How to Control the Cargo Ship Event on Your Rust Server

Note:

You can run these commands from the server console, the in-game F1 console, or remotely through RCON.

Commands entered in the F1 console or RCON only work for users with admin privileges – see How to Set Administrators on Your Rust Server.

If you prefer to manage them remotely, check out our guide How to Set Up RCON on Your Rust Server.

1. Log In to Your Panel

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2. Select the ‘Console’ Tab

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3. Enter the Command in the Console

Type the desired command in the console field.

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4. Enable or Disable the Event

You can enable or disable the Cargo Ship event using the server console.
If you want the change to persist after restarts, you must also add the command to your server.cfg file (explained in Step 8).

• To enable the event (automatic ship spawn):

cargoship.event_enabled true

• To disable the event:

cargoship.event_enabled false

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5. Adjust Event Settings

These settings control how the ship behaves (duration, loot waves, NPCs). Add or modify them in server.cfg for persistence.

• How long the ship stays active
  cargoship.event_duration_minutes <value> → default 50 minutes
• Time it takes to leave the map
  cargoship.egress_duration_minutes <value> → default 10 minutes
• How many loot waves spawn
  cargoship.loot_round_spacing_minutes <value> → default 10
• Time between loot waves
  cargoship.loot_rounds <value> → default 3
• Toggles scientist NPCs on the ship
  ai.npc_spawn_on_cargo_ship <true/false> → default true

Tip: Increase loot rounds or spacing for larger fights; disable NPCs for PvE servers.

Higher loot rounds = longer PvP fights
Longer event duration = more player interaction
Disabling NPCs is useful for PvE servers

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6. Manually Spawn the Cargo Ship

Note:

While in-game with admin rights, open the F1 console and type:

spawn cargoshiptest

If successful, the console will show that the entity was spawned along with its coordinates.

Tip: If you want the ship only to spawn manually, set cargoship.event_enabled to false, then use spawn cargoshiptest when you’re ready.

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7. Remove a Cargo Ship (Cleanup)

If you need to despawn the ship early, look directly at it in-game and type in F1 console:

ent kill

This instantly removes the ship and all related entities.

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8. Make the Change Permanent

If you want your Cargo Ship settings to stay active after every restart, you must add the commands from Steps 4 and 5 to your server.cfg file.

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8.1. Select the ‘Files’ Tab

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8.2. Locate the ‘cfg’ Folder

This folder is located at /home/container/server/rust/cfg.

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8.3. Create a New ‘server.cfg’ File

If you already have a ‘server.cfg’ file, you can skip Steps 8 and 9 and go directly to Step 10.

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8.4. Select the ‘Create File’ Button at the Bottom

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8.5. Enter the Name ‘server.cfg’

Enter the file name in the ‘File Name’ field as ‘server.cfg’.

Select the ‘Create File’ button.

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8.6. Edit the ‘server.cfg’ File

Add each command on a new line, for example:

• cargoship.event_enabled true
• cargoship.event_duration_minutes 40
• cargoship.egress_duration_minutes 10
• cargoship.loot_rounds 3
• cargoship.loot_round_spacing_minutes 10
• ai.npc_spawn_on_cargo_ship true

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8.7. Select the ‘Save Content’ Button

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8.8. Restart Your Server

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