satellite ConVars
Every variable and command in the satellite namespace that a Rust dedicated server lists, 61 in all, with the help text it printed and the value we read. How to set them is on the ConVar overview.
Recorded on Rust build 25582902, . Values are what that server returned, which is not always the default.
61 entries
Variables 57
| ConVar | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| satellite.control_window | 180 | Seconds of thruster control window |
| satellite.cooldown_hours_max | 18 | Maximum cooldown between satellite events, in game hours |
| satellite.cooldown_hours_min | 18 | Minimum cooldown between satellite events, in game hours (not real minutes) - converted to real time via the map's day length, same as the airdrop event scheduler. |
| satellite.crashing_fx_at_distance | True | Run the crashing FX pass (FX Pass 3) through the whole phase-2 descent, including the distance-projected stretch, instead of waiting until the satellite enters real draw distance. The projected-mode fixup still applies - its particles simulate in local space and scale with the model; its trails stay gated until real rendering. |
| satellite.crate_fire_duration | 300 | Seconds the crash loot crates burn and stay unlootable after impact. All crates unlock together when this expires. |
| satellite.debug | False | Log crash-target search diagnostics (samples, blockers, reasons) |
| satellite.default_crash_radius | 300 | Starting impact radius before thruster adjustments, in meters |
| satellite.descent_angle | 45 | Angle (degrees from vertical) the satellite descends at. Higher = more horizontal streak across the sky. Clamped to 45 so it always reaches the ground within 45 degrees of straight down. Only used when flyover_altitude is 0 - the flyover path has its own geometry. |
| satellite.descent_seconds | 600 | Descent duration in seconds (0 = use day length fraction; nonzero values are clamped to a minimum of final_descent_seconds so the phase-2 window always fits inside the descent) |
| satellite.final_descent_seconds | 300 | Seconds before the scheduled crash that the satellite begins its phase-2 physics descent. Phase 1 slides in to the phase-2 start point up until then, then the satellite drops at a speed timed to hit the ground exactly on schedule. The start point is placed at the satellite's finalDescentSpeed times this window, so lengthening it starts the descent higher rather than slowing the fall. |
| satellite.final_descent_speed | 0 | Speed (m/s) of the phase-2 physics descent (0 = use the satellite prefab's finalDescentSpeed). Together with final_descent_seconds this sets where phase 2 starts - speed times seconds back up the descent line - so e.g. 180s at 80 m/s starts the drop 14.4km out. |
| satellite.flyover_altitude | 2500 | Altitude (m above the crash target) of the phase-2 flyover cruise. The satellite enters near-horizontally at this height, streaks across the sky, then bends into a dive onto the target from flyover_dive_distance out. 0 = disable the flyover and use the legacy straight-line descent at descent_angle. |
| satellite.flyover_dive_distance | 1500 | Horizontal distance (m) from the crash target at which the flyover bends into its terminal dive. Smaller = a longer level cruise with a steeper final plunge. |
| satellite.free_fuel | False | If true, firing satellite thrusters does not consume fuel |
| satellite.free_power | False | If true, powering up the satellite computer does not require any items |
| satellite.fuel_large_max | 16 | Maximum fuel rolled for large satellites (3000-5000kg) |
| satellite.fuel_large_min | 10 | Minimum fuel rolled for large satellites (3000-5000kg) |
| satellite.fuel_max | 36 | Hard maximum on generated fuel, applied after the per-size roll regardless of size |
| satellite.fuel_medium_max | 26 | Maximum fuel rolled for medium satellites (1500-3000kg) |
| satellite.fuel_medium_min | 16 | Minimum fuel rolled for medium satellites (1500-3000kg) |
| satellite.fuel_min | 8 | Hard minimum on generated fuel, applied after the per-size roll regardless of size |
| satellite.fuel_small_max | 36 | Maximum fuel rolled for small satellites (500-1500kg) |
| satellite.fuel_small_min | 24 | Minimum fuel rolled for small satellites (500-1500kg) |
