Rust Halloween Update 2026: Server Checklist for 22 October

Rust gets a mandatory server and client update on Thursday 22 October 2026 at 18:00 BST, which is 17:00 UTC, and your server has to install it before updated players can join again. Facepunch has not announced a wipe with it, so treat the evening as an update night rather than a wipe day: back up, update the server, update Oxide or Carbon, check your plugins and reopen.

This post covers what Facepunch has actually said, the time in your zone, a step by step checklist for the evening, what to do when Oxide stops working, and what to expect from the November update, which is expected on 5 November but not announced yet. Everything here was checked on 16 October 2026 against Facepunch's announcement and commit log and the Oxide and Carbon documentation. Once Facepunch publishes patch notes, those take priority over anything below.

What Facepunch has announced

The date sits at the bottom of the October devblog, under its own Halloween Update heading, and in the matching Steam announcement from 1 October:

"On October 22nd at 18:00BST / 13:00 EST, we'll release a mandatory server and client update to enable some spooky features! Server owners, please remember this date."

That is the whole announcement. Point by point:

The "13:00 EST" deserves a second look. On 22 October New York is still on daylight saving time (EDT, UTC-4), so 13:00 there is 17:00 UTC, the same moment as 18:00 BST. If you convert "13:00 EST" with the winter offset, you end up an hour late.

Facepunch ran the same play last year. Its October 2025 devblog announced a "mandatory server and client update" for 23 October 2025, also at 18:00 BST, with "spooky-themed wallpapers" as the one feature it named in advance.

What the commit log shows

Facepunch's public commit log gives a bit more detail. On 9 October a commit on a branch called Halloween_2026_update (#711404) reads:

Network ++
Enabled Halloween event
Enabled scarecrow population
Enabled halloween dungeons
Update collectables to spooky versions
Frankenstein table default craftable

Network ++ raises the network version, which fits Facepunch's description of a mandatory server and client update. The rest suggests the update switches on the Halloween event with scarecrows and Halloween dungeons. Treat this as a preview only: commit messages are developer notes, not release notes, and things can change before 22 October.

The time in your time zone

Copy the rows your players need into your Discord announcement. For communities in Singapore or Australia this is a night update, so decide in advance who stays up for it.

What a mandatory update means for your server

Mandatory means the server and the game client have to be on the same build to connect. Once the update is out:

• players who have updated cannot join a server that is still on the old build
• a server you have already updated turns away players who have not updated yet

Staying on the old build only works for as long as your players stay on the old client, so in practice every public server updates that evening. For a vanilla server that is the whole job: update, start, check, open.

A modded server has one more piece that must match. Facepunch's own server guide says about Oxide: "Any time there is a server update oxide will come out with an update shortly after. You must do this every time the server is updated." Oxide's install guide says the same thing in its own words: "For every server update by Facepunch, there is an Oxide update. Don't mismatch version of Oxide and version of servers."

The reason is in the download. The current Oxide archive contains its own copies of Rust server files, among them Assembly-CSharp.dll, in RustDedicated_Data/Managed, and each release is built for one specific Rust build. Updating the game puts the vanilla files back, and an Oxide build made for the old version does not belong on top of the new one.

Carbon works differently. Its install guide tells you to update the game files every time the server boots and to start Carbon on top of them. With SelfUpdating enabled in carbon/config.json, Carbon checks for a newer build at startup, but according to its auto update docs it "only self updates if you update to the latest Rust version". The same page says Carbon releases "the production build for the Rust wipe update 1 hour before the actual Rust server update drops". It says nothing about mid-month forced updates like this one.

When the framework builds for 22 October will be out has not been announced: Oxide's and Carbon's release pages and docs say nothing about that date. For a sense of timing: Oxide's build for the 1 October update (2.0.7783) was published at 17:33 UTC that day, and on the day of last year's Halloween update Oxide published 2.0.6613 at 16:29 UTC. That is history, not a promise. Check the release pages on the evening and allow for a wait. If you are still choosing between the two frameworks, our Carbon vs Oxide comparison covers the differences.

Does the Halloween update wipe?

Facepunch has not said. The announcement does not mention a wipe and there are no patch notes yet, so no wipe has been announced and you should not plan one because of this update.

