Browse/Rust/Plugins/NPC Defenders

NPC Defenders

RickySpanish★ 0.0 (0)v1.3.0oxideExclusive

1 / 2

Description

Give your players backup. Throw a defender item and armed NPCs show up where it lands to guard you and your team, then leave when their time is up.

Permissions

code
npcdefenders.admin     Use /defender

Commands

code
/defender <item> [amount]                  Give yourself defender items
/defender list                             Show every defender item in the config
defender <steamid> <item> [amount]         Console: give a player defender items (server console, RCON or admins only)

Example: /defender little or /defender xlarge 3

What defenders do

Throw or drop the item like a flashbang. You have to be able to build where you're standing, be on the ground, and not be on the cargo ship.
A few seconds later the defenders appear where it landed, and the item can go off as a real flashbang if you want it to.
They protect their owner, and the owner's team when "Ignore Owner's Team" is on. They go after hostile players and hostile NPCs like scientists that come into range.
If an animal attacks the owner, a teammate or a defender, they take it down. Other wildlife is left alone.
They can move through player bases, including upper floors and cave or cliff bases, and they follow their target up and down stairs.
Turrets owned by the defender's owner won't shoot them, and defenders never hurt each other.
They leave no corpse or loot behind.
Each item gets a scientist outfit to match its tier and a random weapon, or a random kit from its kit list if you use the Kits plugin.
"PvE Mode" makes defenders ignore real players completely.
With "Block Landing In Other Players' Building Areas" on, a defender item that lands in someone else's base spawns nothing and is returned.

Defender items
Five tiers ship by default: Little, Small, Medium, Large and Xlarge. Each one has its own skin ID, number of defenders, flashbang toggle, stay time, health, damage multiplier, aim spread, sense range, names and kits. Add your own by copying one and giving it a new name and a unique skin ID. In names, $displayName becomes the owner's name and $displayNames becomes "owner's".

Configuration

json
{
  "General": {
    "PvE Mode (defenders ignore real players)": false,
    "Block Landing In Other Players' Building Areas": true
  },
  "Defender Items (item name: settings)": {
    "Little": {
      "Item Skin ID (must be unique per item)": 2890862070,
      "Defenders Spawned": 1,
      "Flashbang When Thrown": true,
      "Stay Time (minutes)": 5,
      "Ignore Owner's Team": true,
      "Health": 100.0,
      "Damage Multiplier": 1.0,
      "Aim Spread Multiplier (higher = less accurate)": 2.0,
      "Sense Range (meters)": 12.0,
      "Names ($displayName = owner, $displayNames = owner's)": [
        "$displayNames Defender"
      ],
      "Kits (picked at random, needs the Kits plugin)": []
    }
  }
}

Small, Medium, Large and Xlarge use the same settings with their own skin ID and health (110, 120, 130 and 150).

Default configuration

NPCDefenders.json

json
{
  "General": {
    "PvE Mode (defenders ignore real players)": false,
    "Block Landing In Other Players' Building Areas": true
  },
  "Defender Items (item name: settings)": {
    "Little": {
      "Item Skin ID (must be unique per item)": 2890862070,
      "Defenders Spawned": 1,
      "Flashbang When Thrown": true,
      "Stay Time (minutes)": 5,
      "Ignore Owner's Team": true,
      "Health": 100.0,
      "Damage Multiplier": 1.0,
      "Aim Spread Multiplier (higher = less accurate)": 2.0,
      "Sense Range (meters)": 12.0,
      "Names ($displayName = owner, $displayNames = owner's)": [
        "$displayNames Defender"
      ],
      "Kits (picked at random, needs the Kits plugin)": []
    },
    "Small": {
      "Item Skin ID (must be unique per item)": 2890862657,
      "Defenders Spawned": 1,
      "Flashbang When Thrown": true,
      "Stay Time (minutes)": 5,
      "Ignore Owner's Team": true,
      "Health": 110.0,
      "Damage Multiplier": 1.0,
      "Aim Spread Multiplier (higher = less accurate)": 2.0,
      "Sense Range (meters)": 12.0,
      "Names ($displayName = owner, $displayNames = owner's)": [
        "$displayNames Defender"
      ],
      "Kits (picked at random, needs the Kits plugin)": []
    },
    "Medium": {
      "Item Skin ID (must be unique per item)": 2890862798,
      "Defenders Spawned": 1,
      "Flashbang When Thrown": true,
      "Stay Time (minutes)": 5,
      "Ignore Owner's Team": true,
      "Health": 120.0,
      "Damage Multiplier": 1.0,
      "Aim Spread Multiplier (higher = less accurate)": 2.0,
      "Sense Range (meters)": 12.0,
      "Names ($displayName = owner, $displayNames = owner's)": [
        "$displayNames Defender"
      ],
      "Kits (picked at random, needs the Kits plugin)": []
    },
    "Large": {
      "Item Skin ID (must be unique per item)": 2891395741,
      "Defenders Spawned": 1,
      "Flashbang When Thrown": true,
      "Stay Time (minutes)": 5,
      "Ignore Owner's Team": true,
      "Health": 130.0,
      "Damage Multiplier": 1.0,
      "Aim Spread Multiplier (higher = less accurate)": 2.0,
      "Sense Range (meters)": 12.0,
      "Names ($displayName = owner, $displayNames = owner's)": [
        "$displayNames Defender"
      ],
      "Kits (picked at random, needs the Kits plugin)": []
    },
    "Xlarge": {
      "Item Skin ID (must be unique per item)": 2890862889,
      "Defenders Spawned": 1,
      "Flashbang When Thrown": true,
      "Stay Time (minutes)": 5,
      "Ignore Owner's Team": true,
      "Health": 150.0,
      "Damage Multiplier": 1.0,
      "Aim Spread Multiplier (higher = less accurate)": 2.0,
      "Sense Range (meters)": 12.0,
      "Names ($displayName = owner, $displayNames = owner's)": [
        "$displayNames Defender"
      ],
      "Kits (picked at random, needs the Kits plugin)": []
    }
  }
}

