How to Add a Custom 256×256 Icon to Your Rust Server

A custom Rust server icon gives players a recognizable logo when they open your server’s details. The same icon can also appear in Rust+ for players who have paired the app with your server.

The setup is short: create a square image, host it at a public direct URL, add that URL to server.logoimage, and restart the server from the updated startup configuration.

Choose the correct image setting

Rust has separate settings for two server images:

• server.logoimage controls the circular server icon shown in the in-game server details and Rust+.
• server.headerimage controls the rectangular header image associated with the server listing or connection window.

Use server.logoimage when you want to add the small, circular logo. Changing server.headerimage will affect the header instead and will not configure the icon covered in this guide.

1. Create a 256×256 image

Prepare the icon as a 256×256-pixel PNG or JPG. Facepunch recommends this size for custom server icons.

Rust displays the square source image inside a circle. The corners will therefore be hidden. Keep the server name, mascot, initials, or other essential artwork near the center, with some empty space around it.

A simple composition usually works best:

• Use one recognizable symbol or short set of initials.
• Center the important artwork horizontally and vertically.
• Keep text and fine details away from all four edges.
• Preview the design through a circular mask before exporting it.
• Export the finished file as .png or .jpg.

The file itself remains square; you do not need to cut it into a circle. Rust applies the circular presentation.

2. Upload the icon to a public direct URL

Upload the PNG or JPG somewhere the server can access without signing in. Copy the file’s direct URL, not the address of a gallery, sharing page, or preview webpage.

A suitable URL looks like this:

https://example.com/images/rust-server-icon.png

The URL should lead directly to the image file. As a practical check, open it in a private browser window where you are not signed in. If you see a hosting page, permission prompt, or download-selection screen instead of the image itself, you probably copied an intermediate page rather than the direct file address.

3. Add server.logoimage to the startup configuration

Open the launch script, command line, or startup-parameter field used to start your Rust dedicated server. Add this parameter, replacing the example address with your direct image URL:

+server.logoimage "https://example.com/images/rust-server-icon.png"

Keep the quotation marks around the URL. In a complete startup command, the parameter can sit alongside the server’s other options:

RustDedicated.exe -batchmode +server.port 28015 +server.hostname "My Rust Server" +server.logoimage "https://example.com/images/rust-server-icon.png"

If your host provides a control panel, look for a startup parameters, command line, or launch options field. Edit the configuration that the panel actually uses when starting the server.

Do not substitute server.headerimage here. A header-image parameter would look similar, but it targets the rectangular header rather than the circular icon:

+server.headerimage "https://example.com/images/server-header.jpg"

4. Restart and verify the icon

Save the edited startup configuration, stop the server cleanly, and start it again using that configuration. Startup parameters are applied when the Rust dedicated server launches, so simply saving the file without restarting is not enough.

After the server is available:

1. Find it in Rust’s in-game server browser.
2. Open the server details and inspect the circular icon.
3. If your device is paired with the server, check its appearance in Rust+ as well.

Those are the two icon placements documented by Facepunch.

Troubleshooting a missing or badly cropped icon

The URL opens a webpage instead of the file

server.logoimage requires a direct URL to the PNG or JPG. Return to your image host and copy the raw file address rather than its share-page address. Also confirm that the file can be reached publicly without an account or permission prompt.

The file uses another format

Facepunch specifies PNG and JPG files for the custom icon. Re-export formats such as WebP, SVG, GIF, or a design-project file as .png or .jpg, upload the new file, and update the startup URL if its address changed.

Renaming a file extension is not the same as converting the image. Export or convert the actual file contents to PNG or JPG.

The logo is cut off

Rust presents the icon as a circle, so material in the square image’s corners will disappear. Move the artwork toward the center, reduce its size slightly, and preview it through a circular mask. Upload the corrected image and restart the server if necessary.

Final checklist

Before testing again, confirm that:

• The image is 256×256 pixels.
• The file is a PNG or JPG.
• Important artwork fits inside a centered circle.
• The URL is public and points directly to the image.
• The startup configuration contains +server.logoimage "https://...".
• You restarted the server using the edited configuration.
• You checked the in-game server details and, if paired, Rust+.

The authoritative requirements are documented in Facepunch’s Custom Server Icon guide. Its server creation documentation also shows how startup parameters work and identifies server.headerimage as the separate server-picture setting.