and troubleshooting fast.

Frequently asked questions