IO in Play Mode

RustEdit Plus

In Play mode, the map's IO entities run as they do on a Rust server. Power goes from generators and batteries through switches, gates and branches to lights, door controllers and card readers. You walk up to a switch, press E, and the light comes on. This lets you test your circuits and your monument puzzles before you export the map.

IO runs only while you play. While you edit, RustEdit shows each entity as the map has it and moves no power. When you stop, everything goes back.

When play starts

• Every IO entity starts fresh, as on a server that spawns the map. Each one keeps the on and off state the map has.
• Power sources start to send power about one second after play starts.
• The wires inside Rust's monument prefabs join in, so a monument's own puzzle works with the wires you made. These wires are never shown and never saved.
• A door controller works the door that Rust's prefab gives it. If it has none, it takes the nearest door, as a server does when it spawns the map.

Use things

Look at the thing within 3 m. The line under the crosshair says what E does. Press E. You do not need the items the game asks for: you act as if you had them.

Thing	Line under the crosshair	What happens
Doors that open by hand	Open Door / Close Door	The door opens or closes.
Switches and smart switches	Turn On / Turn Off	The switch flips.
Fuel generators	Turn On / Turn Off	The generator runs as if it had fuel, and uses none.
Buttons	Press	The button sends power for a short time.
Timer switches	Start Timer	The timer starts. It needs power first.
Card readers	Scan Keycard	Any reader takes the swipe, whatever its color. It needs power. Access stays open until you stop playing.
Monument fuse boxes	Insert Fuse / Remove Fuse	Puts a fuse in or takes it out. The fuse does not wear out.
Heavy fuse boxes at the Power Plant	Insert ... / Take Out Fuses	Puts a heavy fuse in. The fuse does not wear out. On a full box, takes all the fuses out again. See The Power Plant's power grid.
Wheel valves	Turn Wheel	Hold E to turn the wheel. It stops when you let go or walk more than 2 m away.
Water treatment wheels	Insert ... / Turn Wheel / Remove ...	Puts the wheel's item in. With power, hold E to turn the wheel: each turn pushes pressure into the water tank. Without power, takes the item out again.
Gas station car lifts	Raise Lift / Lower Lift	Raises or lowers the lift. A lift starts raised, as on a server.
Batteries	Charge Battery	Fills the battery at once. A battery on a new map is empty and charges slowly.
Water containers	Fill With ... / Empty ...	Fills the container as if you poured water in, or empties it.
Water wells	Pump Water	Pumps the handle.
Reactive targets	Shoot Target / Reset Target	Knocks the target down as if you shot it, or puts it back up.
Boom boxes	Play Radio / Stop Radio	Plays or stops the boom box. RustEdit plays no sound.
Industrial conveyors and crafters	Turn On / Turn Off	Switches them. They need power to switch on.
Lifts	Use Lift	Sends the lift to its next stop.
Elevator buttons	Go Up, Go Down, Go To Top Floor, Go To Bottom Floor	Sends the elevator.

Some things work without E:

• Pressure pads give power when you step on them, and pass their input's power on while you stand on them.
• Solar panels make power from the sun, by how they face it and whether something is in the way. Windmills make power from the wind.
• Lights, sirens, strobes and counter screens show whether they have power.
• RF broadcasters send on their frequency while they have power, and RF receivers on the same frequency pass their power on.
• Water runs down the wires from a container or a pump. A wire can lift water 1 m at most, unless a pump pushes it.
• The water treatment plant's water tank is on while it has pressure from the wheels. The pressure leaks away 10 s after the last push.

The Power Plant's power grid

The Power Plant feeds a power grid, as on a server:

• The heavy fuses in the Power Plant's fuse boxes set the grid's stage. More fuses give a higher stage.
• Some generators wait for a stage. They start when the grid reaches their stage. A circuit fed by such a generator has no power until the heavy fuses are in.
• Each power line access point that you placed in the map gives power from the grid: 5 with one heavy fuse, up to 50 with all of them.

What does not work in Play mode

• Turrets start up when they get power, but they look for no targets and fire nothing.
• CCTV cameras cannot be watched: there is no computer station to watch them from.
• Telephones never ring, so they pass no power on.
• Conveyors and crafters move and craft no items, because RustEdit has no items in containers.
• The coaling tower: it needs trains, which RustEdit does not run.
• The power line access points that a server puts on power line poles. The server places them by its own seed, so RustEdit cannot know where. Only the access points you placed in the map work.
• The water treatment plant gives no extra water to water catchers. RustEdit collects no water.

The keycard puzzles of the monuments work: insert the fuse, turn on the switch, scan the card, and the door opens. They were checked at the Satellite Dish, Sphere Tank, Power Plant, Ferry Terminal, Harbor, Airfield and Launch Site.

When you stop

Everything goes back to how the map has it:

• Every entity's on and off state: doors, lights, switches, card readers and the like.
• Battery charges, counters, wheels, sliding doors and the doors that door controllers work.
• Lifts, car lifts and elevators go back to where they were.
• The water treatment wheels and tank, the heavy fuse boxes and the Power Plant's power grid go back too.
• Timers and power on its way are dropped. The monument wires are taken out again.

Nothing you did while playing is saved.

Tips

• Walk through each puzzle in Play mode before you export the map. It is faster than testing it on a server.
• Before you play, select an entity and check its wires in the Inspector, or turn on the plug button in the scene view header to see every wire. See IO wiring.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to do
Nothing gets power	The circuit needs a power source, such as a generator, battery or solar panel. Power starts about one second after play starts. Check the wires in the Inspector after you stop.
A card reader shows no Scan Keycard	The reader needs power, and it must not be open already.
A timer shows no Start Timer	The timer needs power on its power input, and it must not be running.
A battery gives no power	A battery on a new map is empty. Look at it and press E to charge it.
A generator at a monument gives no power	It may wait for a stage of the Power Plant's power grid. Put heavy fuses in the Power Plant's fuse boxes. See The Power Plant's power grid.
A door controller does nothing	It needs a door within 1 m. Check Has Valid Placement in its Door Manipulator panel.

Related

• Play mode
• IO wiring
• Card Reader
• Press Button
• Timer Switch