VAC ban vs game ban vs community ban
All three show up as "banned" somewhere, but they're issued by different parties, for different reasons, with different consequences.
VAC ban
Issued by the automated Valve Anti-Cheat system when it detects cheating during a match. Full guide: What is a VAC ban.
Game ban
Issued by the game's developer -Facepunch, for Rust- usually after a manually reviewed report, not automatically like VAC. It can be for cheating VAC didn't catch, for abusing exploits, or for other game-specific violations.
Community ban
Not issued by Valve or the developer: it's set by that specific server's admin, usually via BattleMetrics. It only affects THAT server (or that owner's server network) -it doesn't show on the Steam profile and doesn't stop you from joining other servers.
Which one matters more for trusting someone
VAC and game bans carry the most weight because Valve/Facepunch review them and they can't be faked or reversed. A community ban can be just as fair or unfair -it depends entirely on the admin who set it, with no external review process.
Put this into practice
Rust Player Tracker follows players live, flags name changes, and gives you a cheater-risk score before you trust anyone -free to start, no card required.
Try it free