Skip to content
Crucible Grounds Crucible Docs

Run a custom map on your server

Crucible Local Server runs custom Rust maps as easily as procedural ones. You assign a .map file to a server, choose how it reaches the Rust dedicated server, and start. Terrain made in Crucible Heightmap skips the file juggling entirely: the Send to Server handoff drops a generated map onto a running server in one click.

The maps library

Section titled “The maps library”

The Map tab holds your maps library. From there you can:

  • Assign a .map file to the current server.
  • Delete maps you no longer need.
  • See which map a server is set to load.

Setting a server to a custom map drops its procedural settings (seed and world size), because the map file defines the world instead.

How a custom map is delivered

Section titled “How a custom map is delivered”

Rust loads a custom map from a URL, so Crucible Local Server gives you three delivery options:

  • Local file: the map loads straight from disk through a file:/// path. This is the default and the simplest for a server on your own PC.
  • LAN host: the app runs a small HTTP host on your local network while the server is up, so other machines on your LAN can pull the map. Useful when friends on your network join.
  • Hosted URL: point at a map you have hosted online.

The Heightmap Send to Server handoff

Section titled “The Heightmap Send to Server handoff”

The fastest way to test custom terrain is to send it straight from Crucible Heightmap:

  1. Generate your island terrain in Crucible Heightmap and export it as a .map file.
  2. Use Send to Server. Crucible Local Server imports the .map into its maps library and offers to create a server from it.
  3. Start the server and join to walk your map in first person.

That closes the loop between the two apps: a map you just generated is one click from a running server.

Testing a map in-game

Section titled “Testing a map in-game”

Walking your map in first person is the surest way to catch terrain that does not play well, monuments in bad spots, or cliffs that block movement. For the wider workflow and what a finished custom map looks like in game, see test your map on a local Rust server.

Section titled “Related”