Rust players share the one true method to dealing with cheaters: Suck it up

The Rust community has been dealing with cheaters since the game’s early access days, and many players have taken to Reddit to express their disdain and concerns over the problem. Some question the effectiveness of the game’s anti-cheat feature, while others debate over Facepunch, Modded, or Community servers.

While seasoned Rust players have grown used to the issue and can often distinguish a cheater from a legitimately skilled player, newer players might not have the same amount of insight and experience. 

A Redditor recently wrote about encountering players who’d “literally do a 180 out of nowhere and boom…. dead,” sparking a discussion about whether these players were actually skilled or just cheaters equipped with the latest hacks. They also wondered whether the official servers were better and carried less of a cheater risk than modded ones. 

However, the community’s response was more of a gesture of sympathy rather than an outright solution, with one user stating that there are “undetected cheaters in almost every server.” Another suggested never playing on official Facepunch servers as they often have no admin moderating their events or managing issues like cheaters and toxicity.

Modded and Community servers, on the other hand, are often moderated and have active admins. Even so, it takes a significant amount of time for a cheater to get reviewed and banned after they’re reported, which can often result in significant damage to legitimate players on the server.

So, what is the solution? Turns out, there may not be one. Browse the subreddit and you’ll find a lively discussion about Rust’s “massive cheating problem,” which led to a conversation about it being a problem in every game. A user argued that the impact of cheating is stronger in Rust as compared to other games, “primarily due to the time investment.” Players often dedicate hours and even days towards grinding, winning fights, raiding, participating in events, building their bases, and decorating them, and for a cheater to instantly loot or destroy everything can deal a devastating blow to their Rust experience.

While Rust’s developers continue to add new features to the game every month, their and the community’s battle against cheaters continues at pace. While smaller Community and Modded servers can offer some respite, you’ll largely need to rely on the admin or the game’s anti-cheat system to detect them once reported. However, with many cheaters having multiple accounts, the only “solution” may be to suck it up and move on to your next raid.