Steps and Presets
The Procedural Generation panel lists Rust's map generation steps in the order Rust runs them. Each row shows its group, dim on the right. This page says what each group does and lists its steps, then explains presets. See Procedural Generation for how to run the steps.
Step groups
The steps come from the Rust game files, so a Rust update can add, remove or rename steps. The lists below are the 84 steps of the Rust version this page was written for, in the order they run.
| Group | What its steps do | Steps |
|---|---|---|
| Terrain | Make and finish the terrain maps: height, biome, topology and splat, erosion, and the topology flags for the ocean, cliffs and clutter. | Procedural Objects 1, Height Map, Biome Map, Topology Map, Splat Map, Terrain Erosion, Ocean Topology 1, Cliff Topology 1, Terrain Erosion splatting, Procedural Objects 2, Ocean Topology 2, Cliff Topology 2, Clutter Topology |
| Monuments | Place monuments and big landforms from Rust's monument folders. | Mountains, Canyons, Jungle Swamps, Lakes, Oasis, Harbors, Fishing Villages, Desert Military, Arctic Bases, Main Monuments, Tunnel Entrances, Tiny Monuments, Jungle Ruins, Swamps, Ice Lakes, Road Monuments, Water Treatment Pipes, Caves, Underwater Labs, Offshore Monuments, Lighthouses |
| Paths | Lay out rivers, roads, trails, rails and power lines, cut them into the terrain, paint and flag them, and place the objects along them. | River Layout, River Topology, River Terrain, River Texture, River Objects, Rail Ring, Rail Layout, Rail Branching, Rail Siding, Rail Terrain, Road Ring, Road Layout, Trail Layout, Road Topology, Rail Topology, Road Terrain, Road Texture, Rail Texture, Road Substations, Power Line Layout, Power Line Topology, Power Line Substations, Telephone Poles, Transmission Towers, Road Objects |
| Tunnels | Build the train tunnel network under the map. | Tunnels |
| Underwater | Build the underwater labs out from their entrances. | Underwater Entrances |
| Rocks | Place chains of cliff pieces on coasts and hills. | Coastal Cliffs, Coastal Cliffs Small, Cliffs Hills, Cliffs Hills Small |
| Decor | Scatter rocks, ice, wrecks and vines by filters and noise. | Cliffs Jutting, Cliffs Jutting Arctic, Coastal Rocks Large Arctic, Coastal Rocks Large, Coastal Rocks, Rock Formations, Rock Formations Arctic, Medium Rock Formations, Arid Rock Formations, Shore Ice, Small Rock Formations Arctic, Small Rock Formations Arid, Small Rock Formations Jungle, River Rocks, Icebergs, Icesheets, Roadside Wrecks (v3_road_vehicles), Roadside Wrecks (v3_road_vehicles_snow), Place Vine Trees |
| Custom | Your own monument steps. They run where you put them. | Any you add |
Things to know about the steps
- The groups are mixed in the run order. For example, the Mountains step runs right after Splat Map and before Terrain Erosion.
- Rust runs a few steps twice. Each run of them is its own step with its own settings: Procedural Objects 1 and 2, Ocean Topology 1 and 2, Cliff Topology 1 and 2.
- When two steps have the same name, the folder they place from is added in brackets, such as Roadside Wrecks (v3_road_vehicles).
- The steps before Terrain Erosion bake what they place into the terrain. See How the terrain is handled during a run.
- Some world settings skip steps. For example, with Rivers off, River Layout does not run.
- Steps that only build meshes, and steps that Rust's server does not run, are not listed.
Presets
A preset holds your procedural setup. The Preset list at the top of the panel picks the one in use. There is always a preset called Default.
What a preset keeps
A preset keeps only what you changed:
| Kept | Details |
|---|---|
| Steps turned off | Every other step runs. |
| Step settings | Only settings that differ from the default. Set a value back to its default, and it leaves the preset. |
| World settings | Only settings that differ from the default. |
| Custom monument steps | Their names, where they run, their monument lists and their settings. |
| Seed | Empty means a new random seed each run. |
The default values are read from the Rust game files each time. So when a Rust update changes a default, your presets get the new default, and your own changes stay.
Work with presets
- A preset saves itself as you change it. There is no save button.
- Save As (the copy button beside the list) saves the preset in use under a new name, and switches to it. The name must be one a file can have, and must not be taken.
- Delete (the trash button) deletes the preset in use, after you confirm, and switches to Default.
- Default cannot be deleted. Delete on it asks "Put the Default preset back to default settings?" and clears it.
- RustEdit remembers the last preset you used and picks it the next time.
Where presets are kept
Each preset is one JSON file in the Configuration/Procedural folder next to the RustEdit app. The file name is the preset's name.
To share a preset, send its JSON file. The other person copies it into their own Configuration/Procedural folder and restarts RustEdit. A preset with custom monument steps needs the same custom monuments in their custom monuments folder.