Better Chat Rust Plugin

in rust

By Nathan Young

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Overview

Managing and customizing your Rust server can involve many different features, with one of them being chat formatting. This allows you to be recognized as the owner in-game, including admins, moderators, and other roles. These features are controlled by the Better Chat plugin, which adds custom prefixes, colors, and formatting to your chat through unique groups. This type of addon is considered an essential tool for Rust servers, as it allows for chat management control. Whether you’re making a professional or casual server, using this helps achieve your goals. As for the installation, our easy-to-use panel simplifies the entire process for you and other owners. Keeping this in mind, let’s jump into installing and configuring the Better Chat plugin on your Rust server in this Apex Hosting tutorial.
 

Server Installation

1. Navigate to Better Chat on uMod, then click the Download button.
   
2. Save this file at an easily accessible location on your computer.
3. Afterward, head towards your Apex server panel and press FTP File Access at the top left.
   

   Important: Ensure you’re using the correct Server Profile for this installation.

4. Log into this area with your password, then continue to the oxide directory.
   
5. Once there, enter the plugins folder and press Upload near the top left corner.
6. From here, drag and drop the file into the respective section.
   
7. Wait for this to reach 100%, then return to the main panel to Restart the server.

Rust plugins only work if uMod Support is enabled from the Customizations section in the panel. Ensure this is activated before restarting the server with Better Chat, but by default it’s already toggled.

Getting Started

Upon installing Better Chat, there won’t be any noticeable differences. Only after configuring the plugin you’ll start seeing the in-chat format with your groups. Everything is controlled through commands, but there are files for you to review to make manual changes if needed. We’ll be going through all its features, settings, and provide examples for you to get started.

Commands

Using Better Chat commands requires you to be admin or entering them from the Console area in the panel. Regardless of how you use them, they’ll help you create new ranks, prefixes, and color schemes for your server. However, doing this process in-game requires the following command with your account’s name or ID: oxide.grant user [player/SteamID] betterchat.admin. There is only one permission for plugin control, making it easier for you to manage. If you want to learn more about oxide commands, then review our guide here.
 

Group Settings

In order to successfully use the /chat group set command, you’ll need to understand all its settings. These will be what you implement for each rank, such as its username color, custom titles, and more. After reviewing all the settings, we’ll give some examples to show you how they work.
 

Command Examples

Each of our examples will be in-game, but using the Console has a different process. Using this area requires no slash (/) before the command, but their format remains the same.
 

The first command you’ll likely want to use is /chat group add [group], as this is used to create ranks. Once entered, you can start editing it via other commands. There is no limit for the amount of groups you can make, so get creative and start customizing your Rust server.

Some of the most popular ranks are owner, admin, and moderator. However, if you happen to allow donations on the server, then creating unique groups for them can be a great feature.
 

After creating a rank, add yourself or anyone else to the group. To do this, use the /chat user add [player/Steam ID] [group] command. There should be a difference right away in-chat, but you might need to customize it a bit more to really notice it.

Make sure to only add players you want in the group, but you may use the /chat user remove [player/Steam ID] [group] command if you need to remove someone from the rank.
 

One way to make the rank special is changing the username color via this command: /chat group set [group] UsernameColor [color/HEX]. This should display in-game when you use the chat, but may not appear right away due to priority issues.

Make sure to set the default rank to something greater than 1 with the /chat group set default Priority [value] command. Afterward, using a lower number for your group will make it appear in-chat.
 

Configuration

Instead of using commands to change or even add groups, editing the plugin files is another option. This allows you to manually alter every setting, among the specific chat formats for the rank. There are two files to focus on, but it isn’t required to use Better Chat on your Rust server.

1. Head towards your server panel, then press FTP File Access at the top left.
2. Proceed to enter in the following directory: …/oxide/data
   
3. From here, click Edit to the far right of the BetterChat.json file.
   
4. Once there, make any necessary changes for each group and click Save at the top when you’re done.
   
5. Afterward, you may return to the main oxide directory and open the config folder.
6. Press Edit on the BetterChat.json file, which reveals the core settings for the plugin.
   
7. Make any changes you want, then continue to Save the changes.
8. When you’re done, return to the main panel to Restart the server so the edits apply.

Chat Formatting

Changing a rank’s chat format through commands can introduce a wide range of syntax issues, as there is only one placeholder for it. In other words, if you want spaces between titles and usernames, then manually setting that in the BetterChat.json file from the data folder is suggested. By default, “{Title} {Username}: {Message}” is the exact format used for all groups. You may customize this with fun symbols, special characters, among anything else you want. Following this, review the list below to understand all possible format settings to use.
 

Common Issues

Plugin Doesn’t Work
If after installing the plugin and it fails, then double-check your server profile. Using the incorrect one can result in the issue, as it gets uploaded in the wrong file location. In other words, ensure you upload Better Chat to the …/oxide/plugins directory for your profile. However, uMod Support must be enabled in Customizations for any plugin to work. Once everything is confirmed, Restart the server from the panel to see if it’ll load.
 
Command Syntax Errors
This particular problem likely happens with the chat format or other group settings, as there is only one “value” argument for the command. This means you cannot have spaces when formatting a rank, but manually changing it in the BetterChat.json file from the data folder fixes that. If other commands return errors, then ensure there are no typos or mistakes in the arguments. It may also be beneficial to use the Console area from the panel instead of using them in-game.
 
Unable to use Commands
In cases where you’re unable to use commands in-game, confirm if you have permissions. Being an admin is required to start using them, but using oxide.grant user [player/SteamID] betterchat.admin in the Console will grant you access. Alternatively, every command can be used in this area instead of the game chat. Regardless of the method you choose, the console is the best way to get started with them.
 

Useful Links

Better Chat on uMod
How to Add Plugins to a Rust Server
How to Become an Admin on Rust Servers
Connecting to Your Rust Server via FTP