What changed in Rust in 2026

New top-tier armour set that cannot be crafted, found through loot.

Increased number of heads with unique materials and improved hairstyles and beards.

Loot-only clothing option providing improved protection over existing options.

New pack featuring 20 industrial-themed items for base decoration.

Rewritten object pooling system to enhance performance and reduce garbage collection pressure.

New animation systems to enhance player animations and reduce robotic movements.

You can now inspect skins in your hand directly from the store or inventory.

Unique skin for the Crossbow available for purchase.

Military-grade rifle with a three-round burst fire mode, found through loot.

Addressed CPU overhead issues caused by high polling rate mice; recommended to lower polling rate.

Enhanced hit validation for players in hot air balloons or boats.

Complete rebuild of the player model with improved meshes, materials, and proportions.

Exclusive in-game plushie available through Discord shop.

Updated model, animations, and UI for binoculars.

New anti-personnel/raiding deployable weapon that allows for long-distance projectile launching.

Official Rust Shop launched inside Discord with a launch celebration discount.

Workbenches have received a new upgrade system with nine upgrades to customize benches.

Fixed issues with 3rd person grenade throw animations.

Monuments with multiple no build zones now correctly display each zone.

New set of achievements added related to the recent Naval Update.

Improvements to player processing and removal of old code.

Windows Server 2016 will no longer be supported; upgrade required.

Animations for using items now play out correctly before stopping.

Reduced loot found in the Deep Sea to balance with other areas.

Twitch Rivals event with exclusive skin drops for viewers.

Electric Furnace is now available for community-created skins.

New building skin available in the store for customization of stone tier bases.

New country mapping system prevents server ping spoofing.

Floating City Boat Vendor now sells modular boat parts.

Computer Station now requires power to operate.

Complete visual and animation overhaul of the Salvaged Cleaver.

Drag has been greatly increased for boats with a flat bow.

Complete redesign of the vending machine administration page and purchase page.

Tin can alarm can now be trapped with various items to alert nearby players.

Road signs now correctly spawn in Outpost, Junkyard, and Water wells.

Barrel skins now compatible with Spray Can/Repair Bench for swapping skins.

A renewable energy source that generates electricity from flowing water, usable in rivers and oceans.

New limited-time wallpapers available for players.

The Salvaged Axe received a high-resolution model and new animations.

New limited-time Bunny Costume available for players.

Enabled UsePlayerUpdateJobs 2 by default for improved server performance.

New altimeter feature added to the Hot Air Balloon for better altitude awareness.

Concentrated loot pool in deep sea fishing, removing lower-value catches.

Players can now set the reset value of the IO counter.

New skinnable item available in the workshop for the Salvaged Axe.

Complete redesign of the F1 menu with new features and improvements.

A new top-tier construction item that upgrades from the Metal Ladder Hatch, available in square and triangle variants.

Removed unnecessary meshes from the server build to save memory.

New mechanic to prevent overfishing in certain areas.

Optimized network group code for better area of interest management.

Added colour pickers for Discord DM and team chat tags.

Hitbox for shields adjusted based on whether they are being held up.

Increased the time plants are in their ripe stage from 14 to 24 hours.

New coloured buttons added, supporting nested radial menus.

Players can now unlock multiple tech tree nodes at once with a preview path.

New decorative item available for a limited time.

Chainsaw now consistently hits the X when farming trees.

Watchtowers can no longer be spam placed next to each other.

Easter Egg Hunt event running until April 16th with various items.

Update on the evaluation of secure servers with TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot.

New radial menu for toggling light sources individually.

New terrain rendering system for improved CPU performance.

Visual indicator added to distinguish sleeping bags in the deep sea on the death screen.

The medical syringe has been upgraded with a new model and animations.

Resolved issue with junkpiles spawning on sleeping bags.

Deploy & Edit steering wheel option now always shows, with error toast for unsuitable locations.

Servers can opt-in to require TPM and Secure Boot for players to connect.

Physics library limitation removed, allowing for more colliders in each broadphase cell.

Decay delay doubled to 24 hours, decay duration reduced to 12 hours.

Deep Sea can no longer be accessed using RHIBs.

Loot now respawns slowly, initial fill decreased to 70%.

Electricity, industrial, and water IO items can now be used on boats.

Players can now use wallpaper on boats.

New DLC featuring 16 uniquely designed skins for the Large Wood Box.

Fixed issue causing sails to be destroyed when placed incorrectly.

Static Boat Building Station added to every Deep Sea island.

Moderate aim sway added while on player built boats, scaled by speed.

Fixed issues with boat building blocks, allowing rotation and demolition at any time in edit mode.

Optimized mission validation process to reduce discrepancies and improve performance.

Resolved issue where tiny dive site buoys would halt full-size boats.

Deployable snapping feature added for player built boats.

Naval scientists' AI improved for better combat behavior and protection adjustments.

Shadow settings reworked for better performance and visual balance.

Sunken boats can now be damaged block by block for exploration.

Increased daily sunlight duration by approximately 20 minutes.

Added movement penalty for boats hit by cannons, reducing speed to 30%.

New tool allows players to draw lines while painting.

Added notification sound for when the Deep Sea opens.

Players can now build and customize their own boats using a new Boat Building Station and Boat Building Plan.

New DLC pack featuring items for artistic expression including paintball guns and various frames.

Scientist boats now spawn at Large Oilrig, adding challenge to oil extraction.

Introduction of the SKS as a new skinnable weapon in the workshop.

Updated model and textures for the RHIB, now includes a working compass and map display.

Optimizations made to improve server performance and reduce bottlenecks.

Five new naval-themed missions available from NPCs, some requiring deep sea exploration.

Micro-islands in the Deep Sea with unique resources and environments.

Improvements made to the cooking process to reduce frame spikes when multiple ovens are running.

New floating cities in the Deep Sea offering various facilities and NPC vendors.

Added new deployables for boats including sails, helm, engine, anchor, cannon, small ramp, and plank.

A new offshore region with high risk and high reward, featuring tropical islands, floating cities, and ghost ships.

New PT Boat and scientist boats that patrol the Deep Sea, engaging players.

Stationary ships in the Deep Sea filled with loot, guarded by scientists.

Updated AI for scientists on oil rigs and at sea, improving their behavior and tactics.

Twitch Drops event scheduled from February 5th-15th.

Community event celebrating Rust's 12th Birthday with concerts and fireworks.

Winners of the Rustmas Base Decoration contest announced.

The Naval Update is set to release with the February wipe.

Teaser for a new item, Remote C4.

Expanding ecosystem with new animals like cows and sheep, and a breeding system.

Made sweeping changes to progression, including Blueprint fragments and custom crosshair.

Introduced a new game mode along with new items and raiding methods.

Added advanced cooking, farming (chickens, bees), and new workbenches.

Introduced climbable trees, deadly tigers, crocodiles, and new monuments.

Enabled by default across all servers to limit high-impact cheat features.

Upcoming update on February 5th will include player-made boats and new AI encounters.

Implemented sweeping changes to main menu, server browser, and store.

Public program for reporting security vulnerabilities with a bug bounty.

Reduced load and server connection times by around 65% and decreased RAM/VRAM usage.

Rust Mobile will be released globally in 2026.

Introduced a party system and snappable deployables.

New server type aimed at reducing cheating and improving fair play.