Rust dedicated hosting for a small friend group (wipe cycles, Oxide, Oceania)
You’re not filling a 125-slot browser listing. You want a private (or quiet semi-private) wipe for a Discord of friends, Oxide kits when you want them, and a host that survives force wipe Tuesday without the AU/NZ half rubber-banding into the ocean. Slots are cheap to advertise; RAM + wipe tooling + region are what you actually buy.
The job: small-squad wipe, not a public queue
- Players: roughly 8–40 friends max for this page. Host “75 / 125 slot” cards are for public servers — your Discord size is the filter.
- Map / RAM: Facepunch’s own dedicated-server notes put free RAM around 12 GB as a baseline (larger maps want more). An 8 GB “40 slot” plan can be fine for a small procedural map and light plugins — thin for a 4.5k+ map + heavy Oxide list.
- Vanilla vs modded: vanilla = stock + maybe Rust+. Modded = Oxide / uMod / Carbon plugins (kits, TPs, clans, gather rates). Confirm the host’s one-click installer before wipe night.
- Wipe cycles: forced monthly map (+ BP on schedule). Friend groups often soft-wipe sooner. Auto-wipe / scheduled wipe support saves a 2 a.m. panic.
- Region: AU/NZ squads want Sydney/Melbourne when listed; Singapore for SEA-heavy Discords. Night 5 goes deeper AU/NZ-only.
Friend-group rule of thumb: start near 8–10 GB for a small map + light Oxide; plan 12 GB+ if the map grows or plugins pile up; treat wipe-day CPU as a separate problem from idle Tuesday ping.
Wipe day vs the rest of the month
- Quiet mid-wipe: a friend group barely stresses most 8–10 GB plans. Lag here is usually region or a runaway plugin.
- Force wipe / first 48 hours: entity creation, monument contention, and plugin hooks spike CPU. Shared hosts throttle; Apex EX (dedicated vCores) exists for this class of load — overkill for many private wipes, relevant if you open the browser.
- Auto-wipe: Shockbyte advertises auto-wipe support on the Rust landing page. Others may expose wipe via panel/cron — TBD unless the product page says so.
- Backups before wipe: copy the world if you soft-wipe mid-month; don’t trust “we’ll remember the seed” folklore.
Comparison: Rust hosts for a small friend wipe
Figures below are from official Rust product / pricing pages (checked Oct 2026). First-month promos noted separately. Taxes, currency localisation, and location stock change — confirm at checkout. Unknowns are marked TBD.
| Host | Friend-wipe plan (typical) | RAM / slots | Oxide / wipe tools | Oceania / SG | Approx. monthly (USD) | Best for this job |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shockbyte AU brand | Wood · 40 players Fuel 75p · Metal 125+ |
8 / 10 / 12 GB+ tiers Metal clears Facepunch’s ~12 GB ballpark |
Auto-install Oxide · uMod · auto-wipe support · Rust+ · custom maps · staging branch · official partnered host claim on page | AU marketing page exists (en-au). Locations listed across reviews include Australia & Singapore — confirm Rust node on order. |
List: $14.99 / $24.99 / $40.00 Wood / Fuel / Metal. Longer terms often discount. |
Default friend-wipe shortlist: Wood for small Discord; Fuel if plugins/map grow. Clearest wipe+Oxide story in this table. |
| Apex Hosting | 4 / 5 / 10 GB Ryzen plans EX Series 16 GB dedicated vCores |
4 GB “minimum” (thin for Rust) · 10 GB advanced/modpacks · 16 GB EX Unlimited slots marketed — pay for RAM |
One-click Oxide/uMod commonly documented for Apex · mods/maps via panel · auto-wipe not called out on the Rust landing page we read (TBD in panel) | EX Series lists Ryzen 7 5800X for APAC/AU. Confirm Sydney (or closest) at checkout for standard tiers. |
Recurring: $14.99 / $18.75 / $35.00 4 / 5 / 10 GB (often 25% off first → ~$11.24 / $14.06 / $26.25). EX 16 GB recurring $71.99 (first ~$53.99). |
Support + wipe-day CPU headroom (EX). Skip 4 GB for anything but a tiny test map. |
| BisectHosting | BisectOne · ~/GB ladder Game swap across 110+ titles |
Scale RAM on one plan · slot count TBD on landing (not printed as Wood/Fuel-style cards) | Integrated Oxide & Carbon · Rust+ · beta branch · 3-day backups · wipe scheduler not highlighted on landing (TBD) | 21 locations incl. Australia. Selector has shown Out of stock / waitlist — treat AU as a checkout checkbox. |
From ~$2.99/GB/mo Example: 8 GB ≈ $23.92 · 12 GB ≈ $35.88 if $2.99 holds. Exact total needs in-stock location. Third-party tables have shown ~$23.99/8 GB — verify live. |
Oxide + Carbon on one panel; only buy if the region you need is actually available. |
