About Rust Data Lab

Where the numbers come from

The starting point is Steam's public Rust server list: the name, player count, queue and tags each server publishes. Where a server answers a direct query, we also collect map seed, FPS and entity count. Some servers do not answer, and for those you will see only what Steam publishes. That gap is worth knowing about before you compare two servers.

From these sources Rust Data Lab keeps a record for each public server: current players, wipe dates, settings and a ranking built on the last week of hourly player counts. A server that holds a steady population ranks above one that fills for a single evening after a wipe. Ordering on the server browser follows measured players, not payment.

What you can test

The aim is to let you ask a question and check it against the data. Does a Thursday wipe hold more players than one on a Monday? Do EU servers average more players than US ones at the same hour? The wipe schedule and live player count pages give you the samples; the comparisons are yours to run.

If something looks wrong

Server details come from the servers themselves. A wrong map, a missing tag or an odd player figure is usually corrected in the server's own settings, and the change shows here within about five minutes. If it still looks wrong, email hello@rustdatalab.org.

Independence

Rust Data Lab is run by Rust players and has no connection to Facepunch Studios; nothing here is endorsed by them. Server names, descriptions and images stay the property of the people who run those servers. Where the data is thin, we say so rather than fill the gap.