How to Use a Custom Domain Name on your Rust Server

Knowledgebase

You can connect to a Rust server using its IP address, but setting up a custom domain name adds a professional touch and simplifies the connection process as it is much easier to remember.

Locating your Server IP

To get started, you need to identify the address of the server you want to join. If you own a Shockbyte server, you can find your server's address on your Rust Server Panel. This will be labeled as Server Address, as shown in the screenshot below.

In the example above, the server address is 149.56.82.115:15100. The server's IP is the set of numbers before the : symbol. The numbers following the colon symbol are the server's port.

Setting up a Custom Domain Name

After purchasing a domain name from your preferred provider, you will need to configure your server's number IP address in the advanced domain DNS settings.

For the purpose of this tutorial, we will be using Namecheap to set up our custom domain, however, the steps will be similar for all domain providers. Alternatively, check out the official Rust documentation on custom domain usage.

Navigate to your domain list and click manage next to your desired domain name.
Open the Advanced DNS settings.
Add a new A Record.
In the Host field, enter your desired prefix. For example, for na1.dontgrief.me you would enter na1 into the host field. If you don't want a domain prefix, enter @ here.
In the Value field, enter your server IP excluding the port, then click the confirm button.
After it saves, add a new SRV Record.
In the Service field, enter _rust. In the Protocol field, enter _udp.<subdomain>, so we will enter _udp.example.

If you used @ in your A Record, just enter _udp here.
Enter your desired priority and weight, if you are unsure, just enter 1 for both.
In the Port field, enter your server port. This should be 15100 in most cases.
In the Target field, enter your domain including your custom subdomain. In this case, we will enter example.dontgrief.me.

If you used the @ symbol in the A Record earlier, just use your domain name as the target (dontgrief.me).
Click the Save Changes button.