Facepunch has rolled out a significant update focused on reshaping Rust’s progression systems while introducing a wide set of quality-of-life improvements. Following last month’s controversial progression experiment, this update takes things in the opposite direction by wiping all Blueprints, reducing unlock costs, and smoothing out the early and mid-game experience.
A Full Blueprint Wipe to Restore Early-Game Progression
One of Rust’s long-standing issues is that most servers, including official ones, do not Blueprint wipe. As a result, players who return to a freshly wiped map often already have every Blueprint unlocked, allowing them to bypass early and mid-game progression entirely. This disrupts wipe pacing, removes meaningful decision-making, and undermines Rust’s intended progression loop.
To address this, all Blueprints and servers have been wiped.
At the same time, tech tree and research costs have been drastically reduced:
- Common: 15 scrap (down from 20)
- Uncommon: 30 scrap (down from 75)
- Rare: 60 scrap (down from 125)
- Very Rare: 120 scrap (down from 500)
Scrap crafting costs for Workbenches have also been removed, while Blueprint Fragment requirements remain unchanged.
These adjustments aim to make progression faster and smoother without eliminating the sense of advancement. Early-tier items now matter again, and players will naturally climb through the tiers rather than skipping directly to end-game gear.
Whether monthly forced BP wipes become permanent is still undecided, with the developers planning to monitor data and community feedback first.
Box Sorting System Arrives for Storage Adaptors
Players using Storage Adaptors now have access to a new box sorting system, which introduces multiple sorting options:
- Alphabetical (language selectable)
- Condition
- Count
- Category (matching conveyor filters)
- Custom Snapshot
The Custom Snapshot mode allows players to arrange items manually, capture the layout, and have the sorter attempt to recreate that configuration automatically. Sorting triggers one second after items enter or leave a container.
Sorting is supported on:
- Large Wooden Box
- Small Wooden Box
- Coffin
- All DLC storage (barrels and box skins)
New Mini Fridge for Early-Game Food Preservation
A new deployable, the Mini Fridge, offers compact and efficient early-game food storage.
- Power Requirement: 3
- Storage: 18 slots
- Placement: Fits under half-height floor tiles
- Unlock: Early unlock via the Engineers Workbench
This provides a functional alternative to the full-sized refrigerator without demanding late-game resources.
Monument Puzzle Reset System Reworked
Last month’s Blueprint Fragment introduction created excessive monument camping, partially caused by how puzzle rooms refreshed loot. Some players unknowingly prevented monuments from resetting by staying too close to puzzle areas.
The system has now been redesigned to prevent this:
- Refresh timers now begin only after a player loots a puzzle container.
- Timers continue even if players remain in range.
- Radiation zones appear around puzzle areas 10 minutes before refresh, warning players to leave.
- Once radiation appears, the puzzle resets only after 5 minutes without player presence.
- Player detection zones around monuments have been refined to reduce accidental blocking.
These changes aim to maintain monument PvP tension without bottlenecking Blueprint Fragment generation.
Medical Syringes Can Now Heal Horses
Players can now use medical syringes on horses, both mounted and unmounted. In addition to healing, horses receive:
- +12.6 km/h speed boost for 4 seconds
- A small stamina recovery
This helps prevent horse deaths from environmental hazards and adds strategic value during escapes and mounted combat.
Notable Gameplay and Vendor Adjustments
Several smaller balance and vendor changes were also included:
- Semi-Automatic Pistol removed from Water Well vendor
- M4 Shotgun added back to Hackable Crates
- L96 spawn chance reduced from Hackable Crates
- DPV purchasable at Fishing Village; HQM cost removed
- Diving Tank now repairs for free
- Blue Keycard can no longer be purchased
- Computer Station now supports more camera codes
Vending Machines Now Show Drone Accessibility
The in-game map now displays whether a Vending Machine supports drone delivery, eliminating wasted trips to Outpost or other safe zones.
Wind Turbine Optimization for Performance
Wind Turbine skins have been removed in favor of code-based animation, reducing animation overhead on servers with many turbines. LOD transitions have also been improved to reduce visual pop-in.
Elevator Improvements
Player-placed elevators now feature:
- A power input on every floor
- Higher travel speed (from 3 m/s to 5 m/s)
- Reduced cooldown after stops
Any powered floor now powers the entire elevator, removing the need to reconnect cables when adding floors.
Helicopter Balance Changes Target Counterplay
Attack helicopters remain the strongest offensive vehicle, but counterplay has been strengthened:
- Thrown flares no longer distract homing missiles
- In-flight repairs disabled
- Healing foods no longer usable while piloting any vehicle
To balance things out for other helicopters:
- Minicopters and Scrap Transport Helicopters now include built-in flare launchers
- Hot Air Balloons can dodge missiles by disabling their engine for 4 seconds (if missiles targeting HABs are enabled)
New CCTV Camera Codes for Cargo Ship and Ferry Terminal
Players can now monitor more angles from both monuments using new static camera feeds. Computer Stations also now support more codes than before.
Painting System Upgraded With Color Wheel and Favorites
The painting UI now includes:
- A full color wheel
- Hexcode support
- Up to 10 favorite colors
- Keybind support via
paint.favcolours
This brings the in-game painter closer to the workshop’s capabilities.
