RUST 2024: Year in Review - Corrosion Hour

Key Highlights and Game-Changing Features in 2024

With RUST having celebrated its 11th anniversary this year, we saw a wave of transformative changes that helped shape the survival experience RUST players have come to know. We’ve witnessed new items, rebalanced combat mechanics, significant AI behavior changes, and unprecedented quality-of-life updates that breathe new life into our favorite survival world.

From expanded backpack storage for on-the-go looting to refined AI behaviors that keep you on edge, the game has grown more immersive and complex. Whether you’re a veteran raider or a freshly spawned grub, 2024 marked a pivotal year that has helped reshape how survivors scavenge, build, and fight to survive.

In this RUST 2024: Year in Review, we celebrate the broad range of improvements from streamlined monument layouts to innovative weapon attachments. With newly introduced DLCs and various admin tools, these updates demonstrate Facepunch Studio’s ongoing commitment to pushing RUST forward into the new year. With 2025 on the horizon, the community continues to evolve alongside the game—always one update away from the next big shift meta.

Newly Added Items

The list of newly added items for 2024 stacks up nicely compared to last year’s, though the final count isn’t yet confirmed. Here’s a comprehensive look, complete with links to each in our item database:

Combat & Weapon Changes

Combat changes are always a hot topic in RUST, whether we agree with them or not, and 2024 was no exception. While we never returned to the old AK recoil, we did see major adjustments to many weapons and attachments.

Existing Weapon Updates

Burst Module: Reduced refire delay.
Custom SMG: Magazine size increased to 30; narrowed aimcone.
HMLMG: Lowered gear cost.
Holosight: Visual trim-down; color now togglable; motion blur removed.
LR-300: Bullet velocity increased; damage falloff and horizontal recoil decreased.
Muzzle Brake & Boost: Both buffed.
SAP (Semi-Automatic Pistol): Reduced recoil while moving; decreased aimcone.
Salvaged Hammer: +100% damage against deployed objects.
SAR & SAP: More snappy animations for aiming and reloading.
Torpedo Crafting: Yield increased from 3 to 5; duo submarines fire slightly faster.

Minigun

Added as a semi-rare drop from Heavy Scientists, the Minigun has quickly become a sound no RUST player will soon forget. Powerful, although often quite inaccurate, the Minigun can equip 300 rounds at a time, reloadable only at a T2 or T3 workbench, and can put a significant number of those rounds downrange very quickly. The tradeoff is limited aiming capacity and a spin-up time. Many players opt instead to recycle these behemoths, as their output is the best in class.

Military Flame Thrower

If ever you doubted that procrastinating that upgrade from Wood to Stone would cost you, the fire-breathing dragon of tools comes along. Let there be no confusion: the Military Flame Thrower acts in much the same way as its predecessor, the Flamethrower, except it has almost twice the range and uses twice the fuel for maximum burning power. Also dropping from Heavy Scientists, this bad boy can reduce a Wood framed structure to ashes faster than Incendiary Rockets.

Handmade SMG

The long-anticipated T1 SMG debuted in 2024, bridging the gap between the Revolver (“Revvie”) and Thompson (“Tommy”). Although it’s not quite as accurate as the Revvie or as hard-hitting as the Tommy, this early-game mashup weapon was a welcome addition for those just starting out. It offers enough firepower to keep you alive until you can secure a Workbench Level 2—at which point you’ll likely upgrade to stronger options.

High Caliber Revolver

Initially confused as a pistol-using weapon, the HCR hits like an AK but fires like a Python. This weapon takes a bit of getting used to, and missing is quite deadly for the user as it only has a maximum ammo capacity of 6. It quickly became an alternative to using Pythons in Auto Turrets, and is widely utilized for its low crafting cost.

SKS Rifle

Long thought to be a forthcoming DLC Semi Automatic Rifle skin, the SKS released in conjunction with the Handmade SMG as a low-end tier 3 weapon that is considerably cheaper to both research and craft than an HMLMG or AK. Its range feels like an M39, while the way it fires and reloads feels more like the SAR. It gained considerable traction amongst solos and zergs alike, as it’s viewed as more expendable than higher-cost tier 3 weapons, but it still packs quite a punch.

