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Jungle Update

Explore a whole new biome! This month's update introduces a lush new Jungle, complete with climbable trees and vine swinging, deadly tigers and crocodiles, new monuments, boomerangs, blowpipes, and more!

01 May 2025
DEVBLOG
⠀ 
Jungle Biome
We've added the first new biome to the game since the original introduction of the procedural world generation: Jungle!
The jungle biome covers part of the temperate coastal (tier 0) area where new players spawn. The terrain in this biome is flatter than other biomes, has a higher river density and thicker foliage.


The jungle biome features a large variety of completely new foliage. This includes new types of bushes, such as bromeliads and monstera. New undergrowth plants like arrowroot and calathea. As well as variety of new trees like trumpet trees, jungle palms and sandbox trees. 
The biggest of them all are enormous kapok trees that you will be able to climb and swing from. 
The jungle is much denser than what you may be used to, so be aware that dangers and predators may lurk in every corner. Or use it to your advantage and hunt your prey instead.
The jungle biome is vast, but allows for full base building like all other biomes. Take a step inside and embrace your inner Tarzan.
Vine Swinging
While exploring the Jungle biome you will encounter a new type of tree covered in vines, you can climb these trees to reach branches that provide a new vantage point. There are also interactive vines on a lot of these branches that allow you to swing from one branch to another, allowing you to traverse significant distances in the jungle without having to touch the ground.

Unlike our other form of aerial transportation (ziplines) vines move from one location to another, so if you are travelling as a team you will need to throw the vine back to your friends after using them so they can follow you. You can also use a vine to quickly, safely and quietly descend to the jungle floor.


Just like other trees these vines can be knocked down for wood, however they will create an invulnerable stump in their place and the tree will respawn after a while.

Jungle Remnants
Among the towering trees and thick undergrowth, you’ll stumble across small jungle monuments, each holding a glimpse into a forgotten past. These include the Jungle Ziggurat, a weathered stone structure with its own mysteries, and a scattering of ancient jungle ruins left behind by a long-lost civilization.

Jungle Ruins

The new Jungle Ruins are small monuments packed with atmosphere and early-game loot. Perfect for a quick stop while exploring, you’ll find low-tier supplies and maybe even a few surprises tucked away among the overgrown ruins.
TIGERs and panthers
The dense foliage of the jungle will be a grub's paradise, but they will need to be careful... there may be something sneakier than them lurking.
The tiger may be the deadliest animal you'll ever encounter in Rust. It closes in extremely slowly from behind, and only strikes when it's sure to kill. A moment of inattention in the jungle is all it takes.

The challenge developing a stealthy NPC, is that it can easily feel unfair and bullshit.
In Rust people are already often ambushed by all kinds of NPCs, and those are not even trying to be stealthy...

To address this there are 3 different hints in game that will let you know if you are being stalked from behind, some more subtle than others.
We do our best to guarantee that you won't be jumped without getting at least one cue.
It'll be on you to experiment and discover those hidden signals.
Do not only scan the foliage for black stripes and orange, as you may fail to notice the very rare black panther that also roams the jungle.
Finally there is a hidden trick you can pull on tigers and panthers, good luck finding it!



CROCODILE
You may notice the rivers are wider and deeper in the jungle, but think twice before crossing, maybe this shape you see in the murky water is not a dead tree.
If the tiger is the deadliest, the crocodile may be the toughest. 
Don't lower your guard just because it looks slow and short-sighted, you may be surprised...
The crocodile operates on the basis of mutual respect, don't mess with it and you'll be fine, but mess around and find out.
Like the wolf and tiger, the crocodile also has a hidden counterplay that will give an edge to the ones in the know.
Boomerang
We’re introducing another new early game weapon: the Boomerang!
This throwable weapon travels in a fixed arc and returns to the player after each throw, just like you’d expect. Its consistent path means skilled players can master its timing and trajectory to gain an advantage. The Boomerang can also be used as a melee weapon in a pinch if you need it for close range!
blowpipe
This month, we’re introducing a new early game weapon: the Blowpipe – a silent, improvised weapon for those who enjoy causing problems quietly.

