Hi Guys, 

I've tried to locate this answer but I can't find a definitive yes or no. 

I have a rust server running currently, I have a few plugins I want to install, all the guides say you stop the server upload the plugins then restart. 

I don't want to DC my active players, is there a way that I can upload them whilst the server is running, I have a daily scheduled auto wipe at 04:30am which they would then load and become active, or should I not insert them into the plug-in directory whilst it's running? 

thanks. 

The guides you are reading are wrong... normally you can install and load plugins while the server is running, it's not a problem. However, there is a spike in RAM usage for the compiler when you load a plugin, so if your server doesn't have much spare RAM they may fail to load, in which case you would have to restart the server in order to load them. If you have plenty of RAM then you can do whatever you like while it's running. Try it and see.

Thanks jim, much appreciated. 

so if i upload the plugs to the oxide folder i just use the command o.reload PLUGINNAME and it should load for me without needint to stop/start the server? 

gr33nv3n0m

Thanks jim, much appreciated. 

so if i upload the plugs to the oxide folder i just use the command o.reload PLUGINNAME and it should load for me without needint to stop/start the server? 

You don't even need to o.reload that plugin. It should load automatically, just drop the .cs file into the plugins folder and you should see in rcon that it loaded.

I've noticed that some plugins auto-load when you drop them in, others you have to load.

Merged post

... and yes gr33nv3n0m, you shouldn't need to restart server at all.

Thanks guys, appreciate the help.