Rust Halloween Update 2026: Mandatory Server Update on 22 October

Facepunch is releasing a mandatory Rust server and client update on Thursday 22 October at 17:00 UTC (18:00 UK time, 13:00 US Eastern) to switch on this year's Halloween content. No wipe has been announced with it, and the November force wipe is a separate update. Once players' clients update that evening, a server still on the old build can't take them, so plan to update your server the same evening.

When the Rust Halloween update lands

Facepunch announced it at the end of the Livestock devblog on 1 October:

"On October 22nd at 18:00BST / 13:00 EST, we'll release a mandatory server and client update to enable some spooky features! Server owners, please remember this date."

Facepunch wrote "EST", but the US East Coast is still on daylight time on 22 October, so the clock time is 13:00 either way. The UK clocks don't go back until Sunday 25 October, three days after the update, so 18:00 BST is the right UK time.

What's in the update

This year's content: not announced yet

The announcement promises "some spooky features" and stops there. It carries two pictures: a haunted house from an earlier Halloween event, and a new shot of a coffin decoration. Facepunch hasn't said what either one means for 2026, and nothing newer has appeared on the Rust news page, its RSS feed or the Steam announcements since the Livestock post. Treat any list of this year's features you see before 22 October as a guess.

What Halloween has looked like in past years

Facepunch's Halloween 2024 post is the most detailed recent example, and the 2025 announcement said the same rifts would open again. The 2024 event had:

• Candy Hunt. Roughly every two in-game days, players had three minutes to collect candy, and the top three got special loot bags. Candy and bags opened into loot "ranging from scrap, all the way up to an M249", and players outside the top three could upgrade their candy for better loot.
• Here Be Monsters. Scarecrows and mummies roamed the map. Players collected a head, torso and legs from them, crafted a Frankenstein's table and woke up a pet monster that follows orders (the pet menu is on P).
• The rifts. Portals opened at random locations across the island, leading into Halloween dungeons. Server owners control how many spawn with the halloweendungeon.population convar.
• Cosmetics. Frankenstein and Mummy masks, and a Dracula cape and mask on the limited item store. They were optional; nobody needed them to play.

The 2024 event "will run until November 7th", which was that year's November force wipe.

Does the Rust Halloween update wipe your server?

Facepunch hasn't said it wipes anything, and a mid-month event update isn't a force wipe. Don't tell your players their bases are going. If Facepunch announces a wipe, this page will say so.

What your server needs to do

1. Take a backup before Thursday. Nothing in the update is announced as destructive, but plugins and their configs can break when the build changes.
2. Check your framework and plugins. A mandatory update changes the server build, so Oxide (uMod) and Carbon need releases for the new build, and some plugins need updates too. Look at umod.org or the Carbon release notes after 17:00 UTC before you count on a modded server coming straight back.
3. Update the server after 17:00 UTC on 22 October. If the server reports it's already current right after 17:00 UTC, the new build may not be on Steam yet: wait a few minutes and try again.
4. Wait for the server to finish starting. Rust prints Server startup complete in the console when it's ready to take players.
5. Optionally, tune the rift count with halloweendungeon.population once the event is live.

Tip: On LOW.MS, take the backup from the Backups tab of your server in the control panel, then press Update on the Game updates card on the Overview tab when the patch lands. The server stops, installs the new build and starts again. For the rift convar, open config/rust/boot/server.cfg on the Files tab and add the line under Your additions: the rest of that file is rewritten from your settings on every start, but your additions are kept.

If you host Rust yourself, update with SteamCMD (the dedicated server is app 258550):

steamcmd +login anonymous +app_update 258550 validate +quit

What's coming next

• Thursday 22 October, 17:00 UTC: the mandatory Halloween update.
• Sunday 25 October: UK clocks go back to GMT. Last year Facepunch warned server owners that patches would come "an hour early than usual until other timezones observe the autumn clock change". The US changes on Sunday 1 November.
• Thursday 5 November (not confirmed): the first-Thursday pattern puts the November force wipe here. Facepunch hasn't named the date. In 2024 the Halloween event ended with the November wipe, so this year's will probably end around then, but that's a pattern, not an announcement.

The full monthly calendar is in the 2026 wipe schedule, and the Halloween guide for game servers covers the other games we host.

FAQ

Do players need to buy anything to join after the update? No. It's a free update for everyone who owns Rust. Past Halloween cosmetics were optional store items.

Can I keep my server on the old build until the weekend? Not if you want players. That's what mandatory means for Rust: updated clients can't join a server still on the old build.

Does the Halloween update change the November wipe date? Facepunch hasn't linked the two. The event update on 22 October and the November force wipe are separate releases.

My server has updated but a player still can't join. Why? Usually their client hasn't updated yet. Getting them to restart Steam normally pulls the update. If nobody can join, check the console for errors from a plugin or framework that hasn't caught up with the new build.

I don't have a server yet. Can I get one running before Thursday? Yes. Servers are set up as soon as you order, and the Rust server hosting page lists what you get on LOW.MS.

Sources: Livestock devblog, 1 October 2026, Halloween 2024, Facepunch announcement, 23 October 2025, Meta Shift devblog, 2 October 2025.