"When is the next Rust wipe?" comes up every month, and most answers are a bare countdown with no context. This page gives you the date, the time in the zones Rust players actually live in, and a straight answer on whether your blueprints survive. Everything is as of November 12, 2026.
Future dates are worked out from the rule Facepunch has followed all year (monthly update on the first Thursday), so they are marked as expected, and the table gets updated once each patch actually ships. If you are wondering whether your PC can handle a packed wipe day server, check Rust system requirements and download size first.
Rust force wipe dates and times (as of November 12, 2026; December onward expected)
| Force wipe date (UK) | Expected time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, November 5, 2026 | Around 7pm GMT, 2pm ET, 11am PT | Last wipe; Printed and Polished update with the blueprint rework |
| Thursday, December 3, 2026 | Around 7pm GMT, 2pm ET, 11am PT | Next force wipe; UK on winter time, so 19:00 UTC |
| Thursday, January 7, 2027 | Around 7pm GMT, 2pm ET, 11am PT | First Thursday is the 7th, a late start to the year |
| Thursday, February 4, 2027 | Around 7pm GMT, 2pm ET, 11am PT | Standard first Thursday |
| Thursday, March 4, 2027 | Around 7pm GMT, 2pm ET, 11am PT | Last winter time wipe before UK clocks change |
| Thursday, April 1, 2027 | Around 7pm BST, 2pm ET, 11am PT | UK on summer time, so 18:00 UTC; Asia and Australia shift |
The short answer: first Thursday, around 7pm UK time
A force wipe is a side effect of Facepunch's big monthly update. The update changes how the client and server talk to each other, so every server has to move to the new version and start a fresh map.
That is why official, community and modded servers all wipe their maps on the same day, whatever their usual schedule is.
Facepunch's own news page shows the 2026 monthly updates landing on April 2, May 7, June 4, July 2, August 6, September 3, October 1 and November 5, every one of them the first Thursday of the month. The November 5 patch was called Printed and Polished.
Facepunch does not publish an exact minute ahead of time. Server hosting guides put the release around 7pm UK time and note it can slip by an hour or two.
From December through March the UK is on GMT, so 7pm UK time is 19:00 UTC: 2pm Eastern, 11am Pacific, 8pm in Central Europe and 6am the next morning in Sydney.
After UK summer time starts on March 28, 2027, the same 7pm UK release is 18:00 UTC, so North America sees it at 2pm Eastern again (US clocks change too) while Asia and Australia move by an hour. Blueprints are where people get confused.
The map always wipes on force wipe day, but unless Facepunch announces a BP wipe in the update post, whether the blueprints you learned are wiped is the server owner's call, and the November devblog did not announce a forced blueprint wipe. The server name or description is the most reliable place to check.
What to do before wipe day
- 1Convert the time to your zoneMost Rust schedules are written in UK or US time. If you are in Europe it is an evening wipe, in North America an early afternoon one, and in Australia or Asia it lands on Friday morning. Give yourself a buffer, since the update can arrive late.
- 2Check your server's own scheduleCommunity servers usually put their cadence in the name or description: weekly, biweekly or monthly, and whether they wipe blueprints. See whether their regular wipe lines up with force wipe week before you commit to a server.
- 3Update the game firstAfter the force wipe you cannot join until your client is on the new version. Make sure Steam has finished the update, and if your frame rate dropped after the patch, run back through the best Rust settings for FPS.
- 4Check your binds and console setupThe first hours of a wipe reward fast hands. Confirm your auto run and quick craft binds survived, and pick up anything new from Rust binds and console commands before the server opens.
- 5Record your wipe dayOnce the wipe ends there is no way to replay where you built or who raided you first. Keeping the first day on video makes it easy to plan your spot and your timing next wipe.
Five things people get wrong about Rust wipes
- Date: it is the first Thursday of the month. Older guides that say the last Thursday are out of date.
- Time: Facepunch does not announce an exact minute, so treat it as around 7pm UK time and allow for delays.
- Blueprints: unlike the map, a BP wipe is the server owner's choice. Check the server description.
- Blueprint rework: since the November update, tech tree progress uses blueprint fragments, pages and books.
- Event patches like the October 22 Halloween update are separate from the monthly force wipe date.
Keep your whole wipe day on video with DOR
DOR is a free Windows game recorder. Launch Rust and it detects the game and records the entire session until you close it, with recordings collected in My Clips inside the app.
A wipe day that runs for hours is captured without pressing anything, and you can trim out just the raid on your base or the moment your first wall went up as a 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1 clip.
Game audio and your mic are recorded on one track, so the callouts from your group's voice chat during a defense stay in. Storage only clears the oldest videos once the full session recordings pass their share (5GB by default), and recent recordings and videos you have liked are kept.
The steps for sending a trimmed clip to friends are in how to share Rust gameplay videos, and everything about recording Rust is gathered on the Rust game page.