Gas Compression Overdrive

As the sole weapon attachment added this year, the Gas Compression Overdrive semi-drastically changes the playstyle of the limited guns that it can attach itself to. While increasing the weapon’s overall damage, it comes at the cost of, most notably, the weapon’s fire rate, making hits more impactful and misses equally so.

On-the-Go Changes

Backpack Storage

Player Wearing a Large Backpack Staring at a Loot Crate

After years of begging, pleading, and outright making threats, the development team saw fit to grant players two options for more on-the-go storage. The importance of no other addition can be as overstated as this; these are game changers. Whether we should list this under combat or other was a toss-up, as these bags allow you to loot and scoot like never before. Sidebar, there was also an increase to Fridge storage, for those gluttons out there with their priorities straight.

Legacy Shelter Limit

We all saw this coming a mile away, after a few months of these shelters appearing everywhere in the hundreds. Players are now limited to one Legacy Shelter per server at any given time. This is reset when it decays or is otherwise destroyed. Later in the year, we were gifted the option to replace our original shelter with a new one with a 3-second placement timer and warning system. If only moving out of parental-owned basements were this easy!

Death Marker on Compass

While not the biggest change, having a navigation metric to find your corpse without having to open your map was a huge (subtle) improvement. The only problem is, if you’re in the heat of the moment and spawn at the wrong bag, F1 killing again replaces the important death marker with one of little consequence.

Nightlight

Those of you with lygophobia can rest a bit easier with the advent of the new RUST Nightlight. No, we aren’t talking about a new electrical tool but rather an ambient glow that surrounds players (only visible to them) when the sun goes down. This low lighting level allows for navigation and even farming when all other lights have gone out.

Map Vending Machine UI Improvement

Displaying the Map Vendor UI in the RUST Map Screen

When you have places to go and people to raid, you don’t have time to be sitting at Outpost trying to navigate an antiquated interface to buy the correct blueberry clones to be able to make your pure ore teas. Thankfully, the new dropdown UI incorporated into the map menu allows for easier navigation and a newfound confidence that you’re buying the right item. The backend has an updated User Interface complete with statistics to track your best-selling items.

Motor & Pedal Bikes

A Player Examining Their Motor and Bike Choices

Nothing says ‘air-time’ like taking a 2-wheel vehicle off a cliff and suffering little to no damage on impact. Ironically, taking that same vehicle into a stationary object at any sort of speed could be deadly. One of the hallmark patches of the year introduced both a motorized and calorie-fueled version of Bikes, each with their own single or double seat variety. If you’ve been in game at all since July 2024, you’ve seen these along the roadside or at gas stations and supermarkets. Check out our full guide on this transportation mode here.

Diver Propulsion Vehicle

Added as both an alternative to standard boats or flippers, and to better help navigate the new ocean floor, the DPV has been making waves as the first underwater gas propulsion aid. While you can’t fight while using this item, it sure is helpful to make a getaway from angry players or sharks.

High External Wall & Gate Upgrades

In addition to being given a placement timer and raid replacement blocking element, this year brought with it the capacity for players with adequate Tool Cupboard privilege to upgrade from the Wood variety of high external walls and gates, directly to Stone, given that the stone wall replacement is in your inventory and a hammer is in hand.

Subterranean Horsing

Player Riding a Horse in the Tunnel System

Worth its own mention, Horses of all shapes, sizes, and colors can now be taken into the underground rail network area after a much-overlooked change, allowing for a much quieter and slower-paced scrap farming adventure. Who said animal husbandry wasn’t a profitable enterprise? Lest we forget, Horses can also walk backward now.

Monument Changes

Harbors

Both Harbor monuments received quite substantial facelifts coming in the form of some piers being removed, some being added, and a retracting swivel bridge being added to accommodate the new Cargo Ship docking event.

Oil Rig Saturation Tubes

View the Large Oil Rig Saturation Tube Entry

Ever wanted to quietly scuba onto an Oil Rig and go straight to one of the top floors without the scientists noticing you? Well now you can. Read up on our Large and Small Oil Rig guides for more information on these monuments.

Barricade Placement

Player Placing a Barricade Down Inside the Train Yard Monument

PVPers were elated to find out that barricades of various shapes and sizes are now deployable, although temporary, in most monument areas, so long as on a ground level. This has drastically changed things for the better in the world of PVP.