  • Wood Dart – Basic and to the point. Light damage with no frills.
  • Scatter Dart – A short-range spread shot that sprays multiple smaller darts. Great for up-close chaos.
  • Incapacitate Dart – Slows your target and obscures their vision for a short time. Perfect for making a quick getaway (or moving in for the finish).
  • Radiation Dart – Applies stackable radiation to your target. Watch them get progressively more uncomfortable.

The blowpipe’s low cost and quiet operation make it a solid choice for ambushes, harassment, or just annoying your neighbours.
snakes
Snakes are a stealthy new threat found in the Jungle biome - and you'll definitely need to keep an eye (or ear) out for them!


They hide pretty well in their leafy environment and their poison attack slows your movement speed. Be sure to listen out for their attack hiss as it's usually the first sign that you're about to be bitten! 

They'll definitely keep you on your toes - a quickly timed jump after their hiss will avoid the attack altogether!

On the plus side, dead snakes can be skinned for Snake Venom, a new item that can be used to create incapacitate darts for the new blowpipe weapon.
Larger Rivers
andre
Rivers are now longer, wider, and deeper in all biomes. They can no longer be walked across and require players to swim in order to cross them. The jungle biome specifically also has a higher river density compared to other biomes, which leads to more rivers in total on a map.
Notable Changes
Vending Machine Fridge
The Vending Machine can be powered to stop food spoiling
Food Cooling Icon
A new icon now appears to indicate when your food is being kept cool and fresh
Chicken coop fits on a foundation
Resized the chicken coop to fit on a foundation, it also now snaps into place!
Jungle Animal Meats
Several new Jungle themed animal meats added
Outbreak Scientist
New scientists now roam the jungle!
Leather Gloves
Leather Gloves are now default BP and no longer require a sewing kit
Jungle DLC Item Pack
We’re dropping a brand-new DLC - the Jungle Pack, packed with 20 new skins and items. You’ll find skinnables like the Bamboo Wall Shelf, Half-Height Shelves, Jungle Relic Assault Rifle, Cocoknight Wood Armor, Bamboo Large Storage, and loads more.

There’s also new wallpapers, sprays, a gesture, and some chat emojis to mess around with.

You can grab the Jungle Pack from the Rust Item Store on Steam or straight from in-game.

Bamboo Shelving

Why have one shelf when you can have three?

This pack comes with Bamboo Salvaged Shelves, Bamboo Salvaged Half Shelves, and Bamboo Wall Shelves. Perfect for giving your base that overgrown, lived-in look.

The bamboo shelf is a reskin for a regular shelf, the shallow and half-height shelves are currently unique items to the pack. 

Bamboo Barrels

Need somewhere to stash your loot? These Bamboo Barrels are skinned versions of the Large Wood Box, coming in both vertical and horizontal styles.

Same size as the ones from the Decor Pack, just way more... jungly.

Jungle Relic Assault Rifle

This ancient relic AK reskin has seen things — bad things.


Cocoknight Wood Armor

Only the bravest warriors can adorn the Cocoknight Armor. Made from bark, vines and.. coconuts, this armor set consists of skins for the Wood Armor Helmet, Chestplate, Pants and the newly introduced Gloves. 



Obsidian Bone Knife

Knapped from the darkest obsidian, this skin for the Bone Knife has been passed down through the ages. As sharp as it is mysterious.

Jungle Idol Rock 

Whomever holds the Jungle Idol Rock will see death. Whose it is, is uncertain.

Wallpapers, Sprays, Gesture and Chat Emoji


To really set the vibe, we’re also throwing in:

  • 3 Wallpapers: Jungle Animals, Leaves, and Sigil
  • 2 Sprays: Tiger and Skull
  • 2 Chat Emojis: Sick and Bush
  • 1 New Gesture: Beats Chest!

