December is always a huge month for Rust, and 2025 might be one of the busiest yet.
We’ve got a new forced wipe for Rust servers, a massive Naval Update on the horizon, Rust’s 12th birthday celebrations, a big Twitch Rivals tournament, and the return of the Christmas event all lined up.

The one twist? The Naval Update itself has been moved from early December to February 5th. Instead of rushing it out, Facepunch is taking a bit more time to polish one of the most ambitious patches Rust has ever seen.

Here’s everything happening around the December wipe, what the postponement really means, and why this month is still stacked with things to look forward to.

Rust Player On The Beach Waiting Looking At Pirate Ships

In the devblog “Getting It Right”, Facepunch explains that the Naval Update simply became too big to comfortably ship during Rust’s busiest period. The patch introduces new systems, messes with older ones, and has the potential to affect Rust server performance at scale.

Rather than gamble with stability, they’ve chosen to:

  • Move the Naval Update to February 5th
  • Spend the extra time on performance, polish, and stability
  • Make sure that when it lands, it’s “solid and fun” instead of rushed

Rust has delivered meaningful updates every month for nearly 12 years, and this decision is very much in the spirit of that track record: protect the core experience, keep the game fun and stable, and let the big content drop land in the best shape possible.

Rust Turns 12 – Birthday Event & Party Items

Speaking of 12 years, December also marks a milestone: Rust’s 12th birthday.

Cake With Candles In The Shape Of The Number 12

Rust officially launched into early access in December 2013, and over 12 years it’s grown into one of the most iconic survival sandboxes, selling over 20 million copies and hitting peak player counts above 260,000.

For 2025’s birthday celebration, Facepunch is leaning into the party theme:

  • New balloons – including circle, star, heart, speech-bubble and more
    • 5 out of 6 allow you to write on them, letting you leave messages for your teammates or annoy them by popping them.
  • Birthday cake & cake hat
    • A new birthday cake item and a Birthday Candle Hat that you can toggle in your inventory.

As in prior birthday events, you can expect:

  • The world dressed up with balloons on loot crates
  • Party-themed cosmetics that lighten the usual brutal tone of Rust’s survival loop
  • A login window where simply playing during the event nets you these celebratory items.

It’s a nice contrast to the hardcore Deep Sea chaos waiting in February: a short window where everyone can throw cake, pop balloons, and appreciate just how far the game has come.

Twitch Rivals: Rust Team Battle VI Is Coming

Competitive Rust is also getting its spotlight this month with Twitch Rivals: Rust Team Battle VI.

Twitch Rivals Event Banner And A Player Aiming At Another

From the official Rust devblog and Twitch’s schedule:

  • Dates: December 8th–12th, 2025
  • Time: Starting daily at 11:00 AM PST / 20:00 GMT
  • Format: 150 creators from around the world competing across multiple days
  • Prize pool: $100,000
  • Viewership perks: Exclusive Twitch Drops when you watch the event

These events usually feature:

  • Custom event servers with unique rules
  • Phased gameplay: base-building, farming, scouting, then all-out raids
  • Big-name creators, stacked teams, and plenty of drama
  • Free skins for viewers who sync their Twitch and Steam via twitch.facepunch.com

Christmas 2025: Rustmas Returns On December 18th

The festive season wouldn’t be complete without Rustmas.

2 Players Dressedup As Snowmen


Facepunch confirms that:

  • The annual Christmas event returns
  • Some of the content and DLC originally planned for the early-December patch will now arrive with this Christmas update, plus a few extra bits that were also in the pipeline

Based on previous Rustmas events and official patch notes, here’s what you can typically expect during the Christmas window:

  • Christmas event date:
    A mandatory update on Thursday, December 18th at 19:00 GMT
  • No wipe for this patch
    Your December 4th progress is safe; this is a content toggle, not a fresh start.
  • Jingle bell gift showers
    Every in-game day, you’ll hear bells. Around each player, presents spawn in a radius on the ground. Break them open to get small, medium, or large presents filled with resources, weapons, candy, and festive items.
  • Festive wearables & decorations
    Santa hats, reindeer antlers, stockings that fill with loot, snowball guns, candy cane clubs, and more.
  • Gingerbread mines
    Gingerbread houses on the surface act as portals into underground “cake mines” full of gingerbread enemies and special loot.
  • Santa’s sleigh flyovers
    Santa’s sleigh periodically passes overhead, dropping larger presents like a holiday airdrop.
  • Advent calendar & craftables
    Advent calendars and various holiday deployables (snow machines, lights, decor items) return as craftables or store items.

So What Should You Do This Rust Wipe?

Buoys Floating In A Stormy Ocean Next To Large Rig

Here’s how to make the most of December 2025 in Rust:

  • Use the December 4th wipe as a clean, stable wipe
    Enjoy the current meta, explore any 2025 content you haven’t touched yet, and get your squad into a good rhythm without new systems dropping mid-wipe.
  • Hop onto Rust Staging if you’re curious about naval content
    Spin up your own Rust staging server, Test modular boats, Ghost Ships, and the Deep Sea event early and maybe help shape final balancing with your feedback.
  • Log in during the birthday event
    Grab your balloons, cake, and candle hat while they’re available and join the 12th-birthday chaos.
  • Watch (and farm) Twitch Rivals: Team Battle VI
    Sync your accounts, get free Twitch Drops, and watch how top creators approach large-scale Rust PvP.
  • Stick around for the Christmas update on December 18th
    No progress lost, lots of festive loot, and some of the content originally planned for earlier in the month.

Want To Try Naval Content Early? Jump On Rust Staging With Pine Hosting

If you don’t want to wait until February, you can start experimenting with the Naval Update now on the Rust Staging branch.

Facepunch has already merged the naval content into the Rust Staging branch and spun up fresh staging servers for players to join, clearly stating that Staging includes unfinished content, bugs, and rough edges. Exactly the kind of state where they want player feedback. They’re explicitly inviting the community to jump in, test the new systems, try to break things, and submit feedback and bug reports so the Naval Update can launch on main with the best possible balance and stability.

Testing Naval On Your Own Server With Pine Hosting

If you’d rather test the Naval Update with your own rules, mods, and community, this is where Pine Hosting comes in:

  • You can spin up a Rust Staging server specifically for naval testing; perfect for clans, creators, or communities who want a controlled environment.
  • Use it to practice Deep Sea runs, Ghost Ship boarding, and modular boat builds with your team before the update hits live.
  • Because it’s your own hosted server, you decide:
    • Map size and seed
    • Population and whitelist rules
    • Plugin setup (for when staging-compatible plugins exist)

It’s a great way to get ahead of the meta, train your group, and be fully prepared for the February wipe where naval gameplay becomes part of the main progression.

Check out our Rust hosting plans today!