Visual Building Block Zones

The Visual Building Block Zone Displaying While Trying to Place a Foundation

Players can now visually see the building block zones of monuments while holding a deployable or building plan. This removes the guesswork when picking a build location, ensuring that you have enough room for honeycomb. Along with this, most monuments had their anti-build radius altered in 2024. Most of the small monuments got larger radiuses, while newer monuments like Abandoned Military Base and Arctic Research monuments got smaller.

World Changes

The World Itself (Part Deux)

Viewing a waterway, cliffside, and grassy area in RUST

On October 3rd, RUST underwent a world overhaul that changed the landscape forever. In addition to the Radtown Monument (below) being added, Rust saw the return of several old favorite, but wholly remodeled rock formations. These buildable structures have already had a lasting effect on both how the community builds and raids. We also received updated, elongated rivers, deep and vast canyons, and lush desert oases.

The ocean wasn’t without its alterations, with the old water bottle diving site markers being replaced by massive buoys and the underwater sites getting quite a few foliage and decorative overhauls.

Radtown

As the world reshaped itself, it added a brand new (old) monument in the form of Radtown. This is a throwback to a slightly less developed time in RUST’s history, complete with brand new graphics and models, a full complement of lootables and locations to fight, as well as the first of its kind pools of Radioactive Water. Check out our in-depth Radtown Monument Guide.

Water Wells

Viewing a Water Well with the New Vendor NPC

At the end of the dirt road, often in heavy forest, we’ve all come across a water well a time or two. Usually isolated with little going on, these map features were little to get excited about—until now. Each water well now has a vendor with a fluctuating goods inventory that changes roughly every 30 minutes. The new tax system does not impact these items, so this is a great way of getting an early-game Jackhammer at a cut-rate price. In addition, the monument now spawns growing produce, and a spawning food crate.

Tutorial Island

Everyone agrees that RUST is the quintessential “throw the child in the deep end and walk away” experience regarding survival games. Servers of differing formats have done their best through mods and rules to help break players in more easily, but we needed a tutorial. Introducing Tutorial Island… imaginatively named and not at all condescending to the RUST experience (#sarcasm). Take it or leave it, at least we have something.

Cargo Ship

Many changes surrounding the Cargo Ship came in the first half of 2024, with the ever-stalwart event receiving a few tweaks. Up first, the standard 4 ladders (2 per side) that players use to climb up on the boat was increased to 8, with the new ladders leading into the ship’s hull instead of the deck. This change drastically modified the threat factor for those attempting to defend their loot from boarders.

Second, the Cargo Ship now docks at the Harbor monument it enters the map closest to, allowing players with a fear of small boats to instead jump directly on from the safety of land. Some cranes lift spawning red shipping containers straight onto the boat, in which players can hide and be smuggled aboard.

Helicopter AI Change

The Patrol Helicopter Flying Towards the RUST Island

One of the more controversial changes made in an otherwise slam dunk of an April update, the changes to the Patrol Helicopter AI have sent ripples through the end-game community calling for its reversal. New No-Go zones mean that once you deal enough damage to the Helicopter, it will just move on and avoid your base. This makes taking it down for the solo or duo nearly impossible.

Wolf AI Changes

We’ve all heard the jokes, the whispers, the taunts; RUST AI, how serious can we really take it? From NPC scientists spawning halfway in the ground to bears and pigs running from a simple foundation placements.

Well, Facepunch listened. Boy, did they listen. Oh man, did they listen?

Wolves are now almost as big of a threat as other players, from seeing players from strangely far distances to alerting every other wolf in the pack and other nearby players via a howl to their miles-long pursuits. Man, wolves aren’t nearly the joke they once were.

Bradley Scientists

Player Engaging with the Bradley APC and Its Scientists

The Bradley APC event remained mostly the same from an AI perspective, incorporating a minor change in the form of several Blue and Heavy Scientists that will spawn after certain damage milestones are dealt to the tank. Some view this as a huge negative, while others enjoy the built in sentry support while the flaming crates go out.

New World Models

Several world items and entities received much-needed facelifts, receiving a model of their own and finally standing out in the crowd while your neighbor despawns his loot during the online raid you gave him.

Quality of Life Changes & New Systems

Cargo & Floating Vessel Solidity

Although January is usually void of meaningful updates and acts as more of a preface of changes to come, the first wipe of the year brought with it a notable change; items dropped on any type of boat will now remain on the vessel instead of falling through. This change also impacted bodies in the back of scrap helicopters, causing them to remain in the vehicle.

