Built Different Update
1:49pm EST - Client update just hit and devblog is live! Game on!
1:30pm EST - Server update just hit! Client patch and devblog still pending...
12:00am EST - The Built Different update goes live today, bringing new player models, updated animations, ballistic armor, the M16A2, two new DLCs, and a bunch of quality of life improvements to Rust.
The update is expected at normal time, 2pm EST (7pm BST). Due to a last-minute issue on our end, there won’t be an update stream today. We’ll still be keeping an eye on things and will post on X as soon as the server and client updates go live. The stream will be back next month!
New player models
One of the biggest pieces of this month’s update is the rollout of Rust’s updated player models. The old model has been around for nearly a decade, so this is a pretty major visual overhaul, with more detailed faces, bodies, hair, beards, clothing fit, and materials across the board. There are also some new hairstyle options in the mix, including a crew cut, bun, and ponytail, helping add a bit more variety to the updated character lineup.
This isn’t just a visual swap either. The new models are built on a new rig, giving the developers a better foundation for future animation, clothing, and character improvements. Race and gender seeds have been kept intact, but your face may look a bit different after the update. That said, don’t get too attached just yet. These updated models are still subject to change, and player customization is still planned for later this year, which should eventually give players more control over their character’s appearance.
Player animations
Along with the updated player models, this month also brings a broader refresh to player animations. A lot of this is aimed at making characters feel more natural, with updated jump, sprint, crouch, idle, talking, weapon hold, deploy, and gesture animations all getting attention throughout development. There’s also been work to better match third-person animations with what’s happening in the viewmodel, along with more bespoke animations for weapons that previously shared less-than-perfect fits.
The new player rig also lets the developers move away from the old, stiff forward-facing aim pose toward a more natural angled stance, helping reduce some awkward weapon clipping and robotic movement. Under the hood, new animation systems are being rolled out to make it easier to layer specific animations into certain situations without breaking everything else. The result should be smoother movement now, and a much better foundation for future animation improvements going forward.
M16A2
The M16A2 makes its debut in today’s update, adding a new high-end rifle to Rust’s weapon lineup. This is a burst-fire only weapon, firing in fast 3-round bursts with a 30-round magazine of 5.56 ammo. It also supports 4 attachment slots, giving it plenty of room for the usual sight, muzzle, laser, or flashlight setups depending on how you want to run it.
Unlike most weapons, the M16A2 cannot be crafted or researched, meaning you’ll need to find it through loot instead of working your way to it through the tech tree (currently found in end game loot). Stat-wise, it sits in an interesting spot compared to the LR-300: lower damage at 35 vs. the LR’s 40, slightly higher accuracy at 5 vs. 4, the same recoil at 3.5, a faster fire rate at 600 vs. 500, and a shorter range at 368 vs. 422. In other words, don’t expect a straight LR replacement — this looks more like a rare, controlled burst rifle built around accuracy and quick follow-up shots.
Ballistic armor and BDU gear
The update also introduces a new set of military-style armor and clothing items. There are 5 new pieces in total: Ballistic Helmet, Ballistic Vest, Ballistic Leg Armour, BDU Shirt, and BDU Pants. None of these can be crafted or researched, so you’ll need to find them out in the world through loot.
The ballistic pieces are the heavier hitters here. The Ballistic Helmet offers strong head protection at 60% projectile, 70% melee, 10% bite, -3% cold, and 13% explosion protection. That puts it above the Metal Facemask’s 50% projectile protection, though the facemask still has slightly better bite and cold stats. The Ballistic Vest protects the chest with 35% projectile protection, 20% melee, 3% bite, -3% cold, and 3% explosion, making it more bullet-resistant than the Metal Chest Plate’s 25% projectile protection, while also avoiding the heavier cold penalty. The Ballistic Leg Armour rounds out the main armor set with 30% projectile protection, 40% melee, 10% bite, -3% cold, and 3% explosion protection for your legs.
The BDU Shirt and BDU Pants are more of the lighter clothing side of the set, described as old, worn, standard-issue battle dress uniform pieces that provide moderate protection. Both are a step up from their regular clothing counterparts, with the BDU Shirt offering better protection than a hoodie and the BDU Pants offering better protection than regular pants. The shirt comes in at 23% projectile, 20% melee, 6% bite, 5% radiation, and 5% cold protection, while the pants provide 17% projectile, 15% melee, 3% bite, 5% radiation, and 6% cold. Overall, this gives players a new loot-only military gear path, with the ballistic pieces serving as the main armor upgrades and the BDU clothing acting as a stronger uniform layer underneath.
Industrial Decor DLC
Also going live with the update is the Industrial Decor Pack, a new DLC focused on heavy-duty, factory-style base pieces. The pack includes 20 industrial themed items, including industrial shelving, horizontal and vertical storage barrels, an auto turret skin, torch skin, electric furnace skin, large furnace skin, garage door skin, painted concrete floor wallpapers, sprays, emojis, and more.
