Search for a Rust Discord bot and you get two kinds of results that have almost nothing in common. Team bots are for players. They connect to a server the way the Rust+ app does, and put your base, your team chat and your alarms into Discord. Server bots are for the people who run a server. They connect through admin access and handle the community side: server status, chat relays, reports and bans. Work out which one you need first. One kind cannot do the other's job, because they get their data from different places.

Team bots: Rust+ in Discord

A team bot pairs with the server through Rust+, just like the phone app (how pairing works). It sees what a Rust+ device on your account is allowed to see, and nothing more:

• your team: who is online, where they are on the map, and team chat in both directions,
• your smart devices: switches you can flip from Discord, alarms that post when your base is hit, storage monitors and Tool Cupboard upkeep,
• the server: population, time, the map with monuments, and events such as cargo ship, the Chinook and patrol helicopter,
• in-game commands: teammates type things like !pop or !wipe in team chat and the bot answers.

It works on any server that has Rust+ enabled, and it does not need the server owner's permission or plugins. It cannot see enemy bases or other teams, kick anyone, or read global chat beyond what Rust+ provides.

The main options:

• rustplusplus: free and open source. You host it yourself on a PC or a small server that stays on, and each teammate registers their own credentials. This site exists to make that step easy.
• RustPlusBot: a hosted service with a monthly subscription. Nothing to install, and it has extras such as camera viewing in Discord.
• RustLink and other smaller projects with different trade-offs.

We compare the three in detail, including who holds your credentials, in rustplusplus vs RustPlusBot vs RustLink. If you were looking for a way to use Rust+ on a computer rather than in Discord, see Rust+ on PC.

Server bots: running a community

A server bot needs admin access: either RCON (the server's remote console) or a plugin installed on the server through a framework such as Oxide/uMod or Carbon. That is why only server owners and their admins can set one up. Typical jobs:

• a status message or channel name that shows population and the next wipe,
• relaying in-game chat and team reports to Discord, and staff replies back,
• logging connections, kills and bans,
• linking Discord accounts to Steam accounts so supporters get in-game perks automatically,
• wipe announcements and map votes.

The usual ways to get them:

• Plugins. The Discord Extension for Oxide/uMod and the plugins built on it (Discord Core, Discord Chat and many others) run inside the server and post to Discord directly.
• RCON tools. Admin tools that connect over RCON, such as BattleMetrics' RCON product, can send triggers and logs to Discord.
• Status bots. Simple bots that query the server's public info for name, player count and map. These do not need admin access, but they only show public data.

Some status bots and population trackers got their data from the free BattleMetrics API, which became subscription-only in July 2026. If one of them went blank, that is probably why: BattleMetrics API key.

Which one do you need?

• "I want raid alerts, team chat and switches in our Discord." → A team bot.
• "I want to know when a specific enemy is online." → A team bot with BattleMetrics trackers. That means a BattleMetrics subscription, or a hosted service that includes it.
• "I run a server and want chat logs, status and account linking." → A server bot (plugins or RCON).
• "I run a server and want my players to use team bots." → Nothing to install. Keep Rust+ enabled and the companion port reachable: what server owners need.

Before you add any bot to Discord

• Check what it asks for. A team bot needs your Rust+ credentials, which let it act as a Rust+ device on your Steam account. Hosted services keep them on their servers; with a self-hosted bot they stay on your own machine. Only give credentials to a service you trust.
• Check Discord permissions. Many bots ask for Administrator. The official rustplusplus setup does too, because the bot creates and manages its own category and channels. Grant that only to a bot you host yourself or fully trust, ideally in a Discord server just for your team.
• Plan for wipes. Smart devices disappear with every map wipe, so expect to pair them again on force wipe day.