New Remains Bags

A Player in a Hazmat Kneeling Above a Corpse on the Road

With the implementation of new equippable backpacks taking the appearance of our old corpse backpacks, we needed a new remains bag. The new one even goes so far as to have a ‘looted’ appearance.

Hell from Above

Depending on your perspective, this might come as a good or bad shock – the time between using MLRS strikes against an opponent’s base has increased from a 10-minute cooldown to 20 minutes. Worth knowing before planning your next big raid.

Plant Ripeness Stage

Looking at Blue Berry Seeds Inside a Planter Box

Farmers everywhere rejoice. Your crops will now last overnight, with the ripeness stage being extended from 4 hours to 14.

Fishing Overhaul

There are far too many changes to both the player-casting fishing system and passive fishing trap systems to mention here, so we will instead link to our updated guide that lays it out. Minor Synopsis: bait categories and stacking have been expanded, higher tier fish can be gotten passively, and new bait metas exist. Check out our fishing guide.

Metal Detecting

Not everything is combat-oriented, with a few things being added (and subsequently changed or subtracted (I miss my shovel)). Metal detecting was quite the promising new subsystem added with the backpack update in February, allowing players to use non-combat means to acquire low to mid-tier loot. At first you were even able to perform this task in safe zones, but this was short lived.

Door Placement Rotation

When placing doors, you may simply press the R key to rotate the way they swing instead of awkwardly navigating to the appropriate angle to flip them. Additionally, Facepunch updated Door Controllers to apply more easily and pair directly onto the door more efficiently.

Metric Ton of Art Cosmetic and Bug Fixes

Too numerous to count or quantify, but our early estimates show that this was a banner year for art improvements, rivaled only by the early days when the world and monuments were first being created. Great job, team!

First (and Second) TC Skins + Auth Improvement

Player Interacting with the Retro Tool Cupboard

You heard us right – the Retro Tool Cupboard being launched on the General store as a constant item opens the door for even more TC skins, further distinguishing your base from 2×1 Petey. Facepunch also released a promotional Shockbyte Tool Cupboard skin shortly after the Retro TC release. In addition to new skins, players also gained the capacity to authorize other players remotely from a TC, instead of unloading all traps to auth a new teammate.

Repair Cost Fix

Towards the end of 2023, players noticed that the manual repair cost to smack something with a hammer, specifically Auto Turrets, went up a ridiculous amount. Most of these price hikes have been returned to a more comfortable level. In addition, smacking things and placing them in a repair bench now shows exactly which and how many resources are required for a full repair.

Loot Barrel Facelift

The art department has been hard at work since the beginning of time but went the extra mile in 2024 to give those familiar, antiquated, lootable barrels a much-needed Spa day. The higher-definition textures actually do a better job at having the barrels blend into their surroundings as opposed to standing out, providing a more immersive experience.

Range Finding

Binocular View with Range Finder Display

On the smaller end of the news, but worth including in our list, is the change made to Binoculars to show a center rangefinder when zoomed in. This is a wonderful addition for those trying to take our turrets or SAMs from afar, or figure out where the turret limit range ends.

Electrical Changes

Nearly every electrical component that previously had a passive 1 energy requirement that could impede a circuit down the line has had this requirement removed. This change is another small yet incredibly impactful quality of life change that forces us to relearn things we’ve long known constantly. We were also introduced to Wire Slacking for that extra aesthetical quality that only OSHA violations can bring.

Traveling Vendor

Released in the same patch as the below-listed taxation system, a Traveling Road Vendor was added to all maps large enough to possess a Ring Road (+4000 map seed). This vendor spawns and patrols clockwise around the map, stopping periodically by default or when waved down by players. It has two onboard turrets to maintain the peace, and its items vary from spawn to spawn.

Death and Taxes

This is a multi-faceted entry, with some good and some bad objectively being observed across the board.

Early-game progressive taxation was added to most non-player vending machines, starting prices of early-game necessities like tools and deployables at 200% of their normal price, decreasing and eventually discounting the default price over time.
Taxation was added to directly researching things via the T2 and T3 workbenches at a rate increase of 10 and 20%, respectively.
Recycling in safe zones had its output yield reduced by 20%, and the time to recycle per tick increased by 3 seconds.
Recycling in the wild had its yield increased by 20%, with the recycling time remaining default.

