Does updating Carbon delete my plugins or configs?

It shouldn't — Carbon updates replace the framework files, not your carbon/plugins/, carbon/configs/ or carbon/data/ folders. But back those three folders up anyway before every update; it costs seconds and saves wipes.

How often should I update Carbon?

At minimum, on the first Thursday of each month with the force wipe. Carbon ships a build tracking each Facepunch update. Updating the game without updating Carbon is the fastest way to break every plugin at once.

Should I use the production or staging Carbon branch?

Production. The staging/develop branch tracks Rust's staging branch and will not match your live server. Only touch staging if you are testing against Rust's staging build deliberately.

How to Update Carbon Without Breaking Plugins

Carbon releases a new build for every Facepunch update. The update itself is simple: drop in new files. The reason admins dread it is that the monthly game update underneath it breaks plugins — so "updating Carbon" really means "the whole monthly maintenance pass." Treat it as a checklist, not a single action.

Before you touch anything: back up three folders

Carbon updates only replace framework files, but make a copy regardless. Zip these:

carbon/configs/    ← your plugin configuration
carbon/data/       ← player data, kits, zones, economy balances
carbon/plugins/    ← the .cs plugin files themselves

That zip is your rollback. If an update goes wrong, you restore these three folders and you've lost nothing.

Step 1 — update the Rust dedicated server first

Carbon builds target a specific game version. Update the game via SteamCMD (or your host's update button) before Carbon, so Carbon lands on the version it was built for.

steamcmd +login anonymous +app_update 258550 validate +quit

Step 2 — swap in the new Carbon build

Download the latest production build from the Carbon releases page. Stop the server, extract the archive over your server root, and let it overwrite the carbon/ framework files and the harmony/managed libraries. Your plugins/, configs/ and data/folders are not in the archive, so they're untouched.

Step 3 — boot and verify Carbon

Start the server and confirm Carbon loaded against the new game version:

c.version          # Carbon build
c.plugins          # list loaded plugins + their status

Read the plugin list carefully. Anything that didn't compile shows here, not in a quiet log you'll miss.

Step 4 — update plugins that broke

This is the real work. Any plugin showing a compile error or hook exception needs its latest version. Pull updates from uMod / Codefling, drop the new .cs into carbon/plugins/, and Carbon hot-reloads it. If a plugin still won't load after updating, work through Carbon plugins not loading.

Reality check: a few plugins always lag the update by a day or two. Check each critical plugin's page in our directory for its current compatibility verdict before wipe day so there are no surprises.

Step 5 — roll back if it's a disaster

If the server won't stay up, restore the previous Carbon build and your backed-up three folders, and run on the old game version until the plugin ecosystem catches up. It's better to be a day behind than to run a broken server through a wipe.

The monthly cadence

Build this into your routine: game update → Carbon build → verify → update broken plugins → spot-check the server in-game. Do it the evening before the first-Thursday force wipe and you'll never be the server that's down when players log in for fresh map. For the bigger picture, see Carbon vs Oxide and the Rust server setup guide.

How to Update Carbon Without Losing Your Plugins