Explosive Protection fix
Jake_Rich
When initially released the damage reduction of explosive armor inserts didn't match the resistance numbers shown on the inventory screen. This was caused by most forms of explosive damage being part melee damage so they could kill players without being used for raiding but the damage reduction not reducing the melee damage component. This was fixed by converting existing damage values to pure explosive damage in PvP while keeping the existing values for raiding.
This brought a new problem: with the inserts and certain combinations of armor you could reach up to 93% explosive protection and shrug off rockets! To compensate explosive protection will now be capped at 75% which should save you from a single rocket at high explosive protection values.
Hunter vision
Flavien
The hunter vision is a new boost that let you see the scent trails of wild animals, helping you to track and hunt them down easily.

Eating the big cat pie will give you the boost for 15 minutes.
Jungle Building skin
The new Jungle stone building skin, available now from the Rust store, allows you to change the visuals of your stone tier base.
This skin is for sale at the Steam store. To use, simply equip your hammer tool, display the wheel, and enable building skins. This should reveal the skin's wheel on which you may choose Jungle Temple upgrade.
Available now from the in-game store or Steam item store.
Wood gloves
Rounding out the wooden armor set, the new Wood Gloves are now available! Default craftable and made from wood and cloth, these gloves offer early-game protection that slots between Leather Gloves and Roadsign Gloves.
Perfect for fresh spawns or anyone needing quick, reliable hand protection without the need for a blueprint.

Server Profiler Updates
Daniel P

Experimental Streaming Support

With this update we're releasing the next stage of Server Profiler - experimental support for streaming profiling telemetry into memory. This can be done with the following command:
profile.perfsnapshot_stream [Name] [MainThreadBuffer] [WorkerThreadBuffer] [Debug]
  • Name (max 32 characters, defaults to "Profile") - controls the filename of the snapshot, [Name].json.gz
  • MainThreadBuffer (MB, max 256, defaults to 32) - how big is the telemetry buffer for main thread 
  • WorkerThreadBuffer (MB, max 256, defaults to 8) - how big is the telemetry buffer for each worker thread
  • Debug (0/1, defaults to 0) - whether to generate [Name].bin.gz for debugging
The key difference here is that original `profile.perfsnapshot` command was able to accumulate up to 10 frames of data, while the new command will accumulate telemetry until the main thread storage is full, at which point it'll export the [Name].json.gz file. For ~40 players on staging server and default 32MB main thread storage we were able to generate roughly 60 frames of data:

Quiet Mode

I've exposed a new control for server-chat notifications when a snapshot is being taken - the messages that warn the players about potential server stutters with a countdown:
profile.quiet 0/1 - default to 0 (will notify), set to 1 to disable chat messages.

This affects both the old profile.perfsnapshot and the new profile.perfsnapshot_stream commands.

If you'd like to learn more about the server profiler you can find more here.
Server Optimizations
Daniel P

Batched Player Processing - Experimental Physics Query Batching

In the "Crafting Update", Server Optimizations section I've written about starting to work on batched player processing. The goal is to group logic better to enable more efficient memory cache utilization as well as starting to process players in parallel. Back then we only tried processing water queries for players in parallel.

This coming update we have now converted NoClip validation, 1 of 3 physics-heavy player validation routines, over to the new batched flow. It aggregates all the physics queries into separate batches, and runs batches sequentially, while each batch internally is run in-parallel. 

My synthetic stress tests showed a ~5x/~80% speed-up of AntiHack.AreNoClipping compared to original implementation of AntiHack.IsNoClipping. 

Original flow simulating 4 checks for 10k players:
Parallel flow:

Running the new logic on a 57 player staging server currently shows reduced benefits

Original flow(50 frames of data):

Parallel flow (52 frames of data):
It shows that we're getting around ~0.5ms(~10%) savings in AreNoClipping, the method that I focused on optimizing. We're also seeing ~13ms(~18%) savings at top level, ServerUpdateParallel.

It's important to note that this is all on relatively fresh Staging with a relatively small population. Release environment is a bit different, so I'll be validating how it behaves and if it's stable going forward.
player server occlusion
Ryan
We last spoke about player server occlusion in the Crafting Update news post, in that post we stated our future plans were to ensure all servers are using server occlusion by default.

