Rust+ on PC — the Free Desktop App & How to Pair It

Before you start

You'll need:

• A Windows 10 or 11 PC
• The same Steam account you use for Rust
• A phone with the official Rust+ app — iOS or Android
• A target Rust server you can join

If you already have Rust+ working on your phone, you can skip step 1 below.

Step 1 — Install the Rust+ mobile app (one-time)

Open the App Store or Google Play, search for Rust+, install. Sign in with the same Steam account you use for Rust. The mobile app is only needed for the pairing handshake — after pairing, you can close it (and even uninstall it). The desktop client doesn't depend on the mobile app to keep working.

Step 2 — Download MapMonster on PC

Go to rustminimap.com/download and click Download for Windows. The download is a single ZIP (~127 MB).

Extract the ZIP anywhere — Desktop is fine. No admin installer, no Program Files write permissions required. Inside the extracted folder, you'll see MapMonster.exe (the launcher). Double-click it. The launcher auto-prepares the latest version into a versions/0.4.X/ subfolder and spawns the actual app.

Step 3 — Sign in with Steam

The MapMonster login window opens with one button: Sign in with Steam. Click it. The standard Steam OpenID page opens in your default browser — review the permissions (just "verify your Steam identity"), approve, and you're returned to the app. No password is ever entered into MapMonster itself.

Once signed in, MapMonster opens the setup window with paired-server status and toggles for the overlay features.

Step 4 — Pair Rust+ from inside Rust

Launch Rust through Steam. Join the server you want to pair. Once in-game (you can be at the spawn screen or already alive — doesn't matter), press Esc to open the in-game menu.

At the top of the server panel, look for the Rust+ button (typically an icon, sometimes labelled "Pair Server"). Click it.

Within a second or two, your phone's Rust+ app will show a confirmation prompt — "Pair with [Server Name]?" Tap Approve.

Step 5 — Overlay appears

MapMonster polls Facepunch's notification service in the background. Within a few seconds of your Approve tap, the desktop overlay appears: a transparent always-on-top minimap with your position, teammates (if you're in a team), and event markers.

Drag the overlay window to reposition. Use F9 to cycle zoom levels. The minimap stays on top of Rust without click-through interference — it's transparent.

Troubleshooting

"WebSocket disconnected (code 1006)"

This is a generic abnormal closure. By far the most common cause is a per-player rate-limit lockout on the specific server: if your client reconnected too many times in a short window, the Rust+ companion plugin temporarily stops accepting new connections from you and silently drops them.

Fix: close MapMonster, wait 30-60 minutes (do not keep restarting — that resets the cooldown). Then try again. If it still fails, the issue is server-side; pair a different server and verify your client works elsewhere.

MapMonster has a smart auto-retry that paces itself to avoid triggering this scenario in normal use.

"Not paired" / overlay stays empty

The pairing event from Facepunch's FCM didn't reach MapMonster. Causes:

• The mobile Rust+ app is signed into a different Steam account than MapMonster — sign both into the same one.
• Your firewall is blocking outbound HTTPS — allow MapMonster.exe through.
• You tapped Approve too late (rare) — re-press the Rust+ button in-game.

"Server isn't responding to Rust+"

This banner means the server's Rust+ companion is either disabled by the server admin or misconfigured. Check the in-game Rust+ menu — if the server itself reports "Rust+ disabled", there's nothing the desktop client can do. Try another server.

Pairing works but team positions are missing

If you can see your own position but not teammates, you're either solo (no team yet) or your teammates haven't paired Rust+ themselves. Rust+ team data is shared from Facepunch's API only for players who have themselves paired Rust+ with the server.

What you can do next

Once paired, the free features light up automatically:

• Real-time team & teammate positions
• Death markers (60-sec default visibility)
• Event alerts: cargo ship, patrol helicopter, CH47 chinook, locked crates
• Configurable minimap zoom with F9 hotkey
• Player Checker — Steam profile, bans, hours and server history for any player

Premium ($5/month) unlocks the money-makers: the resource heatmap (the map scan you tried above), the automatic shop scanner with Shop Sniper alerts, Profit Trades arbitrage, and Pay With reverse search. The easiest way to see if it's worth it is the 7-day free trial — link your Discord and Premium switches on instantly, no card required. Manage your plan anytime; cancel keeps you premium until the period ends.