Rust November 2026 update adds gamepad support, Uzi, blueprint rework and a big performance push
Rust's November 2026 update reworks blueprints, adds gamepad support and an Uzi 9mm, and promises lower memory use and faster server restarts.
Facepunch’s big November 2026 update for Rust (PC) overhauls how you progress through the tech trees, adds controller support and drops in a pile of new weapons, wildlife and performance work.
Blueprint rework
- Workbenches no longer need blueprint fragments to craft, and scrap isn’t spent on the tech trees.
- Three tiers of blueprint (fragments, pages and books) become the new currency, one for each tech tree level.
- The lowest tier turns up in common loot like barrels and boxes, and can be upgraded into the next tier. Puzzle rooms and harder content are still the fastest route.
- Items can still be researched with scrap at the research table.
- The salvage workbench upgrade now has a 20% chance to not consume a blueprint, and the prototype upgrade is a flat 25% success rate.
Facepunch says it doesn’t expect to have it perfect first time and will adjust when needed.
New items and gear
- Uzi 9mm: automatic and shield-compatible when folded, semi-automatic with better accuracy when unfolded. Hold the fire mode button to switch.
- Shears: gather more wool and can’t hurt a sheep if you miss. A default blueprint needing a Level 1 workbench.
- Crocodile Pie: makes nearby animals keep their distance, with a rich version lasting twice as long.
- Wool armour insert: small melee and projectile protection, big cold resistance, on the Workbench Level 1 tree.
- Nailgun: a new model, textures and animations, and it’s now skinnable in the workshop.
Gamepad support
Controllers now work across core gameplay through Steam Input. The inventory and crafting UI uses a stick cursor by default, with a D-pad toggle in the new gamepad options screen. Not every feature has dedicated support yet.
World and gameplay changes
- Livestock is less punishing: cows don’t die of old age, starving cows lie down at 1 hp, and you can pet cows and sheep. Animals also get a new Potential stat.
- The deep sea cycle starts once the lighthouse is repaired.
- Rare roaming scientist boats patrol the main island, and scientist boats get better navigation and targeting.
- Crow and seagull flocks are added.
- Mirrored L and U stairs can be flipped with SHIFT + R.
- Random modular cars start with half their engine parts, locked until first loaded onto a car lift.
- Four new phone numbers give conversations like a weather forecast and power grid status.
- Apples and coconuts can spawn on some oak and palm trees.
Performance
Facepunch’s client staging data shows about 1.6GB less memory in total, and garbage collection running every ~12 minutes instead of ~6. Highlights include faster building privilege checks, smoother base loading, deep sea content loading only when needed (around ~260MB saved) and up to 25% less network bandwidth from packet batching.
Server restarts for the highest-population servers drop from 10 minutes to 2. Volumetric clouds can no longer be turned off.
Other notes
- Intel x86 Mac builds are retired; only Apple Silicon is supported.
- Softcore loses the deployable corpse system and gets a limit of 6 TCs per player.
- The new demo UI is on by default and demos can be exported as video.
- Facepunch says it’s banning over 3,000 accounts of script users as the wipe begins.
- The Scrap King building skin is available as DLC.
