4/8 @ 3:40pm EST - A small server / client update came out before which fixed some spawn populations, censorship issues, a couple other small bugs.

4:55pm EST - The update is out and devblog is live! Enjoy!

2:50pm EST - Our update stream is live! twitch.tv/rustafied

12:34pm EST - We're seeing some cool new things make their way in today before the update hits. Here are some highlights:

• Key codes for locks can now be entered with your number pad - numbers on screen are now stars instead of showing the code
• Blinking and random eye drifting added.
• Admins can edit locked signs.
• Two new server cvars for idle kick: 'server.idlekickmode' and 'server.idlekickadmins'

9:00am EST - Blueprint wipe confirmed.

2:12am EST - Our favorite time of the month is here - a fresh start accompanied by a big update. The team at Facepunch has a good one in store for us this week. Forcing a wipe on all servers, this update features a character reroll (now with females), map improvements, PvP balance, and a whole slew of fixes.

Our update stream goes live at 3pm EST. As usual, this update will hit whenever it's ready - the average time tends to be between 3pm and 5pm EST. Follow @Rustafied for updates throughout the day.

Blueprint wipe?

There has been some chatter about a forced BP wipe, mostly sparked by two tweets from Garry on Wednesday. Although the next forced BP wipe was expected to come with the XP system, it appears one may happen with the update later today. That, or Garry is just trolling everyone - which wouldn’t be the first time.

At the moment, no forced BP wipe has happened on the staging branch. We’ll keep you updated through the day if it happens.

Update: Blueprint wipe confirmed.

Female models added

A new gender enters Rust - female models go live today! Determined by SteamID, the fate of your character's sex is in the hands of the Rust gods.

If you’d like determine the sex of your character before the update hits, opt your client into the dev branch, join a server, and bring up the inventory menu with tab.

Character model changes

With the addition of female models, a whole slew of other improvements and changes to the character models are in this week. Taylor has done an incredible job on these new models - out with unsightly seams, in with incredible textures and detail!

As with anything new, there are still tweaks to be done. Some skin tones are weird and eyelashes can look really creepy at certain times of day. Regardless, I think they look great!

A big thanks to my Rust models: Loach, Pipopip, and B3LLA MaC

New procgen

Andre’s latest iteration of the procedural map generation system is live! This updated landscape includes better spawning for resources, more interesting rivers, and a bunch of changes to overall topology and map layout. Also, the grass has been made a bit ‘rougher’ - which seems to make things a bit harder to see.

If you look at these pictures and think, "I see no difference." Don't worry, it's more noticeable once you're actually walking around...

Syringe changes

After its nerf last week, the syringe is seeing a slight boost in stats. It now heals 15hp immediately, then 20 over time (same overall total healing, but 10 extra HP immediately). Accompanying this change, syringes can stack to 2 and bandages can be stacked to 3.

Armor balance

Helk has done a bunch of fixes and changes to armor this week. Here is a summary:

• Metal facemask now protects less (40 damage dealt by AK per hit) but lasts longer (will not break for about 10 hits).
• Metal chestplate now lasts about 15 hits before breaking.
• Other helmets (bucket, coffee can, riot) protection adjusted to be less than facemask.

30 minute idle kick

Going idle while you craft a crap-ton of stuff just got a bit more challenging as a 30 minute AFK timer has been added. It’s only active if the server is full, but watch out, because crafting queues have been known to get screwed up if you get disconnected from the server.

Note: Admins and developers are immune to the AFK kick

Grenade improvements

Helk has given some much needed love to grenades this week. Along with being much snappier and quicker to throw, beancan grenades are now much more reliable than before (i.e. they have a better chance of exploding). Keep in mind, the longer you prime the grenade, the farther it goes.

More dungeon textures

Some more textures have been added to the dungeons. Here are a couple shots:

Other things:

• Rockets + explosive rifle ammo deal full damage to strong side walls / doors again
• Steam overlay works again
• Can enter codelock codes with keyboard Codelock dialog show as stars instead of the code
• Hemp is bigger - easier to find
• Fixed some ragdoll stretching weirdness
• Item attachments are refunded when weapon is used for crafting (eg. sentry)
• Fix for disappearing holosight
• Increased emission of ceiling lights
• Hapis got some texture improvements
• Added new shader level (500) to rainfall that enables soft particle
• Added convar 'specnet'  - if enabled you will be networked when you're spectating so you can hear voice
• Admins can unlock / change signs

Now, for some Rustafied news...

New dedicated box

Rustafied expansion is afoot. Our new dedicated box is on order and expected to be set up by next week. With this new box, we will be able to split the load of our servers - increasing performance and possibly allowing for expansion. More on this next week.

VIP Slots

After many requests, we’re making some VIP slots available for our other servers. Allowing you to skip the full server queue, VIP slots help fund our expansion (Rustafied EU anyone?). They are $10/month, can be activated immediately, and can be purchased via the button below.

Thank you everyone for the support, I can't wait to grow our server presence worldwide!