1/19 @ 12:45pm EST - Network issues continue. Working with host on a fix. We'll be back in a bit, sorry for the downtime.

9:20pm EST - Rad towns and blueprints were launched earlier today. After a couple issues with building and airdrops in the morning, an update around 1pm EST (which forced another wipe) got many servers running smooth. Several hours later, another release completely broke the game for any server unlucky enough to run the update. With players spawning high in the air or under the map, many servers simply shut down.

I just tested a fresh install of the current main branch and, I’m happy to report, the problem appears to be resolved. For servers actually able to run the stable build, performance is holding up well. Unfortunately, many servers which rely on a shared hosting provider are shit out of luck at the moment, waiting on support tickets to clear.

Below, I’ve summarized some specifics with regards to the update today. For a more general summary of rad towns and blueprints, check out my post from yesterday.

My updates throughout the day we’re forming a wall of text on the top of this post so I moved them to the bottom.

Starting items list

Rad towns are not the only thing new with this update, blueprints have also made an entrance. This means you can no longer craft everything from the get-go, you actually have to find and study the blueprint before making most items. Here is the core list of what you can craft when starting fresh:

• Tool Cupboard
• Building Plan
• Wood storage
• Camp Fire
• Furnace
• Sleeping Bag
• Paper
• Low grade fuel
• Burlap Shirt, Shoes, Trousers

• Key Lock
• Urban Boots, Pants
• Vagabond jacket
• Hammer
• Stone Hatchet
• Bandage
• Wooden Spear
• Assault Rifle
• Bone Knife

Study those blueprints!

You can tell blueprints from normal items because there is some blue paper in the icon (see above). When you get this item, you may be tempted (and you are able) to use it. Watch out though, if you use it instead of right clicking and studying it, you'll lose the item when you die and you will not be able to craft it. I highly recommend right clicking and studying any blueprints you find asap (this does make the item disappear).

Lock your shit!

Both types of locks now need to be found and studied before you can craft them. Given this, I highly recommend using stairs to lock your doors in the meantime. Place a stair right in front of your door then rotate it to block the door when you want to keep people out. Make sure you have a hammer when coming back or you won't be able to get in yourself!

4:10PM EST edit: Maurino to the rescue! Key locks will be a default blueprint as of the next update.

Bye, bye wolf monuments

It appears rad towns have replaced wolf monuments. Don't worry, lighthouses and satellite dishes are still in.

Don't bother with rad towns

There are loot barrels spawning around the entire map, not just in rad towns. Given the radiation and the fact loot in barrels around the map all pull from the same loot table, there really isn't much reason to go to rad towns at the moment.

Watch out for dummy barrels in rad towns

Some of the barrels in rad towns are part of the town model and not actual loot barrels. If you're hitting the shit out of a barrel and it's not breaking, chances are it's a dummy.

Radiation damage halved

The damage you take from radiation is now half what it was yesterday. This makes it a bit easier to hang around rad towns naked if you're so inclined. 

Less low grade

Low grade fuel, although craft-able as a fresh spawn, now only crafts 5 per session as opposed to the previous 10.

Bear traps are bigger and louder

Bear traps are now a bit bigger and louder. Also, they are called snap traps instead of bear traps (probably because they don’t currently work on animals, only humans).

Edit: They actually do work on animals now.

Animals are slightly slower

Speaking of animals, they accelerate slightly slower after this update. That being said, they still move pretty fucking fast. Don't worry, if you follow them for long enough they will eventually tucker out and you can kill them.

Barrels smaller

Barrels are no longer the size of your character. They have been scaled down to be a bit more reasonable and are now about waist high.

More jackets

Xavier posted some of the variants of the Vagabond Jacket which we will see in the near future (note: there is currently only one version in the game right now).

Sawn off shotgun

This isn’t in game yet but some sweet new screen’s were posted on trello earlier so I wanted to share them:

New rad town concept

Paul just posted this new concept for a rad town. Sperm ket anyone?

Updated map

Here is the map of the new seed on our main server. We have marked caves, rad towns, lighthouses and the satellite dish. You can always find an updated map here.

Updates from earlier today

6:15pm EST - It appears there is now a working version of the server available if you run this in steamcmd: app_update 258550 -beta main

4:45pm EST - Attention server owners! There is another server update out at the moment, however, do not update yet! Getting many reports of players spawning in mid air or below the map. The team is working on a fix, however, for the time being, do not update! 

4:00pm EST - The devblog is out. Great week for Rust development!

12:55pm EST - Another client / server update just came out. This was a protocol++ and forced a wipe. That means you have to update your client before you can connect to our server again (seeing nothing but incompatible version notices on our server console at the moment). Airdrops and building should be fixed now.

12:40pm EST - Rad towns are officially now on the main branch! That means all servers had to wipe and gameplay has shifted in a big way. The team is still fixing up some bugs so expect another couple updates to launch today. Also, unfortunately, we just got word another wipe will be required when the next update launches in a little bit (clarification: this happened at 1pm EST). Fortunately, learned blueprints can be saved between wipes (at the server owner's discretion).

I’m going to be summarizing important gameplay notes below as they come to my attention. For a summary of the rad town branch and how it impacts gameplay, check out my post from yesterday. There are a lot of things going on today so I’ll do my best to keep you updated as things progress.

Did I miss anything important? Want to discuss the update with others? Join the conversation on our forum!