The RUST decay upkeep variable
The RUST decay upkeep variable, introduced with Building 3.0, allows admins and moderators the ability to set the server’s decay upkeep for tool cupboards. This is a change from the previous decay system, in which the decay.scale variable managed all player-created deployables and buildings. Now, decay.scale will manage player-crafted deployables and decay upkeep will manage the only player built buildings.
Prior to the Building 3.0 release, if doors within the tool cupboard’s radius were opened, it would reset decay timers for the entire building area. This game mechanic prevented bases from decaying rapidly. This mechanic is no longer true and has been replaced with the decay upkeep tax system. Player-built buildings will continue to decay “from the outside in”, meaning the innermost layer of a building will be the last to decay. So for each ‘tick’ in which a tool cupboard has insufficient resources available, that specific layer will begin the decay cycle.
In Devblog 191, a new base decay indicator has been added to the Status UI. Even if a server has disabled upkeep, this status will still appear on players’ screens. As of 4/10/2021, there is no setting to disable this UI component.
New decay upkeep tax system
The decay upkeep tax system requires the tool cupboard to have a specific amount of resources inside of it (24 inventory slots total), to maintain the base and prevent decay.
Player-constructed buildings will have a tax percentage applied to them, that grows cumulatively, as the connected blocks increase.
The tax percentage is calculated based on four server-defined tax brackets, with the final tax being the average of all the blocks in the structure.
The tax brackets are as follows:
- Bracket 0: 1-15 blocks at 0.1
- Bracket 1: 16-65 blocks at 0.15
- Bracket 2: 66-190 blocks at 0.2
- Bracket 3: 190+ blocks at 0.333
For example, if a structure has 20 blocks (regardless of building grade), 15 blocks will be taxed at 10, and 5 will be taxed at 15%, resulting in a total tax of (15 * 10% + 5 * 15%) / 20 = 11.3%.
This tax is then applied to each block, based on how much it cost to build or upgrade that block.
The final upkeep cost, as reflected by the tool cupboard, is the sum of all block costs, rounded up to the nearest integer.
Our thanks go to Torarnv for helping clarify the tax system.
Decay configurations
Decay timings for each of the building material types can also be set and have varying decay times associated with them. These are the default decay configurations:
- Twig: 1hr
- Wood: 3hr
- Stone: 5hr
- Metal: 8hr
- Armored: 12hr
Building Auto-Repair
For servers that have enabled the decay upkeep and have tool cupboards with the appropriate resources inside, it will automatically heal the associated building on each tick. The resources inside the tool cupboard will be consumed to repair the building when it’s damaged, whether it’s decay or player-based. This will repair at the same rate as it would have decayed.
Who can enter the RUST decay upkeep variable
On Vanilla RUST servers, the RUST decay upkeep variable can only be set by RUST admins and moderators. By default, this variable is enabled for all RUST servers. If you’re a regular player, you will not be able to toggle these server settings. If you’re looking to find a no-upkeep/no decay server, you’ll want to look for those keywords in the server’s title or description.
How to use the RUST decay upkeep variable
Before initiating the decay upkeep variable, ensure the admins involved are:
- Understand that this variable alone will not prevent decaying for all items in the server
- This is a large dynamic change to the way in which the game is played
- The tool cupboard decay upkeep may be disabled, but tool cupboards will continue to use resources inside of them on each ‘tick’
- Unless the server configuration has been saved, the decay upkeep variable will no longer be in effect when the server restarts.
- If decay upkeep is disabled, the server will revert to the previous system, decay.scale, for managing decay.
RUST decay upkeep variable
Press the F1 key to first open the in-game console and type in the specific decay variable syntax listed below, then press enter.
Use the command below to get the server’s current setting for decay upkeep:
decay.upkeep
The command console will then display the following upon success:
decay.upkeep: "True" or "False"
On success the server chat will display:
N/A
Use the command below to enable decay upkeep:
decay.upkeep true
The command console will then display the following upon success:
decay.upkeep: "True"
On success the server chat will display:
N/A
Use the command below to disable decay upkeep:
decay.upkeep false
The command console will then display the following upon success:
decay.upkeep: "false"
On success the server chat will display:
N/A
Related Decay Upkeep Variables
| Command | Default Value | Description |
| decay.bracket_0_blockcount | 15 | Between 0 and this value are considered bracket 0 and will cost bracket_0_costfraction per upkeep period to maintain |
| decay.bracket_0_costfraction | 0.1 | Blocks within bracket 0 will cost this fraction per upkeep period to maintain |
| decay.bracket_1_blockcount | 50 | Between bracket_0_blockcount and this value are considered bracket 1 and will cost bracket_1_costfraction per upkeep period to maintain |
| decay.bracket_1_costfraction | 0.15 | Blocks within bracket 1 will cost this fraction per upkeep period to maintain |
| decay.bracket_2_blockcount | 125 | Between bracket_1_blockcount and this value are considered bracket 2 and will cost bracket_2_costfraction per upkeep period to maintain |
| decay.bracket_2_costfraction | 0.2 | Blocks within bracket 2 will cost this fraction per upkeep period to maintain |
| decay.bracket_3_blockcount | 200 | Between bracket_2_blockcount and this value (and beyond) are considered bracket 3 and will cost bracket_3_costfraction per upkeep period to maintain |
| decay.bracket_3_costfraction | 0.333 | Blocks within bracket 3 will cost this fraction per upkeep period to maintain |
| decay.debug | false | N/A |
| decay.delay_metal | 0 | How long should this building grade decay be delayed when not protected by upkeep, in hours |
| decay.delay_override | 0 | When set to a value above 0 everything will decay with this delay |
| decay.delay_stone | 0 | How long should this building grade decay be delayed when not protected by upkeep, in hours |
| decay.delay_toptier | 0 | How long should this building grade decay be delayed when not protected by upkeep, in hours |
| decay.delay_twig | 0 | How long should this building grade decay be delayed when not protected by upkeep, in hours |
| decay.delay_wood | 0 | How long should this building grade decay be delayed when not protected by upkeep, in hours |
| decay.duration_metal | 8 | How long should this building grade take to decay when not protected by upkeep, in hours |
| decay.duration_override | 0 | When set to a value above 0 everything will decay with this duration |
| decay.duration_stone | 5 | How long should this building grade take to decay when not protected by upkeep, in hours |
| decay.duration_toptier | 12 | How long should this building grade take to decay when not protected by upkeep, in hours |
| decay.duration_twig | 1 | How long should this building grade take to decay when not protected by upkeep, in hours |
| decay.duration_wood | 3 | How long should this building grade take to decay when not protected by upkeep, in hours |
| decay.outside_test_range | 50 | Maximum distance to test to see if a structure is outside, higher values are slower but accurate for huge buildings |
| decay.scale | 1 | N/A |
| decay.tick | 600 | N/A |
| decay.upkeep | True | Is upkeep enabled |
| decay.upkeep_heal_scale | 1 | Scale at which objects heal when upkeep conditions are met, default of 1 is same rate at which they decay |
| decay.upkeep_inside_decay_ | 0.1 | Scale at which objects decay when they are inside, default of 0.1 |
| decay.upkeep_period_minutes | 1440 | How many minutes does the upkeep cost last? 1440 = 24 Hours |
| decay.upkeep_grief_protection | 1440 | How many minutes can the upkeep cost last after the cupboard was destroyed? |
Note: Don’t forget to save any modifications you make in the command line to your server’s configuration file (server.cfg or the server’s batch file)