v1.3.0LatestOct 20, 2026 · 67 KB · 4 downloads

Defenders got smarter

They now fight back against animals. If a wolf, bear, tiger, croc or any other animal attacks the owner, a teammate or the defender itself, the defenders go after it. Animals that leave you alone are still ignored.
Built for Rust's new navigation. Defenders can spawn and move inside player bases, including upper floors and bases built under cliffs or in caves. When idle they patrol around where they were thrown instead of always heading for the ground, and in a fight they follow their target anywhere, up and down stairs included.
Defenders given a kit now actually pull out their weapon, and a broken kit entry no longer stops them spawning.

Throwing and giving

New option "Block Landing In Other Players' Building Areas" (on by default): a defender item that lands in someone else's base won't spawn anything and goes back to the thrower. PvP servers can turn it off.
The defender console command now only works from the server console, RCON or for admins. Kit and shop plugins that run it from the server are unaffected.
Giving defender items always gives at least one.

Config

Reorganized into "General" and "Defender Items" with clearer, typo-free setting names. Your existing items and values carry over automatically on first load, so nothing resets.
Emptying the defender item list now sticks instead of the default items being re-added on restart.
A defender item with skin ID 0 now gets a console warning.

Compatibility

Turrets now only skip defenders that belong to the turret's owner, and otherwise leave the decision to your PvE and protection plugins instead of overriding them.
Messages now use each player's language file.

Performance

Turret targeting checks for defenders only run while defenders are out.
Defenders scan for nearby hostile NPCs once a second instead of four times a second.
Removed the old navigation and oil rig code Rust no longer needs.

v1.2.5Oct 4, 2026 · 61 KB · 3 downloads

NavMesh Fix

v1.2.4Aug 13, 2026 · 72 KB · 5 downloads

$18.00

Part of a bundle

Full Stack Bundle

11 items · 20% off the set

$189.94$151.94

Save $38.00 buying the set

View bundle

Views2.0k

Downloads37

Purchases27

Rating★ 0.0

Version1.3.0

Compile check✓ Passed Nov 11, 2026

PlatformRust

CategoryPlugins

Compatibleoxide

Size67 KB

PublishedAug 13, 2026

UpdatedOct 20, 2026

✓ Reviewed for safety and integrity

RickySpanish

View profile →

1	/defender <item> [amount] Give yourself defender items
2	/defender list Show every defender item in the config
3	defender <steamid> <item> [amount] Console: give a player defender items (server console, RCON or admins only)

1	{
2	"General": {
3	"PvE Mode (defenders ignore real players)": false,
4	"Block Landing In Other Players' Building Areas": true
5	},
6	"Defender Items (item name: settings)": {
7	"Little": {
8	"Item Skin ID (must be unique per item)": 2890862070,
9	"Defenders Spawned": 1,
10	"Flashbang When Thrown": true,
11	"Stay Time (minutes)": 5,
12	"Ignore Owner's Team": true,
13	"Health": 100.0,
14	"Damage Multiplier": 1.0,
15	"Aim Spread Multiplier (higher = less accurate)": 2.0,
16	"Sense Range (meters)": 12.0,
17	"Names ($displayName = owner, $displayNames = owner's)": [
18	"$displayNames Defender"
19	],
20	"Kits (picked at random, needs the Kits plugin)": []
21	}
22	}
23	}