How Much Does a Rust Console Server Cost? (Renting Plus a Bot)

The short answer: what a Rust Console server costs per month

The whole bill has two lines on it. The host that runs the game, and the bot that manages it. Nothing else is required, and there is no hidden third cost waiting to surprise you. There are no add-ons to install on console, so your setup stays simple and your costs stay low.

Rented from G-Portal, an official Rust Console host, a server runs about $18 to $21 per 30 days for up to 100 slots with full PlayStation and Xbox crossplay. A management bot is free to start. If you want the deeper automation later, the Premium tier is A$20 a month per server. So a realistic all-in number is around $20 a month bare bones, or roughly $40 a month once you add a Premium bot.

One detail worth knowing up front: hosts bill in 30-day blocks, not calendar months. Over a year that is a little more than 12 cycles, so budget a few dollars past a flat twelve times the monthly price.

The host bill: what $18 to $21 actually buys

G-Portal's Rust Console plan is priced by slot count, and the common range for a community-sized server is about $18 to $21 per 30 days for up to 100 slots. That buys the game server itself: the map, the population, the uptime. Crossplay is included, so PlayStation and Xbox players share one server.

The host also auto-updates your server and reboots it whenever Facepunch ships a patch. That is good for you and a thing to plan around, because a forced reboot knocks any connected bot offline until it reconnects on its own. The panel also gives you a wipe scheduler with Daily, Weekly, Biweekly and Monthly options, with the times set in GMT while the scheduler itself runs on UTC.

The other official host is Nitrado. Feature and price differences are small, and the right pick usually comes down to how you like to connect and manage things. If you are still deciding, we break down whether to rent from G-Portal or Nitrado in a separate guide, so read up on which host to rent before you commit.

"All server features free" is true, and it is not the whole story

Every official host advertises that all server features are free, and that is genuinely true. There is no paywall on your server settings and no DLC you have to buy to unlock configuration. The native settings are what shape your server on console: PvP and player-vs-building toggles for a PVE server, gather scale (default 1, useful between 1 and 3), decay (set to 0 for no decay), the tool cupboard upkeep toggle, the blueprint unlock toggle, world size and more. All of that is included in the rent.

Here is the part the marketing does not spell out. There are no add-ons to install on Rust Console, and there is no in-game developer console either. So all features free means the game server is fully yours to configure. It does not mean the server manages itself.

Everything owners actually want day to day, from a live killfeed to automated kits, scheduled events, Discord integration and a real-money store that delivers in game, is a management layer that sits on top of the host over WebRCON. That layer is not the host's job, and it is where a bot comes in.

The bot layer: free to start, Premium when you scale

A management bot connects to your server over WebRCON, which on console means the server IP, the RCON port (commonly 28016, and note that is a different port from the game port) and the RCON password. On G-Portal that is direct WebRCON. On Nitrado you can skip the copying entirely with a one-click account link.

The free plan is not a trial. It covers real, useful things at no cost: a killfeed, admin commands over RCON, and core automation. You can run a legitimate server on the free plan indefinitely. Premium, at A$20 a month per server, is what you add when you want the deeper feature set and a store that pays you back. Either way, this one bot is all the management layer a console server needs, from the killfeed to the store, in a single place.

Setup is quick. Our full walkthrough on how to connect a bot to your G-Portal server covers the exact ports and settings, including the rcon.web toggle that some setups need switched on.

Making the server pay for itself, the right way

A Rust Console server does not have to be a pure cost. It can fund itself, and the good ones do. There are two native ways to take money, and they are very different.

The first is fully in-game. A Kit Vending Machine sells kits for a physical in-game currency item. The official RCE limits are up to 7 kits shown per machine and a cap of about 128 kits per server, with a per-kit currency cost, stock, restock and cooldown, plus access tiers for Users, VIP, Mod, Admin and Owner. No real money changes hands, so there are no fees at all.

The second is real money: a web store plus a WebRCON bot that auto-delivers the purchase in game. On console this is one clean setup, the store takes the payment and the bot hands over the goods in game. What matters here is the fee. Many setups charge 5% and then stack payment processor fees on top. Vantic runs a flat 3% real-money store on your own Stripe account, so the money lands with you and the fee is predictable. On $200 of monthly sales that is $6, which does not come close to eating your host bill.

One rule to respect: keep paid perks non-combat. Facepunch takes pay-to-win seriously, and an August 2025 rule bans granting paid DLC or skins to players who do not own them. Sell cosmetics, priority queue, kits of common resources and quality-of-life perks, never combat advantages, and you stay listed and stay liked.

Is a Rust Console server worth it?

It depends entirely on what you want. If you just want a private server for you and a few friends, rent the bare-bones $18 to $21 host, run the free bot for a killfeed and admin tools, and you are done for around $20 a month. That is cheaper than a night out and it runs around the clock.

If you want a community that grows, treat it like a small product. Add the Premium bot and a store, wipe on a schedule players can rely on (weekly, often Thursday around 18:00 UTC, or biweekly), and lean into the first 24 to 48 hours after a wipe, which is peak population and peak spend. A server run this way regularly covers its own costs and then some. A server left to drift, never wiped and never promoted, is $20 a month for an empty map.

So the honest answer to whether it is worth it is that the cost is low enough that the real question is whether you will actually run it, not whether you can afford it.

Three real monthly budgets

Just you and friends. The host at $18 to $21 per 30 days, plus a free bot for the killfeed and admin commands. All-in: about $20 a month, nothing more.

A growing community. The same host plus the Premium bot at A$20 a month per server for automated kits, events, leaderboards and a store. All-in: roughly $40 a month.

A funded community. The same $40 setup, but with an active real-money store on a flat 3% fee. A modest community doing $150 to $300 a month in non-combat perks pays only $4.50 to $9 in fees and clears its entire host-plus-bot bill several times over. At that point the server is net positive and the cost conversation is over.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

Connect a bot to your G-Portal server · G-Portal or Nitrado: which host to rent · Rust Console store fees, explained · The flat 3% real-money store · Your wipe day checklist