| GameTeam | Catalog / all-games picker Dedicated /rust-server-hosting URL returned 404 when checked Oct 2026 |
General catalog: pay per GB · unlimited slots marketed · Rust-specific RAM FAQ TBD | Oxide/uMod / wipe tooling on a Rust product page: TBD (no dedicated landing found) | Region TBD on order — not evidenced as AU/SG-first for Rust. |
Catalog from ~$0.49/GB (site-wide all-games rate) Illustrative only until Rust is selected at checkout — treat price & features as TBD. |
Budget experiment if Rust appears in their installer — ping-test and confirm Oxide before wipe day. |
| Nodecraft | Premium 24/7 (Lite marked “not recommended” for Rust) “Great for small worlds” on 10 GB card |
10 / 12 / 16 GB Premium cards · 2–32 GB custom · unlimited slots | Panel + SFTP · game swap · automated tasks · Oxide/wipe one-click not spelled out on the Rust landing excerpt we captured (TBD in panel/docs) | Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore on Nodecraft location pages — strongest Oceania/SEA story here. Confirm Rust stock on order. |
Premium 10 GB recurring $49.98 (first ~$34.99); 12 GB $59.98 (first ~$41.99); 16 GB first ~$55.99 — 16 GB recurring TBD at checkout Lite starts lower (~$29.80 recurring from comparison table) but page discourages Lite for Rust. |
Oceania ping first, accept higher recurring vs Shockbyte Wood. Prefer Premium 10–12 GB for a friend wipe. |
| PebbleHost | 50 / 75 / 125 / 150 slot cards Billing store may show different 75-slot list price — confirm cart |
8 / 10 / 12 / 14 GB · unmetered SSD · older Xeon/i7 class CPUs listed on product page | One-click Oxide plugin installer · all mods & maps supported (billing copy) · auto 7-day backups · wipe scheduler TBD on product page | Oceania node not called out on the Rust pages we checked (Minecraft Sydney exists separately — don’t assume). Ping = TBD. |
Product page: $14.99 / $19.99 / $27.99 / $39.99 50/8 GB · 75/10 GB · 125/12 GB · 150/14 GB. Billing store listed 75 slots from $21.99 when checked — use checkout total. |
Budget Oxide friend wipe if NA/EU ping is fine; Oceania squads should verify location before paying. |
Sources (Oct 2026): shockbyte.com/games/rust-server-hosting (+ AU page), apexminecrafthosting.com/games/rust-server-hosting, bisecthosting.com/rust-server-hosting (+ BisectOne ~$2.99/GB), gameteam.io/all-games (no dedicated Rust landing; 404 on /rust-server-hosting), nodecraft.com/games/rust, pebblehost.com/game/rust (+ billing store cross-check). No host is crowned “#1”.
Oxide / uMod / Carbon — what to verify
- Shockbyte: auto-install Oxide called out on the Rust page.
- BisectHosting: integrated Oxide & Carbon on the Rust page.
- PebbleHost: built-in Oxide plugin installer (FAQ + billing copy).
- Apex: one-click Oxide/uMod widely documented for their panel; still confirm on your plan.
- Nodecraft / GameTeam: treat framework install as TBD until you see it in the panel for Rust.
Oceania / AU–NZ–SG latency wedge
- Nodecraft: Sydney / Melbourne / Singapore location pages — best published Oceania/SEA story; confirm Rust capacity.
- Shockbyte: Melbourne-based + dedicated Australian Rust marketing URL — still pick the node on order and ping-test.
- BisectHosting: Australia in the 21-location set; stock/waitlist risk is real.
- Apex: APAC/AU EX hardware called out; standard Rust region confirm at checkout.
- PebbleHost / GameTeam: Oceania for Rust not evidenced on pages we read — TBD.
Buy monthly through the first force wipe, measure everyone’s ping on wipe night and a quiet weeknight, then commit.
Practical shortlist (not rankings)
- Small Discord, want auto-wipe + Oxide: Shockbyte Wood ($14.99 / 8 GB / 40 slots) — upgrade to Fuel if the map/plugins grow.
- AU/NZ ping first: Nodecraft Premium 10–12 GB in Sydney/Melbourne — or Shockbyte with confirmed AU node.
- Heavy plugins / wipe-day CPU: Apex 10 GB or EX 16 GB; Bisect at 12 GB+ if location is in stock.
- Budget Oxide, NA/EU OK: PebbleHost 50-slot / 8 GB — reconcile product vs billing price at cart.
- GameTeam: only after Rust appears in the installer with Oxide confirmed — features currently TBD.
Official links (affiliate placeholders)
Buttons below point at official pages today. Tracked affiliate URLs will replace the #aff-* anchors once programs approve — see affiliates.md.
Related
Affiliate disclosure
HostForTheSquad may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page (Shockbyte, Apex, BisectHosting, GameTeam, and others when approved). Commission rates do not decide table rows or “best for” notes. Prices and stock change — always verify on the host’s site before you pay.