2:00pm EST - The update is out and devblog is live!

1:00pm EST - Our update stream is live! twitch.tv/rustafied

12:00am EST - July has arrived and with it comes modular vehicles in Rust! The update today will launch a slew of new options for transportation along with a number of changes around the map.

The update is expected to hit at the regular time (2pm EST / 7pm BST). Our update stream goes live at 1pm EST. Follow @Rustafied for news throughout the day.

Update summary video

Here’s our update summary video from Puddy!

Vehicles are in!

At long last, modular vehicles make their way into the game with the update today. These 4-wheel automobiles can be configured in various ways and provide players the ability to traverse the landscape of Rust like never before.

Below is a summary of how vehicles work. For all the nitty gritty details, check out our new guide, Modular Vehicles in Rust.

Where to find them
Spawning in a broken down state near roads around the map, these vehicles come in three chassis varieties (short, medium, and long) and have a semi-random assortment of modules. Around 60 vehicles will spawn at a time on a default size map. 

How to get them going
Prior to being able to drive, vehicles need engine parts, fuel, and to be repaired. Repairing is pretty straight forward, simply bash the damaged modules with a Hammer with metal frags, high quality metal, and wood in your inventory. If the health of every module on the vehicle reaches zero, the whole car becomes a wreck and can no longer be used.

Engine parts
Engine parts come in three tiers (high, medium, and low) and can be either found around the map, researched then crafted, or purchased at Bandit Camp. You will need one each of the five engine parts, regardless of tier. Higher tier parts make vehicles faster and more fuel efficient.

Vehicle Lifts
To add and remove modules or make locks and keys, you’ll need a Lift. They can be purchased at Compound or researched then crafted. You can also repair at a Lift.

Crafting Cost
1000 metal frags
10 HQM
3 gears

Bought for
175 scrap

Research Cost
125 scrap

Workbench
Level 2 required

Modules
There are 12 different modules in total which have various sockets, uses, and costs (generally metal frags, high quality metal, and wood). The main functions for modules at this point are transport of either people, objects, or fluids. The modules can be found on other vehicles or researched and then crafted. 

Decay
Like most things in the game, vehicles will decay over time. If left unattended outside, they’ll last 8 hours prior to becoming a wreck. Inside, however, vehicles will last 36 hours prior to decaying.

Locking
Lastly, you can lock vehicles to keep out unwanted miscreants. Locks and keys can be created using the Vehicle Lift. In fact, keys can now have notes attached to them so you can keep track of what key goes to what vehicle.

To break into a car without a key, one of its cockpit modules (one with a driver's seat) must be reduced to 15% health or less. At that point the lock can be broken with an interaction.

More information
For more details on everything you need to know about vehicles, check out our brand new guide, Modular Vehicles in Rust.

Airwolf: Your heli source

Modular cars aren’t the only change to vehicles coming this month - the entire paradigm of obtaining helicopters has shifted. Gone are the days of finding a minicopter on the side of the road for free. Instead, meet: Airwolf. This new vendor at the recently expanded Bandit Camp (more on that below) allows players to purchase minicoptors and transport helicopters for 750 and 1250 scrap respectively.

Simply talk to Mr. Airwolf at his kiosk using the nice new RPG-style conversation dialog. Once purchased, the helicopter spawns on the landing pad with a bit of fuel in it. You have 2 minutes to collect and depart in your helicopter before the purchase is repossessed. Don’t worry about others stealing it, however, as only the purchaser is able to get in the vehicle for a short time after buying.

Safe zone changes

With the advent of purchasable helicopters, there have been some serious changes to safe zones. Along with the overall safe zone and building blocked area of Bandit Camp being expanded to cover the whole area, some fundamental shifts in how safe zones function have occurred. 

Specifically, you can no longer wield a weapon in safe zones. You also no longer take any damage while in a safe zone - so no more pesky snipers killing you from outside. Be careful about logging out in a safe zone though, as sleepers are automatically killed after 20 minutes in a safe zone.

Other map changes

There have been some other tweaks to the overall layout of maps in preparation of this update. First, the default map size has been increased once again from 4250 to 4500. Also, junk piles spawn a bit farther away from roads, side roads are a bit wider, and the overall topology of roads has been made smoother.

Finally, Compound now has 2 more recyclers, bringing the total to 3.

Hapis shifts

Hapis got a little bit of love this month, too. Along with vehicle spawns being added (so they have modular vehicles) the Airwolf vendor was added to Outpost to allow for helicopter purchases.

New High External Wood models

The models for High External Wood Walls and Gates has been updated this month. Look at them. They look nice.

Summer DLC: Later this month

It appears as though the team is working on a variety of summer related items such as sun glasses, water guns, inner tubes, pools, and more to be part of an upcoming DLC. 

Although not going live today, we do expect the Summer DLC to drop later in July. More on this as it comes to light.

Edit: Looks like July 9th is the day this will launch. Stay tuned for more info.

Miscellaneous fixes

The team at Facepunch has also completed a slew of miscellaneous fixes this month. Here is a selection of highlights:

• Wooden external gate barbwire now damaging the player as intended

• Fixed negative scaling roadsign warnings at compound and bandit camp

• Fixed searchlight emission

• Lowered the priority for sounds that are fading out

• Notes UI now works with fonts other than Latin characters 

• Scope overlay will no longer change size with uiscale

• Medium battery placement issues have been resolved

• A number of prefabs at supermarket have been disabled which are prone to floating above terrain on procgen

• A potential fix for the repeating sound bug near launch site has been implemented

• Fixed steering right being slower than steering left

• Fixed broken physics behavior on the most important object in Rust: ball.entity