Most of the pack is cosmetic, but there are some nice practical touches in the mix. The industrial shelves can be assigned colors, making them useful for organizing storage, while the industrial barrels add some new visual variety for loot rooms. The garage door features a see-through plexiglass design with its own animation, and the industrial torch has a more electric, filament-style look with unique animations. Overall, it’s a solid fit for anyone going for that bunker, warehouse, factory, or gritty compound vibe.
Bowless Crossbow DLC
Separate from the Industrial Decor Pack, the Bowless Crossbow is also going live as its own premium DLC item. This is a standalone crossbow skin which gives the classic weapon a more mechanical, improvised look, ditching the usual bow arms for a compact salvaged frame. This one is cosmetic rather than a new weapon, so it should function like the regular crossbow while giving it a pretty distinct profile.
Quality of life
HUD UI optimizations
Item and vehicle F1 tab category now persists between sessions
Better support for non-QWERTY keyboard layouts
Workbench range upgrade now also boosts comfort range
Button color changes now use the spraycan, remember the last selected color, and show the current color
Mission objective marker optimizations
Improved F1 menu scaling on smaller resolutions
Re-skinning electric components and storage boxes now adjusts connected wires / storage adaptors more cleanly
Potential FPS improvements tied to the Unity 6 upgrade and updated player model work, though results will vary depending on your system.
Improved Skin Viewer, including better fullscreen navigation, view-in-hands support, keyboard controls, lighting fixes, bundled texture support, and viewmodel prefab loading
Auto Turret is now skinnable, with workshop / skin viewer support and support for the AK inside the turret
New Navmesh has been added, though it is disabled by default for now
Mountable / projectile validation improvements aimed at reducing “projectile invalid” issues when fighting from minicopters, ziplines, and other mounted situations
Cave wiring improvements, including fixes for wiring from underground cave areas to the surface
Deployable snapping improvements, including fixes for different snap modes not properly registering on the server
Spraycan / reskin improvements, including fixes for multiple players reskinning at once and better handling of deployable state when reskinning
Barrel conveyor filter fix so barrels properly show up again after reskin support was added
Wallpaper skin picker fix so default skins show up properly again
IO wire and hose visual improvements, including restored hose colors, invisible wire material fixes, and better visibility when showing IO directions
Rain grace improvements, including fixes after server restart and faster grace period checks
General performance and allocation cleanup across several systems
Fixes
Fixed auto turrets not targeting players mounted to the Chippy machine at some angles
Fixed not being able to connect a wire to a door controller when the door is open
Fixed map downloads sometimes writing incomplete files to disk
Fixed heli crates becoming unlootable if the heli crashed near an unloadable train wagon
Fixed being able to shoot mortars through walls and deployables
Fixed server descriptions often failing to load in the server browser
Fixed re-skinning computer stations removing connected wires and saved CCTV codes
Fixed not being able to pick up wall shelves when another deployable was nearby
Fixed scientists and animals ending up on roofs
Fixed torch attack animations not working properly on non-local players
Fixed industrial torch position / behavior issues in torch holders
Fixed held item animation issues, including bandage and syringe animations persisting when they shouldn’t
Fixed related sound issues after holstering certain items
Fixed 50 cal / PT boat turret animation issues
Fixed mortar animation issues
Fixed demos breaking when started while mounted on a mortar
Fixed console input field not being selected automatically when using console toggle
Fixed console parsing issues, including decimal and Vector3 parsing fixes
Fixed NVIDIA Reflex support detection
Fixed shadow caching / spot light rendering issues
Fixed several SprayCan client errors
Fixed deployable snapping settings not properly registering server-side
Fixed cave wire tool issues
Fixed industrial torch using the wrong attack sound
Fixed static instruments being offset in monuments
Fixed desert military base silo overlap after server restart
Fixed various render pipeline, lighting, shader, and allocation issues behind the scenes
Other stuff
Discord x Rust Wumpus Plush is now available as a one-time Discord Shop exclusive, unlocking through your Steam inventory and providing 70% comfort when placed in your base
Kick Off 2 drops run from June 11th through June 21st, with captain / co-captain exclusives, a Garage Door skin, Locker skin, and Kick Wallpaper up for grabs
Premium has been renamed to Premium Access Pass, with no functional changes to how premium servers work
Auto Turret workshop submissions open June 11th, now that the Auto Turret has been added as a workshop skinnable
High polling rate mice may cause performance issues due to Unity 6 mouse input changes; Facepunch recommends lowering mouse polling rate below 1000Hz if you’re seeing frame drops
The Youtooz Furnace Night Light is now available for pre-order
Player customization is still planned for later this year, though exact details are still being discussed
New navmesh groundwork should eventually help improve NPC movement, animal behavior, base navigation, and moving monument AI in future updates
The new player rig and animation pipeline should make future clothing, animation, and character updates easier to ship going forward