Over the years, few MMO games enjoyed success as consistently as Rust has. You had the days of Runescape, which, despite a resurgence, is far past its prime. Iconic games like Dota 2 also come to mind, but that game in particular relies on a competitive, combat focus. On the other hand, what sets Rust apart from other multiplayer games is its two salient features.
The first of these is its general lack of restrictions. The minute you spawn, you just do whatever you please, however you like. There is no overarching story, no boring quests, no overly-dramatic cinematics. That brings us to the second feature, which is the game’s core concept.
All you need to do is survive, but only few can manage to thrive. The frozen wastelands and forests around you teem with dangerous wildlife, environmental hazards and hostile players. In fact, the main way to survive in Rust, aside from steady food and water, is to find a friendly clan of players as soon as possible. Because, sure enough, bloodthirsty, sadistic player gangs stalk the wastelands, searching for their latest prey.
Not surprisingly, the game enjoys tremendous popularity in the PC gaming community. This game isn’t just DayZ meets Minecraft, as critics claim. With the active player base, constant additions of content and updates. With so much to do, now has never been a better time to jump into Rust. Just beware the harrowing beginner experience!
If you want to make a name for yourself among the Rust survivors, you’ll need a stable internet connection
Let’s face it. Rust is an unforgiving, brutal setting packed full of nightmares. To survive, you’ll need all the advantages you can muster. One of the most important of these is a PC with strong enough performance. You can click here to see the recommended specs to run Rust at high framerates (frames per second). After all, a game that relies so heavily on gunfights, running and evading requires smooth performance.
Another aspect of gaming that is arguably even more important than frames per second is your internet connection. When facing other players, you need a reliable, stable and speedy internet connection. Believe it or not, none of those 3 words were synonyms. Each is an essential component to smooth online PC gaming. The aim, of course, is to make lag, latency and packet loss negligible. More on those in a bit.
So, we hereby give you a handy list of the best ways to reduce lag on Rust. Using these, you too can optimize your online gaming connectivity and dominate the Rust meta!
1) Restart your Wi-Fi router, and set up a wired LAN connection
The best way to kill off unresolved internet traffic that clogs up your network is to simply end the connection. It may sound primitive, but it gets results. Simply power your router off for 30 seconds, then turn it back on. Allow a few minutes for the connection to properly reestablish, then try running Rust again.
However, when it comes to gaming, your best bet is often using a wired internet connection. Conventional Wi-Fi signals, prone to degradation and interference, lead to more packet loss than wired Ethernet. While those cables seem less convenient, they actually go a long way to make sure your bandwidth is transmitted easily. Both latency (ping) and packet loss can become less severe in this way.
2) Use a 5 GHz Wi-Fi router instead of the default 2.4 GHz
Sometimes, innovation becomes necessity. It happened when 4K televisions set the bar for displays over the now obsolete 1080p screens. And it happened when 5 GHz routers emerged as an inexpensive improvement over 2.4 GHz technology. While 2.4 GHz connections suit everyday settings like home networks because their wide compatibilities, 5 GHz routers leave then in the dust. For the same reasons people would rather buy an SSD over an old HDD, the 5 GHz bandwidth improves everything significantly. You get better signal strength, less latency and packet loss and just as much connectivity. A 5 GHz connection could really mean the difference between life in death in Rust.
3) Use Admin Access on your router’s portal to change NAT type and enable QoS
Because every router’s model and make differs significantly, the best way to reach configuration settings is to call your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Why, you ask? Because tweaking certain advanced settings past the default can offer you great way to reduce Rust lag. Once you have access to your router’s portal, look for the two settings.
NAT type basically decides how strict or relaxed your network is to online gaming servers. While we don’t recommend setting this below Moderate from the standard Strict on an unsecured network, changing this is safe on a private network. This will allow your PC to more effectively connect to the Rust servers.
Quality of Service (QoS) allows network users to prioritize devices and processes over others. This means that more idle devices will no longer sap all of the bandwidth when you need it to game online. So, enabling QoS can make a huge improvement.
4) Relax your security firewalls for Rust
It is true that most computer users overlook and don’t give enough credit to security measures. However, it is also true that these securities prevent countless malware from infecting your PC on a daily basis. Unfortunately, some security measures only serve to hinder gameplay. The programs view Rust as a suspicious, risky foreign entity and prevent data and information transmission. Therefore, access your security settings and definitely Whitelist Rust.
5) Make sure all background downloads are paused while gaming
Doesn’t it ever get frustrating that your Mom ruins your online matches by downloading movies on her phone. Or that Steam needed to update a 20 GB game with a 30 GB update somehow. These factors, as explained above, both choke up on your bandwidth. That’s why, like enabling QoS, you’d do well to make sure your downloads and Auto Updates stay off. This helps provide enough data to the game itself, resulting in less lag, stutter and packet loss on Rust.
For more on Rust, gaming and fixes, stay tuned!