The commit log points the same way. The version changes for the last two forced wipes were committed as network++ / save++ / persistance++: branch save288 on 27 August (#617837) and branch save289 on 24 September (#704853). The Halloween commit only says Network ++, with no save change. That is my reading of developer commits, not a promise from Facepunch, and it can still change.

Oxide's release notes give you a quick check on the evening. They put a Rust version number in brackets after each patch: 2633.288.1 for the September update and 2634.289.1 for October. The middle number went from 288 to 289 together with those save288 and save289 branches. If the Oxide build for 22 October still shows 289 in the middle, the save version most likely did not change. Again, that is a pattern I read from the releases, not an official rule.

Whatever the notes say, check before you open. Start the updated server, join, and confirm that your bases and deployables are still there. If the world comes up empty, the update wiped after all, so stop and read the patch notes before you do anything else.

What you decide yourself

• The map. Keep it. A mid-month wipe is your call, but the November forced wipe is expected two weeks later, so wiping now gives your players a two-week cycle.
• Blueprints. Nothing is announced for them either. If you do not wipe, leave them.
• Plugin data. Without a wipe there is no reason to reset kits, economy balances or stats.
• The event itself. The commit log suggests the update switches the Halloween event on. If it does not suit your server, for example a roleplay or PvE server with its own NPC rules, these convars already exist in the build that is live now: halloween.enabled, halloween.scarecrowpopulation, halloween.murdererpopulation and halloweendungeon.population. Carbon's Rust convar reference, which is generated from the game, lists them as off or 0 by default today. Facepunch has not documented how the update sets them, so check their values in the console after the update and test any change before you open.

Checklist for the evening of 22 October

For the general routine around Rust updates, see our monthly update playbook. For this evening, the short version:

1. Tell your players. Post the time in their time zones, say the server goes down for the update, and say that no wipe has been announced. In game, say "your message" in the server console sends a chat message to everyone online.
2. Pause anything automatic. Scheduled restarts and wipe tools should not fire halfway through. If you run Oxide, make sure your start script does not run SteamCMD on boot: Facepunch's guide warns that "If you run SteamCMD in your startup script, your files will be reverted back to vanilla."
3. Save and stop. Shortly before 17:00 UTC, run server.save, then stop the server from your panel or with quit in the console. Both commands, and say, are in Carbon's Rust command reference, which is generated from the game.
4. Back up. Copy the whole identity folder (server/<identity>/ with the map, the save, the player databases and cfg/) and the oxide or carbon folder with its plugins, configs and data. If a plugin keeps its data in an external database, back that up too. Store the copy outside the server folder.
5. Update the server after 17:00 UTC. Use your panel's update option, or SteamCMD with app 258550. The command from Facepunch's guide is ./steamcmd.sh +force_install_dir ../rust +login anonymous +app_update 258550 validate +quit. Oxide's docs add -beta public and advise against the release branch, because it is not always in sync with public.
6. Update the framework.
   • Oxide: open the Oxide.Rust releases, take the newest release that is not marked as a pre-release and check that its notes mention the new Rust update. Download Oxide.Rust.zip for Windows or Oxide.Rust-linux.zip for Linux and extract it in the server's root folder, so the files land in RustDedicated_Data/Managed, overwriting what is there. If there is no new build yet, wait. Do not put the previous Oxide build back on top.
   • Carbon: with SelfUpdating enabled, let it update itself on start, or download the Release archive from the production build and unpack it in the server root. On Linux, keep Carbon's order: update the game files first, then source carbon/tools/environment.sh, then start RustDedicated.
7. Start and read the console. Watch the framework load and look for plugins that fail to compile or throw errors. Confirm the version with oxide.version (Oxide) or c.version (Carbon), and list what loaded with oxide.plugins or c.plugins. Oxide's plugin commands and Carbon's command list have the details.
8. Fix or park broken plugins. Check the plugin's page for an update. If an optional plugin has no fix yet, unload it with oxide.unload PluginName and tell your players. If the plugin enforces your rules, such as team limits, permissions or the economy, keep the server closed until it works.
9. Join and test. Update your own client, connect, check that your bases are still there and test the plugins that matter most. Then open the server and announce it.
10. Keep the backup until you are sure the update went fine.

