Scenes and Maps
RustEdit uses three kinds of file. You work in a scene. You export a map for Rust. You keep each custom monument in a monument file. This page explains what each file keeps and why you keep the scene. For the steps, see Create, Open and Save and Save and Export.
The three files
| File | What it is | You make it with | What it keeps |
|---|---|---|---|
.scene | Your working file. RustEdit's own file. | and | Everything you made: the terrain and the live terrain changes on top of it, every object with its name, group, lock and hide, every spline with all its knots and settings, placed monuments as links to their files, socket links, painted custom topology maps, loot and vending profiles, and the map password. |
.map | The game file. Rust loads it. | Rust's data, and RustEdit's own data. See What a map holds. | |
.asset | A custom monument. | while a monument is open | One monument: its prefabs, splines, terrain, blend map and settings. It never has a password. See Monuments. |
Other tools keep their own files, such as terrain graphs and loot profiles. See File types.
Why you keep the scene
The export makes a finished copy of your map for Rust. It flattens your work:
- Every terrain change goes into one finished terrain. The changes of prefabs, monuments and terrain splines are no longer live.
- Groups are gone. Each prefab is on its own.
- A placed monument becomes loose prefabs. The link to its file is gone.
- Roads, rivers and rails become Rust's paths: lists of points along the line, not your knots.
RustEdit can open the .map again, but it cannot bring all of this back. So keep the .scene file. Make your changes in it, and export again each time you want a new .map.
The workflow
| Step | What you do | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Work | Make or open a map, and edit it. | The map in RustEdit. |
| 2. Save | (Ctrl+Shift+S). The first save asks for a name. | mymap.scene |
| 3. Export | mymap.scene saved again, and mymap.map next to it | |
| 4. Upload | Give mymap.map to your server. | The map on the server. |
| 5. Change | Open mymap.scene, not the .map. Edit, then export again. | A new mymap.map |
The export replaces a .map file of the same name without asking. If you placed CCTV cameras, the export also writes a list of their IDs next to the map. See Save and Export.
What a map holds
A .map file has two parts.
| Part | What is in it | Who reads it |
|---|---|---|
| Rust's data | The terrain, the water, the prefabs Rust places itself, and the roads, rivers, rails and power lines as Rust paths. | Every Rust server, and RustEdit. |
| RustEdit's data | Game entities such as IO entities, loot containers and building blocks, with their settings and wires. Custom data and trigger settings of the other prefabs. APC paths, the cargo path and cargo stops. Plain splines, terrain splines and prefab splines. Painted custom topology maps. Loot and vending profiles. | The RustEdit 2 server extension, and RustEdit. |
Rust itself reads only the first part. It places the prefabs and gives each one its category. On a server, only the RustEdit 2 server extension, Oxide.Ext.RustEdit.dll, reads the second part. A server without it still loads the map, but the game entities are not spawned and the rest is not used. Maps larger than 6000 also need the extension.
The full lists are in What goes into the map.
When you open a map
You can open any .map file: from Rust, from another editor, or from RustEdit. RustEdit reads Rust's data. When RustEdit exported the map, it also reads RustEdit's data back.
What comes back
| From the map | In RustEdit |
|---|---|
| The terrain | One finished terrain, with every change already in it. The prefabs' Terrain Modifier switches are off, so their changes are not made a second time. |
| The prefabs | Each prefab at its place, with its category. The parts of a placed monument are loose prefabs. |
| Roads, rivers, rails and power lines | One spline entity for each path, named after it, for example "Road 0". A road, river or rail has a knot at every point of the path, many more than you drew. See Splines. |
| Game entities | Back with their settings and wires. |
| Custom data and trigger settings | Back on their prefabs. |
| APC paths, the cargo path and cargo stops | Made again from the exported points, with fewer knots. |
| Plain splines | Back as they were. |
| Terrain splines | Back with Apply off. The terrain already has their changes. See Terrain splines. |
| Prefab splines | Back, with their prefabs in their group. See Prefab splines. |
| Custom topology maps, loot and vending profiles | Back. |
Maps from the older RustEdit open too, with the data it kept in them. See Older maps and prefabs.
What only the scene keeps
- Groups and the hierarchy. The prefabs come back at the top of the Hierarchy. The groups of prefab splines are the only groups in the map.
- Placed monuments as monuments, with their link to the file and their Apply switches.
- Live terrain changes. You cannot switch off or move a change that is in the finished terrain.
- Your road, river and rail splines as you drew them, with the links between them and the side topology settings.
- Socket links.
- Names, lock and hide of the prefabs Rust places itself, and of roads, rivers, rails and power lines. Game entities and the other splines keep theirs.
Save a map you opened
The first Save asks for a scene name, in the map's folder. Then the scene is your working file.
If the scene has the same name as the map, in the same folder, Save and Export writes over that .map. Pick another name, or keep a copy of the map.
Passwords, auto save and multiplayer
- Map password. With RustEdit Plus, a password locks the scene and RustEdit's data in the map. Rust's data stays open, so any server loads the map. Monument files never have a password. See Map password.
- Auto save. Auto save copies the map into scene files in the autosave folder, without the password. Your own file does not change. See Auto save.
- Multiplayer. People who join a session get a copy of the host's map, with no file name and no password. If they save, they save their own copy. See Join a session.
Monument files and other computers
A scene keeps only a link to each placed monument. To open the scene on another computer, copy the monument files into that computer's Custom Monuments folder too. The exported .map needs no monument files: the monuments' prefabs and terrain are in it. See Linked monuments.