Helios Rust Console Bot Documentation

Auto Countdowns

Schedule in-game countdowns from the Helios dashboard with a message, duration, weekday, start time, and timezone.

Last reviewed
Tested on
Helios Bot Testing dashboard
Maintained by
Helios RCE

Auto Countdowns post the remaining time in Rust game chat. Use them before community events, restarts, or wipes.

A countdown sends messages only. Schedule the actual event or server action separately.

Create

  1. Open the dashboard, choose Manage Server, then Automations.
  2. Expand Countdowns and choose Create Countdown.
  3. Enter a message containing {Countdown} and set the countdown length and message frequency.
  4. Choose the day, start time, and timezone.
  5. Check Countdown is active when ready, then choose Create and wait for the success message.

Example: ten minutes before a Friday event

For an event starting at 8 PM, start the countdown at 7:50 PM. Copy this message:

Community event starts in {Countdown}. Meet us at the arena!
FieldValue
Countdown length in seconds600 — ten minutes
Message frequency30 seconds
Run everyFriday
Choose time7:50 PM
TimezoneAmerica/New_York

Countdown editor with a ten-minute Friday event countdown starting at 7:50 PM

Example on Helios Bot Testing, with the active box unchecked to save it paused.

When active, Helios starts the countdown at the chosen time and replaces {Countdown} with the time remaining. It updates the message about every 30 seconds until the ten minutes are up.

The time field is the countdown's start time, not the event's start time. For a five-minute countdown before the same event, use 300 seconds and 7:55 PM.

List

Expand the saved countdown to check its Message frequency, Schedule, and Next run. The row also shows its length and Active or Paused status.

Saved Friday countdown showing a ten-minute length, thirty-second message frequency, next run, and Paused status

This example was saved paused. Choose Resume when you want your countdown to run.

Use Edit to change the message or schedule, Pause to stop it, and Resume to enable it again.

TIPTip

The dashboard saves a day-and-time schedule. When editing an older countdown created in Discord with a repeat interval, review Run every, Choose time, and Timezone before saving.

Remove

Expand the countdown, choose Remove, and confirm the message shown in the removal prompt. This deletes that countdown.

In Discord

The Discord command supports a start delay and repeat interval. For example, start a five-minute countdown now and repeat it hourly:

/auto countdown server:"<SERVER>" minutes:5 msg_frequency:"5 seconds" start:"Now" run_every:"1 hour" message:"Event starts in {Countdown}"

Use auto_run:false for a one-time countdown. In Discord, minutes is the countdown length; the dashboard's length field uses seconds.

CommandPurpose
/auto countdownCreate a countdown
/auto countdown-listReview countdowns for the selected server
/auto countdown-removeRemove the selected countdown

Requirements and limits

  • Premium on the selected server and permission to manage it. Discord also supports a moderator role with the /auto command family enabled.
  • Helios connected to the game server for messages to appear.
  • Length between one minute and seven days: 60–604800 seconds on the dashboard.
  • Message frequency: 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 seconds; one or two minutes. It cannot be longer than the countdown.
  • Message up to 1,500 characters, including {Countdown} exactly as shown.

If nothing appears, check Active, Next run, the timezone, and the server connection. For a recurring message without a countdown, use Auto Messages. To spawn an event when the countdown ends, configure Auto Events separately.