Oxide not working after the Rust update

The usual causes, in the order to check them:

• Oxide is gone after updating. Updating the game restores the vanilla files. Install the Oxide build made for the new Rust build.
• Oxide disappears after every restart. Your start script probably runs SteamCMD on boot. Oxide's docs: "Make sure that the server start script does not execute steamcmd.exe". Update by hand or from your panel, then reinstall Oxide.
• Updated players cannot join right after you installed Oxide. Check that you installed the build for the new Rust version, not the previous one. An old Oxide build carries server files from the old Rust build.
• The server runs the wrong branch. Oxide's docs tell you to update with -beta public and not to use the release branch.
• Only one plugin fails. That is the plugin, not Oxide. Wait for the author's update, then reload it with oxide.reload PluginName, or unload it until then.

November: the next forced wipe (expected 5 November)

Facepunch has not announced a date or time for the November update. These are the reasons to plan for Thursday 5 November:

• Every monthly update in 2026 so far landed on the first Thursday of the month: 1 January, 5 February, 5 March, 2 April, 7 May, 4 June, 2 July, 6 August, 3 September and 1 October, as the news archive shows. The first Thursday of November is the 5th.
• Rust's in-game wipe timer counts down to the "First Thursday every month at 19:00 (London time)" by default, and Facepunch's wipe timer page says that default "aligns with force wipes".
• For January, Facepunch named the time in advance: "January Patch + wipe released on January 1st @ 1900GMT" (Steam, 18 December 2025).

If November follows that default, the update comes at 19:00 London time. By then the clocks have changed: the UK and the EU go back on Sunday 25 October and the US on Sunday 1 November.

Expect a forced map wipe. Facepunch's wiki ties the monthly schedule to force wipes, and the builds for the September and October updates both changed the save version. Whether blueprints are wiped as well has not been announced, so read the November devblog before you promise your players anything. For wipe updates, Carbon's documented schedule is a production build "1 hour before the actual Rust server update drops".

The wipe timer is driven by the convars wipetimer.wipedayofweek (default 4, Thursday), wipetimer.wipehourofday (default 19) and wipetimer.wipetimezone (default Europe/London). If you run your own schedule, set them so the in-game countdown shows your players the right time. The wipe day checklist covers deleting the map and save files and the first hours after the wipe.

Hosting your Rust server with us

Our Rust server hosting plans include Oxide/uMod support, DDoS protection, NVMe SSD storage and automated backups, in nine regions: the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Canada, USA (California), USA (Virginia), Singapore, India and Australia. Plans start at €10.20 a month for STONE (8 GB RAM, 60 slots). The panel gives you file access and SFTP, so you can download your own copy of the identity and oxide folders before you update. Support is online from 08:00 to 20:00 UTC every day, so the 17:00 UTC release on 22 October falls inside those hours.

FAQ

Does the Rust Halloween update wipe servers? Facepunch has not announced a wipe. The commit log only shows a network change for the Halloween build, while the last two forced wipes also changed the save version. Still, check that your bases are there after updating and before you open.

What time is the Rust Halloween update on 22 October? 18:00 BST, which is 17:00 UTC, 19:00 in Amsterdam, 13:00 in New York and 10:00 in Los Angeles. In Singapore and Sydney it is already Friday 23 October, at 01:00 and 04:00.

Do I need to update Oxide after the Halloween update? Yes. Oxide's docs say every Facepunch server update gets an Oxide update, and updating the game restores the vanilla files. Carbon updates itself at startup if SelfUpdating is enabled and you have updated Rust first; otherwise download the new build yourself.

Can I keep my server on the old version for a few days? Only players still on the old game version could join, and the update is mandatory for their game too. For a public server, update on the evening.

When is the Rust wipe in November 2026? Expected on Thursday 5 November, but not announced yet. If it follows the wipe timer default of 19:00 London time, that is 19:00 UTC, 20:00 in Amsterdam and 14:00 in New York.

Related guides: Preparing your Rust server for monthly updates | Rust wipe day checklist | Carbon vs Oxide for Rust | Rust wipe schedules