How To Use The Rust Vanish Plugin

The Vanish plugin is one of the most popular administration tools available for Rust servers. Designed primarily for moderators and administrators, it allows authorized players to become invisible to other users while remaining active in the game world. This makes it useful for investigating player reports, monitoring potential cheaters, assisting players without causing distractions, and managing events without interfering with normal gameplay.

One reason for the plugin’s popularity is its zero overhead design and compatibility with other plugins. It also supports original Vanish API functionality, making it easier for developers to integrate moderation features into custom server setups.

Installation Instructions

To install the Vanish Rust plugin:

1. Visit uMod and search for Vanish, or use this link.

2. Download the latest free public version of the plugin.

3. Open your File Manager, FTP program, or server folder.

4. Navigate to the oxide/plugins directory

5. Drop the plugin files in the directory.

6. Restart your server or use the oxide.reload command.

7. The Vanish plugin should be running after your server restart! After it loads for the first time, the config files will be loaded so you can start editing them.

Vanish Plugin Configuration

Assigning Permissions

The next thing you need to do is assign some permissions. This will allow your moderators and admins to use the plugin’s features and prevent non-admin players from abusing them.

Like many Rust plugins, Vanish uses Oxide’s permission system to determine which players can access specific functionality. A list of permissions includes:

• vanish.allow - Required to go invisible

• vanish.unlock - Allows a vanished administrator to unlock all locks

• vanish.damage - Allows a vanished player to damage other entities. Requires “Use OnEntityTakeDamage hook” config option to be set to true.

• vanish.permanent - Forces a player into a persisted vanish state.

• vanish.invviewer - Allows use of /inv command and viewing containers using the interaction feature

• vanish.teleport - Allows vanished users to teleport using map markers (also needs to be enabled via the config)

In your server console, type in the following command:

oxide.grant [user or group] [group name or player Steam ID] [permission]

For example:

oxide.grant group moderator vanish.allow

These console commands can be used to grant access to a specified player or an entire staff group.

Additional Features in the Configuration File

Aside from permissions, there are some other config options for you to play around with. You can find your configuration file in the oxide/config folder. Here you should see a JSON file called Vanish.json.

These options include, but aren’t limited to:

• Auto Vanish - Should players should be vanished automatically when they connect or disconnect?

• Auto Teleportation - Should players should be automatically teleported when they vanish?

• Auto Noclip - Should players automatically run noclip command when they vanish?

• Notification Settings - Should notifications be printed in chat?

• Sound Effects - Choose sound paths for SFX.

• Visual Indicator Image settings - Some GUI settings for the indicator. Options include visual indicator image address, visual indicator anchor max, and visual indicator anchor min

• Vanish Icon Settings - Change the appearance of the vanish icon.

• Certain restrictions on anti-cheat and game features - Includes fly hack bans, metabolism, and bypassing other violation checks.

The plugin’s configuration focuses on providing only most necessary functions and customizations while maintaining performance and avoiding unnecessary garbage allocations.

Using the Vanish Plugin In-Game

Chat Commands

The Vanish plugin has two chat commands:

• /vanish - Toggles vanish state, making the player fully invisible or leave invisibility. You are immune to incoming damage while vanished.

• /inv [player name or steamID] - Allows a vanished server admin to view other players’ inventories.

The forward slash commands are simple to remember and provide quick access to the plugin’s key features.

The inventory viewer is commonly referred to as the inventory spy function, allowing administrators to inspect inventories without alerting the target player.

Interacting With Objects, Players, and Inventories

While in vanish, invisible players can use their reload key to interact with various objects including containers, doors, vehicles, and other players. This works by checking the object you’re looking at and seeing if it’s an interactable object.

• Players - Looking at a player and pressing R will view that players inventory. Administrators can even loot players when permitted by server settings.

• NPCs - Looking at an NPC and pressing R will view the NPC’s inventory, allowing you to view, manage, or loot NPCs remotely.

• Doors - Looking at a door and pressing R will toggle it open or closed bypassing all locks in place.

• Containers - This allows all containers to be viewed bypassing all locks and toolcupboard requirments.

• Vehicles - Pressing R while looking at a vehicle will mount the vanished player to the closesest mounting position relative to where they are looking bypassing all locked entities.

Conclusion

The Vanish plugin is an essential administration tool for many Rust servers. By allowing staff members to become invisible, it provides a safe and effective way to monitor players, investigate reports, assist community members, and manage server events.

Once installed, configured, and assigned through the proper permissions, Vanish becomes a valuable part of any moderation toolkit. Whether you’re running a small private server or a large public community, learning how to use the Vanish plugin can help improve moderation efficiency and create a better experience for your players.