Games come in all flavors and genres. You have racing games like Forza, shooters like Call of Duty Warzone, and open-world RPG’s like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Then, we have some truly niche categories that casual gamers may not immediately recognize. These include survival horror, survival simulations, and open-world survival games. Basically, games based on survival mechanics require a level of patience and dedication that not many possess. That’s probably why Rust, a game with the sole goal of surviving the odds, is so revered. Of course, it still remains highly popular but keep in mind that new players should be wary of the steep learning curve.
Rust has certainly come a long way in the past few years. What began as a simple community clone of DayZ became its own IP and gained a wide following. If that success story sounds familiar, that’s because you’ve heard it before. Several major games like PUBG started off as simple mods for more established, older titles. Now, with millions of players, Rust sees an all-time high in terms of popularity.
However, the game does have a few problems currently. And we’re not talking about the hyper-aggressive veterans constantly preying on newbies. Rust experiences technical issues across PC’s of every tier, making it clear hardware is not the main issue. The game sorely needs updates, patches, and fixes from the developers. Players report a multitude of server errors, game crashes, and general bugginess when logging in at times.
Players report several instances of game crashes and errors when logging into online Rust servers
Issues revolving around Rust’s stability abound all across the internet. While the game received several major updates over the past few months, some remain unresolved. Rust communities currently see countless complaints of bugs and crashes when loading into custom servers. These occur regardless of the server type. That means modded, community and official servers all seem equally affected. Players joining into a team, or even solo, often experience Rust server connection issues. These result in the players booted out and their remaining teams facing glitches even after the concerned player is gone.
In other cases, the game outright crashes and exits to desktop. Players on the main menu somehow trigger a failure for the game to boot online, and claim loading just gets stuck endlessly. Similarly, some report instances of being unable to proceed to the online portion of the game, and need to close and relaunch several times. Meanwhile, players with high-end, perfectly functioning PC’s report an inevitable crash moments after logging into servers.
However, we are happy to report that several fixes for Rust game crashes exist. Players online have successfully tried and resolved these issues using several techniques. However, in cases where the Rust crash fixes don’t work, remember that your game is still salvageable. The developers have already acknowledged several errors. This means that an eventual patch or update will come, and iron out these wrinkles. Till then, here are the best ways to fix Rust game crash errors.
1) Restart your PC, and launch game again
If this sounds like a blatantly obvious fix, that’s because it is. While players will gladly look into extremely elaborate and spurious potential fixes, sometimes the basics work the best. In the case of PC gaming, the many intricate processes can accrue errors after running for extended periods. Even at launch, there isn’t always a guarantee every single process starts up correctly, and these errors can lead to game crashes and performance issues.
For this reason, the first go-to step should be rebooting your PC. This will kill off any misbehaving processes, and ensure a less overburdened motherboard. It may also end any corrupted data caches from interfering with the game. Launch Rust again, and hopefully it should perform more stably.
2) Use Steam’s tools to verify your game files
Rust’s greatest, yet unintentional savior, is the fact that is a Steam exclusive. While other marketplaces like GoG, Epic and Origin work well too, Steam is undoubtedly the most utilitarian. This is because of its ability to add non-Steam (cough, pirated, cough) games, as well as manage the file databases of its own. This means that a poorly-functioning Steam game like Rust can receive an in-depth checkup of sorts.
Head to your Steam library, and select Manage options for Rust. Then, head to Properties, under which you’ll see “verify game files” as an option. This option is, simply put, a godsend. It essentially rechecks the files in your installation against its server information. This clever test weeds out any discrepancies and notifies you accordingly. It will also delete and fix many errors or corrupted files in your game’s registry, meaning this process can help immensely. Once the verification and repairs end, you can launch Rust again.
3) Make sure your username and player info isn’t too complicated
Sometimes, Rust feels highly unpolished. If this were a Bethesda game, we’d expect nothing better. You see, the game’s engine contains some poorly-written code, and can easily be broken by accident or on purpose. As several players online note, having a username that contains certain non-traditional symbols can lead to Rust server connection errors. Ideally, the game should have only allowed characters it can support online, but it seems some developer overlooked this.
Many players report the game crashing issues to stop once they simplify their information. This probably occurs due to a lower strain on the server login initialization, as it normally isn’t compatible with various characters. While this is a glaring oversight on the part of the developers, players should try to keep their usernames simple and character-friendly. As many report, this should prevent unexpected server errors when joining online.
4) Make sure your internet connection is stable enough for online gaming
While we keep complaining about how unpolished Rust is, the reverse could also hold true. If your internet connectivity isn’t stable or fast enough to connect to the servers, it can lead to Rust server errors. For this reason, its important to maintain and troubleshoot with your own router. For starters, reset the router by powering it off for 30 seconds, then restarting it. Then, if the problem persists, try using a wired Ethernet connection instead, to cut down on lag and latency.
Furthermore, contact your internet service provider for advanced settings. Once you obtain the relevant login information, visit your router’s portal for access to advanced WiFi options. These include enabling QoS (which can prioritize your gaming over less-important online services) and NAT type (changing this from Strict to Moderate will boost your server connection. These two changes may help prevent Rust server errors and subsequent crashes.
5) The nuclear option – reinstall Rust
This fix comes as a last resort. However, often at times installed files can become so corrupted that a complete wipe and reinstall is necessary. This process completely removes all game data, but is quite effective. And, luckily, Steam’s cloud saves should keep your saved progress and account status backed up. Just keep in mind that, depending on your internet bandwidth, the redownload could take some time. However, we feel it’s worth the effort because a fresh install will contain far fewer bugs.
For more on Rust, PC games, and Steam, stay tuned!