1 Oxide vs. Carbon — pick one

Oxide (uMod)

  • Original framework, biggest plugin library
  • Slower startup; can lag on plugin reloads
  • Better community support, more tutorials
  • Choose this if you're new to Rust modding

Carbon

  • Drop-in Oxide-compatible replacement, much faster
  • Native hot-reloads, lower memory footprint
  • ~95% of Oxide plugins work without modification
  • Choose this if performance matters or your server is bigger
Don't run both. Oxide and Carbon both hook into the same game internals. Running them together will crash the server or cause silent plugin failures.

2 Install Oxide on Solace

  1. Open your Rust server in the Solace panel.
  2. Go to the Startup tab.
  3. Find the Modding Framework variable.
  4. Set it to oxide (or check the "Use uMod / Oxide" toggle if your panel shows it that way).
  5. Click Save, then Restart the server.

On startup, Solace's image pulls the latest Oxide build matching your Rust server version. You'll see [Oxide] Loaded extension: ... lines in the console once it's up.

3 Install Carbon on Solace

  1. Same path: Startup tab → Modding Framework.
  2. Set it to carbon.
  3. Save, restart.

Carbon's startup is noticeably faster — you should see [Carbon] Initialized. in the console within a few seconds of the world loading.

4 Find plugins

Plugins are .cs files (C# source). You don't need to compile them — Oxide and Carbon compile them automatically on load.

5 Install a plugin

  1. Download the plugin's .cs file.
  2. Connect to your server via SFTP (or use the panel's File Manager).
  3. Drop the .cs file into:
    • Oxide: oxide/plugins/
    • Carbon: carbon/plugins/
  4. The plugin auto-loads within a few seconds. Watch the console for Loaded plugin "PluginName" or any error messages.

6 Configure a plugin

Most plugins generate a config file the first time they load. You'll find it at:

  • Oxide: oxide/config/PluginName.json
  • Carbon: carbon/config/PluginName.json

Stop the server (or unload the plugin with oxide.unload PluginName), edit the JSON, then start (or oxide.load PluginName) again. Carbon uses c.unload / c.load.

Tip: back up your oxide/config/ or carbon/config/ folder before each major Rust update — the game's force wipe schedule sometimes triggers config resets.

7 Switching between Oxide and Carbon

  1. Stop the server.
  2. Move (don't delete) your oxide/plugins/ and oxide/config/ folders to a backup location.
  3. Change the Modding Framework variable in Startup.
  4. Start the server. The new framework creates its own folder structure.
  5. Drop your plugins into the new framework's plugin folder. Most will work; check console for the few that don't.

8 Common issues

Plugin shows "Failed to compile" in console

  • The plugin is built for an older Rust version. Check uMod or Codefling for an updated build.
  • Some plugins depend on libraries (oxide/lib/). Re-read the plugin's instructions.

Server crashes on Rust force wipe day

  • Rust pushes a major patch the first Thursday of each month. Plugins built for the previous version often break. Pull the latest plugin builds before wipe day, or temporarily move broken plugins out of plugins/ until they update.
  • Same applies to Oxide / Carbon themselves — Solace's image updates them automatically, but if you've pinned a specific version, update it.

Plugin loaded but commands don't work

  • Check the plugin's permissions. Many plugins require you to grant yourself a permission like oxide.grant user STEAMID pluginname.use.

Don't have a Rust server yet?

Solace plans start at $8/mo with overclocked CPUs and pre-installed Oxide. Wipe-day support included.

View Rust Plans →

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