Rustadia Servers Will Not Be Premium (For Now)

Facepunch recently introduced a new server setting that enables premium—designed to keep cheaters out by requiring players to have an account value over $15. The logic’s solid: most cheaters run cheap, disposable accounts, so this could be an easy way to block a decent chunk of them before they ever load in.

We don’t disagree with the idea. In fact, it might end up being a solid tool in the long run. But for now, Rustadia’s holding off on enabling it—and here’s why.

The premium toggle makes a lot of sense on official servers, where the flood of fresh, shady accounts is relentless. But community servers like ours tend to be their own ecosystem—more stable, more moderated, and targeting a slightly different crowd. We’re talking casual veterans, builders, roleplayers, and of course, the constant wave of beach-dwelling noobs who can barely craft a bag before getting yoked by a dude named “W33dSn1per.”

Those noobs? They're a big part of who we’re here for. And right now, requiring a $15 account value could gatekeep them unnecessarily. We don’t have evidence yet that cheaters are a major problem on Rustadia specifically, or that this toggle would meaningfully reduce them without also thinning out the playerbase we actually want.

To back that up, we dug into Rust inventory values across our community. Here’s what we found:

• 64.62% of players would be ineligible for premium servers based on a $15 account value threshold.
• 81.92% of players fall into the $0–$50 inventory range.
• The average inventory value sits around $67.20, but that number’s skewed heavily by a few whales (someone’s flexing a $1,737.74 inventory, apparently).
• Nearly 60% of profiles are private, meaning the real ineligible number could be even higher—or lower. We just don’t know yet.

So yeah, almost two thirds of the playerbase could be locked out on day one. That’s a pretty steep price for a “maybe.”

That said, we’re not just twiddling our thumbs. We are taking steps to keep cheaters out, even without enabling premium:

• We’re tracking low-value accounts internally to spot patterns and flag shady behaviour early.
• We’re running anti-cheat enhancements alongside existing systems to give us better visibility into suspicious activity.
• And of course, the best anti-cheat has never been a price tag—it’s active, no-nonsense, non-playing admins who know how to spot a wall hacker from a wonky desync. And guess what? We’ve got those.

So, what does this actually mean for you?

• There’s no inventory value requirement to play on Rustadia. Whether you’re rocking a $3 hoodie or a $300 inventory full of clown masks, you’re welcome here.
• And regardless of how premium servers show up in the in-game list, favourite Rustadia now so you never lose us in the noise—we’re worth the click.

We’re watching. Waiting. Gathering data. If premium turns out to be a game-changer for community servers, we’ll revisit. But until then, we’d rather keep the gates open than turn away legit players for the sake of a maybe.

After all, Rust has enough reasons to ragequit. Getting denied at the door shouldn’t be one of them.

—The Rustadia Team

Explore the data behind our decision

For nerds only. Pulled straight from the inventories of players who’ve actually logged into Rustadia.