Port forwarding for a Rust server
For Rust, open the game port as UDP; add the query port, two numbers higher, if you want the server browser to list you. Connections are UDP-only, so a TCP rule on the game port will simply never be used.
Your setup
Choose the firmware family rather than your exact model — every router in a family shares the same menus.
Out of the box it is 28015. If you changed that, use whatever you set in +server.port.
The local address of the computer that runs the server. Find it with ipconfig on Windows or ip addr on Linux; it will begin with 192.168, 10. or 172.
Open these
Your firmware takes ranges, so each line here is one rule.
- 28015 UDP
- 28017 UDP
28015UDPGame trafficRust is UDP-only for gameplay. A TCP-only rule looks correct in the router and connects to nothing.28017UDPServer browserserver.queryport, which defaults to game port + 2. Without it your server never appears in the browser, though people can still connect directly.
Only if you want them
The server runs fine without these. Each open port is one more door for strangers to try, so leave out what you do not need.
- 28082 TCP
28082TCPRust+ companion appOnly if you want the mobile app to pair. Safe to leave closed.
Do not open these
These are admin sockets. Many guides put them in the same list as the game ports, but forwarding them exposes a remote console for your server to the whole internet.
28016TCPRCONrcon.port. A forwarded Rust RCON port is scanned within hours — it is one of the most actively probed ports in gaming.
For remote administration, connect to the machine through SSH or a VPN and use the port locally from there. Nobody else can reach it that way.
Step by step: your router
- 1
Give the server a fixed local IP
A forwarding rule targets a single local address. If the server comes back from a reboot with a new one, the rule quietly points at an empty address — which is how forwards seem to "break by themselves".
On this router:look for DHCP Reservation, Address Reservation, Static Lease or Manually Assigned IP
- 2
Open the router admin page
From a device on the same network, open one of these in a browser:
- 192.168.0.1
- 192.168.1.1
- 192.168.2.1
- 10.0.0.1
Almost always printed on a sticker on the router itself.
- 3
Find the port forwarding page
Port Forwarding, Virtual Server, NAT, Applications & Gaming, or Port Mapping
Vendors use at least six names for the same feature. Whatever it is called, the page you want is the one asking for a port, a protocol and a device on your network. If the external and internal port fields both exist, set them to the same number.
- 4
Create one rule per line
a description field, if there is one External / WAN / Public / Service port Internal / LAN / Private port Protocol Internal IP / Device / Server IP Rust 28015 28015 UDP your server’s local IP Rust 28017 28017 UDP your server’s local IP Use the same number for the external and internal port. You can make the external one different, but then every player has to connect on that new number, so keep them identical unless you have a specific reason not to.
- 5
Let the server through its own firewall
The router is now sending traffic to the right computer, but that computer can still turn it away. Windows Defender Firewall is the usual offender: it blocks a newly installed dedicated server by default, and from outside that is indistinguishable from a broken forward.
Take it with you
Rust — port forwarding rules ---------------------------- 28015 UDP -> <server local IP> 28017 UDP -> <server local IP>
Check whether it worked
Always test from outside your network. A connection from another device in the house proves nothing: that traffic stays on your LAN and never passes through the rule you just created.
Advertisement
The usual mistake
One above the game port is RCON, and that should stay shut. Rust RCON gets scanned constantly; a freshly exposed one usually sees login attempts within hours. For remote admin, SSH into the machine and connect to RCON locally, so the port is never reachable by anyone else.
Advertisement
Skipping port forwarding
Rust is heavy enough that most people who get the forwarding working hit the next problem straight away: a home connection's upload cannot carry a busy wipe. A machine on a proper uplink solves both at once.