Medium Battery Size Reduction

Electricians everywhere let loose a resounding smile when news came that the size of the medium battery was being altered to fit underneath a half-wall jump-up. While this might not mean a lot to zergs, some of us are on a real-estate budget.

Workbench Consolidation

A Tier 3 Workbench Looking at the Tier 2 Tech Tree

Instead of having to keep all of your older workbenches in storage in case you need to tech tree to the Bear Rug, all three trees can now be accessed from the highest tier and down the line. Tier 2 can only show T2 and T1 trees, and T1 only has itself.

Seismic Sensors

A huge community favorite, the introduction of the Seismic Sensor has changed the way players in RUST sleep. Now, when properly set up, any type of raid attempt within 30 meters of one of these detection tools can send a RUST+ alert straight to your real world phone, ensuring that you never get a restful night’s sleep again!

Hindering Big Brother

Player Being Monitored by a CCTV Camera at a Monument

After many suggestions relating to spray cans and monument camera systems, the decision was made to allow built-in cameras at places such as Oil Rig or Airfield to be shot and temporarily disabled by players present. Audio can still be heard, but the picture scrambles and the camera itself glitches electrically for several minutes.

Auto Turret Interference UI

Rounding out our list of quality of life improvements, an added user interface option to see how many turrets exist within the range of interference has made life ever so slightly easier for clan electricians everywhere.

Colorblind Accessibility

Facepunch added much-needed options to the player menu for changing an assortment of in-game items’ colors to alternate colors viable by colorblind players. Blue mushrooms are trippy.

Taken Prisoner

Player Imprisoned with Hood and Handcuffs in a Cage

With the induction of the Handcuffs and Prisoner Hood, players briefly started taking one another prisoner, leading to some rather odd behavior and even some server bans among the modded community circuit. Hopefully, we’re moving past this behavior, but you never know with RUST players.

Helicopter Shredding

Not sure what to do with that Minicopter you just stole from your neighbor? Take it, or any other type of rotor-based copter, to the Junkyard monument, where you can deposit it into the shredder for a quick scrap payout. Get rid of the evidence and cash in. It’s a win-win scenario.

The volume of convars added, backend processes changed, optimizations made and tweaks done are far too numerous to list here, even if we had a full year to do it. Instead, we will highlight a few of our favorite additions or subtractions.

Copy & Paste

A built in copy & paste base command was added to allow server admins and moderators to replicate the effects of the copy & paste mod that has been used by the community for years.

Invis Command

One long-overdue command that needed to become standard was the debug.invis command that allows server admins to silently spectate players on their servers.

Game Mode: Creative

RUST’s new “Creative Mode” was introduced in 2024, allowing server owners to set up options for players using the RUST permission system that can enable free building, repairing, and more.

Anti-Cheat Features

While it would be counterproductive to specify exactly which methods and metrics have been added to cull the number of cheaters in RUST, the numbers speak for themselves. Since the July Anti-Cheat Update, nearly 100,000 bans have been issued out of nearly 400,000 reports on official servers. In that same timeframe, there have been 5.3 million reports across all servers.

Year of DLCs; Continued

Instead of going into a deep dive on how in-game skins and exclusive items have gone mainstream, it might be easier for you to jump right into the marketing that went into them. We present 2024: RUST DLC’s.

Retro Tool Cupboard
Wallpaper Starter Pack
Frontiersman Pack
Gesture Pack
Retroactive Car Radio added to Voice Props DLC

Afterthoughts

RUST 2024 highlighted a remarkable year of change, innovation, and community-driven development. From new items and reimagined monuments to sweeping combat balances and quality-of-life refinements, each update has left its mark on how we build, scavenge, and survive.

Facepunch Studio’s commitment to introducing fresh content—whether through major overhauls like the world revamp or smaller but impactful adjustments such as door rotation—ensures the game remains dynamic and draws players back. As we move toward 2025, these advancements underscore RUST’s enduring appeal: a constantly shifting survival environment where slight changes can upend the gameplay. Players old and new have much to look forward to, with the unspoken promise that another update is just around the corner.

Feel like something else should have made this list? We love a good argument! Be sure to reach out through our official Discord and let us know. While this list wasn’t all-inclusive, we stand behind our decisions based on player impact per category, and many long days went into researching every little changelog.