Host a Rust server without port forwarding

Why Rust wants a relay address

A Rust server tells Steam its own address. Behind a router that won't forward, Steam lists an address nobody can reach. With Relay address your server gets an address on the relay and its traffic leaves from there, so Steam lists the relay and players join from the browser. It's how we tested it: a real Rust server behind a Linux host, listed by Steam at the relay's address and joined by a real player, whose own home address the server logged.

Setting it up

Create an account, then New relay. Pick Rust as the game, Europe or the US as the region, the free plan and Relay address under How your server connects.
On the machine the server runs on, install the agent from the download page and sign in:
```
natchplay login
```
Bring the relay address up on this machine. On Linux the agent carries it itself:
```
natchplay relay add yourname
```
On Windows it's Windows' own VPN client that carries it, which the agent sets up and connects:
```
natchplay layer3 windows yourname --apply --connect
```
The machine's own traffic stays on your connection, only traffic from the relay address goes through the relay.
Start the server on the relay address, which your relay's page on natchplay.com shows as What your server binds. On Windows the agent prints it too:
```
RustDedicated -batchmode +server.ip <relay address> +server.port 28015
```
Then, as an administrator, natchplay service install so the agent starts with the machine.
Players find your server in Rust's server browser, or join it from the address Steam lists.

On Windows we've connected Windows' VPN client to a relay and checked the server's traffic leaves from the relay while the PC's own stays home. The Steam listing and real player join above were on Linux.

Admin access

RCON stays private, the relay never carries it unless you add its port yourself. Admin from the machine itself or your own network.

How far 50 GB goes

A real player on a busy public Rust server used 181 kbit/s, measured on 28 October 2026 over 40 minutes of play. That's about 600 hours of one player a month. A relay that uses it all stops carrying players until the 1st, or you can move it to the relay plan with 1 TB a month.