| satellite.initial_offset_attempts | 8 | How many times to re-roll the initial random map position, re-checking the full crash-site acceptance each time, until a valid starting target is found. Guarantees the control phase never starts on an unusable spot. |
| satellite.kill_radius | 10 | Radius (m) around the impact point cleared on crash - players killed, construction/deployables/vehicles destroyed, vegetation removed |
| satellite.lateral_distance | 200 | Lateral offset multiplier per thruster fire (meters) |
| satellite.min_crash_radius | 100 | Minimum crash radius in meters |
| satellite.nudge_distance_max | 150 | Maximum random aim drift (meters) applied when tightening the impact radius |
| satellite.nudge_distance_min | 100 | Minimum random aim drift (meters) applied when tightening the impact radius, at a fully random angle so it can't be cancelled out exactly by the cardinal-direction lateral thrusters |
| satellite.obstruction_tc_reorder | True | Crash targeting: use the tool-cupboard grid to test likely-occupied samples last, so a clear spot is usually found with fewer physics checks. The physics check stays authoritative. |
| satellite.phase1_extra_distance | 30000 | Extra distance (m) further out, along the descent line, that phase 1 starts. The satellite slides steadily from there in to the orbit point over phase 1, then phase 2 continues along the same line. |
| satellite.phase1_grow_scale | 4 | Multiplier the orbiting satellite's glow billboard grows to by the end of phase 1 (starts at 1x). Purely a visual telegraph; replicated because the grow runs client-side. |
| satellite.require_powerplant | True | If true, the satellite control computer can only be powered up while the power plant is active (powergrid stage 1+). Ignored when the powergrid system itself is disabled. |
| satellite.reuse_last_crash_spot | True | Crash targeting: before scanning, re-test the previously found crash spot. Small thruster nudges usually leave it valid, returning in a single check. |
| satellite.rotation_strength | 15 | Heading rotation per thruster fire (degrees) |
| satellite.shrink_expand_radius | 25 | Impact radius change per thruster fire (meters) |
| satellite.site_check_physical_geometry | True | Also raycast the crash-site footprint against real collision geometry, rejecting spots with rocks or scenery the heightmap can't see |
| satellite.site_clearance_radius | 16 | Clearance (m) the crash-site search demands around a candidate - rejected if any player building, prevent-building volume or safezone is within this range. Kept separate from kill_radius so targeting standoff can exceed what the impact destroys; 16 matches the building-privilege radius, so a valid site is never inside a base's TC influence. |
| satellite.site_footprint_radius | 15 | Radius (m) around a candidate crash spot sampled for ground shape - roughly the crash remains footprint. Used both to reject unsuitable spots and to fit the spawned remains to the ground. |
| satellite.site_max_slope | 25 | Max overall ground slope (degrees) across the crash footprint before a spot is rejected |
| satellite.site_max_unevenness | 2 | Max terrain height deviation (m) from the crash footprint's best-fit plane before a spot is rejected as too uneven (cliff edges, crests, dips the remains meshes can't hide) |
| satellite.sky_trail | True | Render the satellite's descent as a map-wide sky ribbon tracing the real flight path, visible from any distance at any draw distance setting. Rendered client-side from the entity's networked positions. |
| satellite.sky_trail_age_fade | True | Fade each point of the sky ribbon out over its lifetime (sky_trail_seconds), like a TrailRenderer - the streak continuously dissolves behind the satellite instead of holding full brightness until its points expire. |
| satellite.sky_trail_drain_seconds | 10 | Seconds the sky ribbon takes to drain away tail-first after the satellite crashes or is destroyed. The recorded point ages are compressed into this window, so the ribbon keeps shrinking exactly the way it does in flight, and the impact end of the streak is the last to go. |
| satellite.sky_trail_max_length | 0 | Maximum length of the sky ribbon in meters of flight path - the tail is trimmed to keep the ribbon at or under this. 0 = no length cap, letting the sky_trail_seconds lifetime fade own the tail instead of a hard cut. |