We now believe the system is in the right position for this so starting this patch servers will have server occlusion enabled by default. If you are a server owner running a custom map that you don't think is suitable for server occlusion or running a server on older hardware, you may want to disable server occlusion, you can do that with the following startup parameters:
  • -disable-server-occlusion, this parameter will ensure server occlusion is completely disabled.
  • -disable-server-occlusion-rocks, this parameter will skip including rocks in the occlusion grid bake, this is recommended if you're running older hardware but still want to make use of server occlusion as it can significantly increase initial grid generation time.
Twitch Drops
Errn

Twitch Drops are back!

Starting at today's update, until May 28th, we will have an array of general Rust drops for all to enjoy.  These drops can be earned on any Rust channel that has drops enabled!

These Drops are paying homage to our Community Official servers.
Don't forget to ensure you are synced over at https://twitch.facepunch.com/

And be vigilant of scams - Facepunch will never DM you about Twitch Drops.

Drops will end around midnight UTC on May 28th.
Workshop Quality of life changes
matt.i

This month, the team has been working hard on some significant quality-of-life changes to the Rust Workshop.

Although many of these changes are designed to make community skin artists' lives a little easier, they should also improve the visual quality of many in-game items!

We've added previously missing Ambient Occlusion and Specular maps to all skinnable weapons, clothing, and deployables. These will automatically apply to existing skins that do not include their own custom textures for these map slots.

We’ve also fixed the downloadable meshes in the Workshop so they now have correct position, scale, and rotation, along with more sensible pivots!

A bunch of weapon-related issues have been resolved, including UV fixes on third-person models, properly displaying arrows on bows and crossbows, and adding third-person sights to the Double Barrel Shotgun.

The Wood Storage Box and Large Wood Box now support transparency for interiors. We can't wait to see what the community comes up with here!

We've also made a raft of improvements to the Workshop scene, including fixing items disappearing at a distance, implementing Time-of-Day pause and Skybox Rotate functionality, and — for the extremely adept skin artists — fixing an issue where normal maps were sometimes incorrectly displayed on skin submissions.

A definitive list of changes is included in the improvements and fixes below.


48 hour Flash Sale
To celebrate the release of this month's Jungle update, we're having a flash sale!
Rust and all Steam DLC's will be 50% off until 18:00 BST / 10:00AM PT this Saturday!

Get that new squad mate in by gifting them a copy on Steam.

Patch Name Jungle Update
Changelist Title Jungle Change Log
date_range Thursday, May 1, 2025
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Features

  • •
    Added jungle biome
  • •
    Rivers are now longer, wider and deeper and require swimming to cross them
  • •
    New Ziggurat monument
  • •
    New Jungle Remnants monuments
  • •
    New Boomerang weapon
  • •
    New Blow Pipe weapon (with 4 darts)
  • •
    Snakes
  • •
    Crocodiles
  • •
    Tigers
  • •
    Panthers
  • •
    New Vine Swinging trees
  • •
    Big cat pie
  • •
    Hunter vision
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Improvements

  • •
    Sunlight stat on chickens now increases much faster
  • •
    Chicken coop has been resized to more neatly fit on a single foundation (and has snapping)
  • •
    Added a freezing icon when an item is being refrigerated
  • •
    Vending Machine can now operate as a Fridge
  • •
    Re-enabled network cache on many IO entities (improved server performance)
  • •
    Improved rendering performance of powered Industrial Conveyors
  • •
    Added Ambient Occlusion Map to the following assets: Baseball Cap, Beenie Hat, Bone Knife, Bolt Rifle, Hammer, Hatchet, Hide Pants, Hide Shoes, Hoodie, Long T-shirt, Longsword, LR300, M249, MP5, Pants, Pickaxe, Riot Helmet, Rug, Salvaged Hammer, Sandbag Barricade, Snow Jacket, Spinning Wheel, Sword, T-shirt, Thompson, Vagabond Jacket, Waterpipe Shotgun, Wood Storage Box
  • •
    Added Specular Map to the following assets: Beenie Hat, Hide Pants, Hide Shoes, Hoodie, Leather Gloves, Sandbag Barricade
  • •
    Improved interior UV's for Wood Storage Box, improving the look of transparent skins
  • •
    Rustige Egg specular glare is now balanced across all variants
  • •
    Increased Locker skinned texture resolution
  • •
    Improved Hatchet Third-Person model and LODs
  • •
    Poison vital UI now appears when you're poisoned
  • •
    Added weapon sight present in First-Person to the Third-Person model on Double Barrel Shotgun. It is also now skinnable
  • •
    Added interior geometry and UV's for Large Wood Box, allowing for better transparency usage
  • •
    Item asset field on asset export in Workshop Scene will now automatically take the default asset name unless the user adds a custom name
  • •
    Rivers and lakes now have underwater effects
  • •
    Improved underwater visuals
  • •
    Projectiles will no longer clip into the camera when throwing (grenades, etc.)
handyman

