6:00pm - Annd we are live! The client update has hit and all Rustafied servers except low pop have been wiped!

4:33pm - Xmas branch is now working on dev branch. Will keep you updated as more info becomes available. Looking to see the update go live any time now!

To clarify an earlier post, servers will not be forced to wipe with this update. This was a slip up on my part and I apologize for any confusion it may have caused.

3:25am - What up nerds? BILL! here hijacking your favorite news feed for the day. Just in case ya missed our last post, Bugs has packed his bags and is headed to places unknown for a bit of time off. That being said we still have an update packed with fixes, optimizations, and tweaks coming. In addition, we are going to be trying something long overdue on our main server.

Don't forget to check out our update stream for live coverage of this update starting 3pm EST.

Christmas is here!

Ho ho hold up a sec, looks like FP dropped a X-mas surprise on us!  Several last minute additions have been added to this update to spice up your holiday Rust experience! So far we've seen presents, stockings and several new items. Currently these are only deployed by a server admin manually running the new command "xmas.refill" in console, but we expect these events will be added as a server event (like helis or airdrops) soon.

Some of the new items include..

• Gift boxes - act as a replacement for barrels. Provides presents when broken.
• Santa Hat - new headgear, doesn't provide any stats but who needs stats when you look like Santa?
• Large, Medium, and Small Presents - can be unwrapped to receive loot or upgraded for higher tier items
  • 10 small presents can be upgraded to a medium present
  • 5 medium can be upgraded to a large present
• Candy Canes - provide 350 calories
• Small and SUPER stocking - Loot brought right to your door!
  • Players must be awake (logged in) and not downed
  • The tooltip says to hang it by a fire, but this does not appear to affect whether or not you receive presents.
  • Before presents are delivered, anything in the stocking will be removed so be sure not to store valuables inside these!
• Pookie Bear - he's a tiny stuffed bear that can be placed on the ground and provides comfort
• Coal - Does nothing of course 

M249 buff

Possibly the biggest change this update, our beloved M249 is set to get a decent buff. A tighter spray cone and noticeably reduced recoil will make this gun even more effective at spraying down your undoubtedly pissed off neighbors. No changes to damage means this bad boy will still drop just about anything after 2 or 3 hits. 

To accompany the stat buff, the M2 also got new gun fire audio. I have to say, just playing around with these changes on a test server in god mode was absolutely terrifying. The spray control, range, and very appropriate noise that sounds more like a cannon firing than a 556 round all rival it's exclusivity. That is to say you still won't find too many of these on vanilla servers and for good reason.

Helicopter loot

We all know this feeling, you and your comrades are out to fight the helicopter for glory and riches. You collectively burn through thousands of rounds of ammunition because no one can aim, and when you finally manage to bring it down, the bitch bursts into flames... amazing..

Well my friends, I am thrilled to say water now puts out the fire! Just get the thing to crash into a lake or ocean and boom, you can now loot the crates immediately. No more waiting for the fire to go out! Through some testing I found that extremely shallow pools will cause crates to still erupt into flames so be mindful when dealing the killing blow.

Turret fixes

Those of you trying to recreate Sealab are in for a disappointment as turrets can no longer be placed under water. I wasn't aware this was a thing but the boys in the lab tell me otherwise. I can only assume this was only ever done purely for trolling purposes.

In other turret news: the source of turret on turret violence has been identified and fixed. This should be a huge benefit to larger groups who can afford to have two in one base, specifically because the (the turrets) won't feel compelled to murder one another now.

Water changes

Oh my did water get some work done this week. With my count being over 40 public facing commits, lets try and highlight the big changes yeah?

• The black line on the horizon is gone for good
• You can no longer throw objects or use health items while underwater
• Shore foam near the beach was introduced
• The annoying shit that happened when holding spacebar while swimming is gone (RIP)
• As mentioned above, turrets and heli's now interact with water differently
• Players will now slow down very quickly when diving into water
• Plus tons of minor performance and aesthetic improvements

Optimizations & minor changes

Optimization and bug squashing was the name of the game with this patch. Most of these changes are code heavy and may as well be hieroglyphs to the rest of us. What you need to know is that we should see better performance both server and client side through the holidays. Hell. Yes.

The one caveat here is the rain. Garry disabled rain colliders which means you will now see rain falling through objects so expect to have a leaky roof for the next couple of weeks. I am personally happy with this, its a temporary measure to boost FPS until the team can find a more permanent solution. And honestly, who doesn't want more frames?

Some of the other things we haven't covered yet include..

• A metric ass ton of optimizations and bugfixes
• Pickaxe and salvaged hammer are both throwable
• Added a "tree quality" slider to performance options (esc)
• Added additional anti hacking measures

Main wipe cycle

Starting this Thursday, our main server will be testing out a 2 week wipe cycle. We (as well as a great number of you) have been wanting this for a while now and with server performance being at virtually an all time high, it's time to give it a shot. Of course performance is always going to be our priority, if things start going to shit prematurely, we'll have to pull the plug and wait with bated breath just a bit longer.