| satellite.sky_trail_noise | 1 | Meters of smooth random wobble baked into the sky ribbon as it's laid down, so the streak reads as turbulent rather than a perfect straight line. Keep it under the dish's size (~3m) or the trail visibly detaches from the model. 0 = perfectly straight. |
| satellite.sky_trail_seconds | 60 | Seconds of flight path the sky ribbon spans - its TrailRenderer-style lifetime: with sky_trail_age_fade on, points dissolve to nothing as they reach this age. Capped by the ribbon's internal point budget at ~128s. |
| satellite.sky_trail_width_degrees | 0.075 | On-screen thickness of the sky ribbon's head, in degrees of view angle - it holds the same apparent width whatever distance it's projected at, tapering to a point at the tail. |
| satellite.targeting_budget_ms | 5 | Crash targeting: max milliseconds per frame spent scanning for a safe crash site. The scan resumes next frame when exceeded. |
| satellite.targeting_coverage_factor | 3 | Crash targeting: candidate samples tested per clearance-footprint, i.e. per (targetingRadius/clearanceRadius)^2. The sample count scales with the targeting area, so a small circle runs far fewer checks than a large one. ~1.2 is bare geometric coverage (samples spaced ~one clearance apart); the default adds margin to catch tight gaps. Pushing it much higher mostly adds correlated, redundant checks. |
| satellite.targeting_min_samples | 8 | Crash targeting: minimum candidate samples per search, regardless of how small the targeting circle is. Floors the area-scaled sample count so a small but cluttered area still gets a fair number of attempts. |
| satellite.thruster_extra_steps | 2 | When a thruster move finds no valid crash site, how many extra steps to take in the same direction before giving up. Fuel cost is linear in the number of steps taken (a 3-step move costs 3 fuel), and a further step isn't attempted if the player can't afford it. |
| satellite.thruster_module_count | 3 | Thruster modules salvaged from fully harvesting the crash remains |
| satellite.thruster_module_min_condition | 0.2 | Minimum condition fraction of salvaged thruster modules, regardless of how much fuel the satellite burned before lock-in |
| satellite.trail_alpha_scale | 1 | Multiplier on the alpha of the satellite trails' authored colour gradients, saturating at full opacity - the authored fades drop to near-transparent within the first quarter of the trail, so values above 1 keep progressively more of its length visible. Applied alongside trail_time_scale as the trails switch on. |
| satellite.trail_time_scale | 1 | Multiplier on the authored lifetime of the satellite's trail renderers - a trail spans this many times the authored seconds of flight path, so it directly scales the visible streak length. Applied as the trails switch on (they sit out the projected far-distance stretch and only run once the satellite is drawn at its real position), so changes take effect at the next handover, not mid-trail. Replicated because trails render client-side. |
| satellite.wreck_fire_duration | 480 | Seconds the main wreck stays too hot to harvest after impact |
Commands 4
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| satellite.launch | Dev: search for a safe crash site around the calling player using the exact same acceptance checks a control computer's lock-in uses (topology, water, unevenness, safezones, obstructions), then launch the full orbital descent there. Not a full session replica: searches around the player rather than a computer's semi-random targeting center, always does a fresh scan (no thruster-history reuse), and has no owning computer (no countdown screen, radius floor still enforced, no-build volume self-despawns after impact instead of being computer-managed): satellite.launch [radius] |
| satellite.launchquick | Dev: exactly satellite.launch - same crash-site search and validation - but skips the wait: the satellite spawns already in phase 2, 30 seconds from impact, at the point of the descent path it would normally reach then: satellite.launchquick [radius] |
| satellite.random | Trigger a satellite crash at a random valid position on the map |
| satellite.trigger | Trigger a satellite crash at the calling player's position or optional coordinates, with an optional satellite mass (kg) driving loot like a computer-controlled crash: satellite.trigger [mass] or satellite.trigger [x z [mass]] |
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