decay.scale (Rust server ConVar)

decay.scale multiplies building decay. The server's help text on build 25582902: "(Generated) Multiplier applied to all decay damage per tick; 1.0 = normal, 2.0 = double decay rate, 0.0 = no decay".

Values

• 1 is normal decay.
• Values above 1 make buildings outside upkeep lose health faster; 2 doubles the rate.
• Values between 0 and 1 slow it down; 0.5 halves it.
• 0 turns decay damage off.

It scales the damage. How long each building grade takes to decay without upkeep is set separately, in hours, by decay.duration_twig (1 on our server) up to decay.duration_toptier (12), and decay is processed every decay.tick seconds (600). decay.duration_override and decay.delay_override replace the per grade values for everything when set above 0.

Applying and keeping it

The value can be changed on a running server, either over RCON or by reloading server.cfg:

decay.scale 0.5

Two things undo an RCON-only change:

• A restart. server.writecfg does not save decay.scale: our test server's serverauto.cfg has no line for it.
• The next reload. server.readcfg runs serverauto.cfg and then server.cfg, so a decay.scale line in server.cfg overwrites what you set by hand.

Put the value you want in server.cfg, then run server.readcfg or restart.

Turning it off versus turning it down

0 stops decay damage for every building, including ones nobody will come back to, so decay no longer clears abandoned bases. A value between 0 and 1 slows decay while keeping that cleanup. Pick the smallest change that solves your problem, and remember upkeep is a separate switch, decay.upkeep.

In Panelra

Settings has a Building decay switch and a Decay scale field. With the switch off, Panelra writes decay.scale 0; with it on, it writes your scale, which may be between 0 and 100. Both are written to the server.cfg Panelra generates and applied with server.readcfg, without a restart.