Fixed

  • •
    Fixed horses not triggering laser detectors
  • •
    Fixed being able to mute some game sounds when changing audio setting
  • •
    Fixed not being able to clear authed players when the Tugboat/Turret was at maximum authed player count (softcore)
  • •
    Fixed destroyed bags turning back into regular bags on server restart (softcore)
  • •
    Fixed container not preserving the correct amount of loot when destroyed (softcore)
  • •
    Fixed being able to lose items by reskinning high gates while dropped items are nearby
  • •
    Fixed harsh LOD popping and reduced bloom effect on new Rustige egg
  • •
    Fixed TMP errors when using an IME while typing in chat (Chinese, Japanese)
  • •
    Fixed computer station being used to clip through doors
  • •
    Fixed an issue that allowed players to stop auto turrets from firing
  • •
    Fixed some formatting issues when displaying non-English characters in the chat
  • •
    Can no longer put out satchels through walls with the water pistol
  • •
    Fixed error when painting on spinning sign
  • •
    Fixed ‘ent auth’ command not working on tugboats
  • •
    Fixed dropping an item while dancing resulting in an invisible local weapon
  • •
    Fixed eggs that were hatching in a chicken coop getting stuck if the server restarts
  • •
    Fixed flamethrowers marked as shield compatible in the UI
  • •
    Can no longer cover ladder hatches with rugs
  • •
    Fixed the interior boxes on the hackable crate sometimes disappearing
  • •
    Fixed an issue locking your character in place when renaming sleeping bags (among other cases), if a controller was connected (set accessibility.senduinavigationevents to true if controller input is needed)
  • •
    Event lootboxes can now fill the hotbar if inventory is full
  • •
    Fixed Miner Hat reverting to vanilla skin while on
  • •
    Fixed a case where XOR switches incorrectly send power on server restart
  • •
    Fixed door gibs not reflecting door skin
  • •
    Fixed UV's on destroyed gibs models for Double Wooden Door, Double Armored Door, Industrial Door
  • •
    Fixed all downloadable Workshop meshes, resetting position, rotation, scale and centered pivots. The transforms are now also now non-inverted
  • •
    Fixed Crossbow's UVs in Third-Person, they now display skins correctly
  • •
    Fixed Hatchet's UVs in Third-Person, they now display skins correctly
  • •
    Fixed LR300's normals on dust cover in First-Person
  • •
    Fixed Custom SMG displaying incorrect material on the grip in First-Person
  • •
    Fixed NRE with F1 Grenade in Workshop Scene
  • •
    Fixed player hands appearing red in Workshop Scene
  • •
    Fixed assets LODing out too quickly in Workshop Scene. They will now still be visible at distance
  • •
    Miner's Hat now uses correct Specular workflow
  • •
    Miner's Hat now displays skins correctly when the light is turned on
  • •
    Fixed Arrows not displaying correctly in Third-Person for the Hunting Bow, Compound Bow and Crossbow
  • •
    Fixed Custom SMG sights being different in the Third-Person model compared to the First-Person model
  • •
    Fixed an exploit allowing heavy armor on horseback

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