Setting Up a Rust Server Whitelist Using uMod

Rust thrives on its open, public nature, where any wanderer with an IP can stroll into your server. Sometimes that openness is not what you want. Maybe you run a private group, a roleplay community, or simply want some peace from random visitors while you build something niche. A whitelist solves this by restricting connections to approved Steam accounts only. This guide walks through enabling that on your Rust server using the Whitelist plugin by Wulf.

What You Need

Before touching the panel, grab the Whitelist plugin file from the uMod website. Keep it handy because you will be uploading it shortly.

Enable uMod Support

Open your server panel and stop the server first. Modifying configuration while the server is live is asking for corruption headaches.

Look for the Enable uMod Support option in your panel settings, tick the box, and save the change. This switch tells the wrapper to load Oxide on the next boot, which is what allows plugins like Whitelist to actually run.

Upload the Plugin

Open the FTP client from the panel sidebar and log in with your panel credentials. Browse into the `Oxide` folder, then into `Plugins`. Click Upload, then drop the plugin file into the window. Wait until the transfer hits 100 percent before doing anything else.

Once the upload finishes, return to the main panel and start the server. The plugin loads during boot.

Add Players to the Whitelist

The plugin is active, but the allowlist is empty. You need each player's SteamID64, which is the long numeric identifier Steam uses internally. Visit Steam.io (or any SteamID lookup tool) and search by username or profile URL to fetch this value.

Open the console in your panel and run the whitelist add command for each player, replacing the placeholder with their SteamID64. Repeat as many times as you need to cover everyone on your guest list.

Wrapping Up

Your Rust server now turns away strangers at the door. Anyone outside the list gets booted with a whitelist message instead of dropping into the world. Admins granted permissions through Oxide stay exempt by default, so you can keep moderating without adding yourself manually. Whether you are building solo, testing changes, or running a closed community, a whitelist is a clean way to keep traffic under control.