G-Portal or Nitrado for a Rust Console Server: Which to Rent and What It Costs

The short answer: both are official, the difference is cost and connection

If you just want a decision, here it is. Nitrado gives you the simplest possible bot hookup, a one-click account link with nothing to copy by hand. G-Portal gives you a familiar, widely available plan with a direct WebRCON connection, where you paste three values once. Both are official Rust Console hosts, both stay up, and both let a bot run your killfeed, kits, events and store.

Everything else in this post is detail underneath that. If you are brand new, start with the host whose connection style you are most comfortable with, because the host does not decide how good your server is. The bot on top of it does. What the host decides is your monthly bill and how much fiddling it takes to get connected the first time.

How much a Rust Console server actually costs

This is the question most owners want answered plainly, so here are real numbers. A G-Portal Rust Console server runs roughly $18 to $21 per 30 days for up to 100 slots, with crossplay included so PlayStation and Xbox players share the same server. Nitrado prices by slot count in tiers, so you pick your player cap and pay for that size, and a comparable player-count plan lands in the same rough monthly ballpark.

Notice what is not on that bill. There are no add-ons to install on console, so there is nothing extra to license, host, or pay for on top of the server itself. Everything your server does runs through its own settings and a bot over WebRCON, and none of that adds to your monthly cost. The real cost levers are slot count and how long a billing cycle you commit to, and that is about it.

One honest piece of advice: do not buy slots you will never fill. A brand new server that averages 20 to 50 players does not need a 100-slot plan, and paying for empty seats is the most common way new owners waste money. Start smaller, and size up only when your peak population is actually bumping the cap. Peak population, by the way, is the first 24 to 48 hours after a wipe, so judge your slot needs by that window, not a quiet Tuesday.

How each host connects your bot (the part that actually differs)

This is the real fork in the road, because the two hosts hand a bot its credentials in completely different ways.

G-Portal uses a direct WebRCON connection. You copy three things out of the host panel and give them to the bot: the server IP, the RCON port, and the RCON password. It is a one-time paste, and once it is in, the bot talks straight to your server. If you want that walked through end to end, connecting a bot on G-Portal covers exactly which fields to copy and where they live in the panel.

Nitrado skips the copying entirely. With a bot like Vantic you use a one-click account link: you authorize the bot against your Nitrado account, it finds your server, and it pulls the IP, port and password in for you, so there is no chance of pasting the wrong value. That flow is laid out in the Nitrado one-click link. If typing a port number into a form makes you nervous, this is the friendlier path by a wide margin.

The RCON port trap that stops most first connections

Whichever host you pick, there is one detail that catches almost everyone, and it is worth understanding before you start so you do not spend an hour confused.

Your server has two different ports. The game port, set by server.port, is usually 28015 and runs over UDP. It is the one players connect through. The RCON port, which is what a bot needs, is a separate TCP or WebSocket port, commonly 28016. They look almost identical, which is exactly why people mix them up. The classic symptom is players can join fine but the bot will not connect, and nine times out of ten that means someone put the game port where the RCON port belongs. The full breakdown of RCON port versus server port is worth two minutes if this is your first server.

A few more things break a first connection. Some hosts need rcon.web set to 1 before the WebSocket port will answer at all. A host-generated RCON password that contains spaces or special characters can quietly break authentication, so if a copied password fails, that is a prime suspect. And Rust briefly rate-limits and locks RCON after a run of failed attempts, which means hammering the retry button makes things worse, not better. Slow down, fix the value, then try once. If you are stuck at this stage, the step-by-step for a bot that will not connect walks through each cause in order.

Reliability and what happens on a Facepunch patch day

Both hosts are reliable in the way that matters: the server itself stays online. Where reliability gets interesting is patch days, because Rust Console updates on a schedule and your host reacts automatically.

G-Portal auto-updates and reboots your server when Facepunch ships a patch. That is a good thing, it keeps you current without lifting a finger, but the reboot briefly knocks any connected bot offline until it reconnects. Patch day works the same way on either host, because the server has to move to the new version and then comes back on its own. So the question is never whether the server returns, it always does. The real question is whether your bot reconnects cleanly by itself or sits there dark until you notice and restart it by hand. A bot that goes quiet after a reboot and never comes back is the single most common complaint in this niche, which is why a bot that keeps dropping is worth reading before you commit, whichever host you land on.

Plan your week around the wipe too. Most servers wipe weekly, often Thursday around 18:00 UTC, or biweekly, and a server that goes more than a month without a wipe can get unstable. The host does not force this on you, but it is part of running a healthy server on either one.

So which should you rent

Rent Nitrado if you want the least possible friction getting a bot connected. The one-click account link means you never touch an IP, a port or a password, and that removes the single biggest source of first-day headaches. This is the easy answer for a non-technical owner who just wants the thing running.

Rent G-Portal if you are comfortable copying three values once, want the widely available plan, and like a direct WebRCON connection you can see and control. The pricing is predictable, crossplay is included, and the direct connection is not hard, it is just a one-time paste of IP, RCON port and password.

Either way, the host is the ground your server stands on, and the bot is what turns it into something you can actually run and monetize. A good bot connects to both hosts, keeps your killfeed and events alive through patch reboots, and lets you sell kits for real money without a pay-to-win problem. Vantic does exactly that, and its store is a flat 3% on your own Stripe, so if a real-money store on your own Stripe is part of your plan, the host you pick does not change that. Pick the host that fits how hands-on you want to be, and let the bot do the heavy lifting.

Set up either host right the first time (quick checklist)

Whichever host you chose, this is the order of operations that gets you connected on the first try instead of the fifth.

First, on G-Portal, find the RCON port (the TCP/WebSocket one, commonly 28016), not the game port (28015). On Nitrado, use the one-click account link and let it pull the values in. Second, if your host has an rcon.web setting, make sure it is set to 1. Third, paste the RCON password exactly as generated, and if it contains spaces or symbols and auth fails, regenerate a cleaner one rather than retrying the same broken value. Fourth, once the bot is connected, add yourself as OwnerID by gamertag (wrap a gamertag with spaces in quotes), then reconnect to the server, because a new admin role only applies after you rejoin. Do not make yourself Owner and then expect to also hold a lower role at the same time, since that can block the other role.

Do those four things in that order and you are running. If any single value gives you trouble, the guide to finding your IP, RCON port and password on either host shows you the exact panel screens on both G-Portal and Nitrado.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

connecting a bot on G-Portal · the Nitrado one-click link · find your IP, RCON port and password · RCON port versus server port · fix a bot that will not connect