New Rust update introduces party system and an essential building upgrade

The Rust July update is here, and it's absolutely packed with changes. We're a couple of months on from the introduction of the jungle biome to the tremendously popular survival game, which remains the top dog on Steam over a decade after it first helped to define the genre, and developer Facepunch is looking as strong as ever. The new Rust update today includes a wealth of very welcome improvements, including a party system, a deployable snapping tool to make building much easier, and Outpost spawning.

Facepunch starts off with a celebration; after more than 380 free updates since it first launched, Rust has now sold more than 20 million copies on Steam, and it reached a new active player count high at the very start of 2025. One of the founding members of our best survival games list remains one of its strongest, and as the developer aims to "reduce friction for new players," it's rolling out a long-requested feature: the party system.

You can now invite friends to a shared party through Steam, and then all join a server together. If you're doing so for the first time, you'll be spawned in close proximity to one another and automatically placed on the same team, although future respawns remain random. Alongside this, the team invite system has been improved, allowing you to send invites directly from the chat panel and add friends even when they aren't currently on your server.

The change I'm most happy about is the introduction of deployable snapping. By Facepunch's own admission, "Placing deployables has always been a bit of a chore in Rust, especially if you want it to be properly in a corner or against a wall." As someone that likes their base neat and organized, the ability to quickly and accurately plop beds, chests, shelves, benches, and so on down is a fantastic relief.

There are two options available here. 'Simple' mode will just prioritize snapping objects to a wall wherever possible. Turn it to 'advanced' from the settings menu, however, and your deployables will attempt to snap into corners and other such objects, with an emphasis on similar props. That means shelves will automatically snap to nearby shelves, for example, while all your storage boxes can be grouped tightly together.

There are quite a few other changes as well. A new spawn point in Outpost has been added with a 30-minute cooldown. Turrets have been optimized to improve their aiming calculations. The peacekeeper mode on turrets, however, now displays a holster warning to offending players much like old safe zones. Weapons are now holstered rather than hidden when you surrender, the erosion simulation in map generation has been improved to better blend in canyons and lakes, and a dedicated 'UI sounds' slider has been added that also impacts the volume of the headshot effect.

Facepunch has also made adjustments to patrol helicopters, admitting that its recent changes "weren't the best in some respects." The intent, it explains, is to encourage PvP across the map while preventing the same clans from always grabbing the patrol helicopter. The 'tug of war' system remains, but the helicopter will now always flee towards a monument, with a one-grid maximum and the location shown on the map. "It's possible these changes won't work," developer Ian Henderson cautions, "but I want to try them out."

The team also addresses a roof stability fix that has been a hot topic since it was first discussed. "We understand and respect that some bugs are better left in the game once they turn into important gameplay mechanics," Facepunch says. Roof-stability bunkers and disconnected TCs (tool cupboards) were not game-breaking, so they've stuck around. However, due to pyramid bases breaking for the same underlying reason, the developer "weighed the options" and decided to implement a fix. "There are many alternative bunkers in the game and you can still break external TCs manually before replacing the main TC," Facepunch notes.

Looking to the future, Facepunch says that next month will mark a refresh for Hardcore mode, along with "some long-requested quality-of-life improvements." Later in 2025, we'll be getting the Naval Update, which introduces "modular, player-built boats complete with cannons." The developer is also working on improvements to animals along with some new additions, and even teases "A Warhammer collaboration and more we're not quite ready to talk about yet."

The Rust July update is out now, and you can get the game at a 40% discount through Thursday July 10, paying $23.99 / £20.99. Read through the full patch notes courtesy of Facepunch Studios for some additional thoughts on and reasons for the changes.

If you're tempted to try it out for the first time, we've got a rundown of the Rust system requirements. Alternatively, here are more of the best co-op games that you and your friends can enjoy together.

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