Rust August 2026 Force Wipe Preview: Satellites, Power Grids and What Is Actually Confirmed

Rust’s next force wipe is scheduled for 6 August 2026, following the previous force wipe on 2 July. As of 23 July, Facepunch has not published the August update devblog or formally announced its headline features. That makes this a promising but unusually fluid preview: the public commit feed shows several substantial systems approaching playable form, while community testing has exposed possible changes to progression, monuments and base upkeep.

The key distinction is simple. CONFIRMED means Facepunch has explicitly said that a change is coming in August. RUMOR means it is visible in development commits or community coverage but has not been guaranteed for the 6 August build. A merge into Rust’s main development branch increases the odds of release, but it is not an announcement and features can still be disabled, delayed or substantially altered.

The only confirmed August change so far

CONFIRMED: Facepunch says the older Jobs 2 server mode will be removed in August. In the official rust.facepunch.com devblog published on 2 July, the studio explained that Jobs 3 had become the default and that selecting mode 2 would run Jobs 3 underneath after the August removal.

This is primarily a server-side technical change rather than wipe-day content. Jobs 3 distributes more networking, anti-cheat and subscription work across threads, with the goal of reducing pressure on the main server thread. Players should not expect a new item or monument from this change, but busy servers may benefit from continuing performance work. Server owners and plugin developers should verify compatibility before wipe day because Facepunch also warned that changes to player-state handling require mods to update.

Facepunch has separately described Jobs 4 as a longer-term experiment likely to require several months. Recent multithreaded snapshot-saving work appears in the public feed, but RUMOR: Jobs 4 should not be treated as an August feature unless Facepunch announces otherwise.

Satellite crashes are the biggest wipe-day rumor

RUMOR — IN DEVELOPMENT: A player-triggered satellite crash event is receiving sustained work. The official commits.facepunch.com feed shows recent satellite-crash changes involving launch commands, targeting checks, fuel values, effects and mass-based loot. The branch is also being integrated repeatedly with the wider Player Maintained Monuments project.

Community footage presents the event as something initiated from a computer station at Launch Site. A player selects a target, a satellite falls near the monument and burning crates become available after a delay, broadly resembling the contested aftermath of Bradley or the Patrol Helicopter. The demonstrated version used Tech Trash as an activation cost and allowed the wreckage to be harvested for materials, including components associated with solar technology.

Those costs, rewards and mechanics are not confirmed. The video itself warns that the price may change, while current commits show that loot and fuel parameters are still being adjusted. Even the targeting includes experimental terrain checks behind a server variable. Treat the satellite crash as a strong August candidate, not a guaranteed addition.

The tactical implication, if it ships, is significant. Launch Site could gain another reason for geared groups to hold the monument, and a manually triggered crash would create a predictable PvP hotspot. Smaller teams should avoid building wipe plans around the current test costs until the final devblog provides authoritative numbers.

Player-maintained monuments and the power grid

RUMOR — IN DEVELOPMENT: Facepunch’s Player Maintained Monuments branch remains one of the most active areas of development. Its power-grid work includes heavy fuses at Power Plant, staged monument power, electrical outlets around the world and changes to recycler availability. Recent commits mention fuse deterioration, powered steam effects, electrical hazards when removing fuses and two Outpost recyclers that would require the first power-grid stage.

The branch notes explicitly say that details remain subject to change. Community testing suggests players may be able to activate Power Plant and supply electricity to roadside connection points, potentially powering bases or defensive systems away from their own generators. That interpretation is covered by youtube.com, not by a Facepunch release announcement, so its exact output, duration and access requirements remain RUMOR.

The broader maintained-monument branch also contains tanker, crude-production and water-catcher tests. Its 60 recent commits indicate a large connected system rather than a single isolated deployable. However, the work is still on a dedicated branch, and repeated merges from main only show active development. They do not prove that the complete system—or any part of it—will be enabled on 6 August.

Sculptures and smaller main-branch candidates

RUMOR — POSSIBLE AUGUST RELEASE: Sculptures have moved closer to release because the sculpture branch was merged into main on 23 July. Recent polish includes editor lighting, camera behavior, tooltips, icons, censor bounds, physics after editing and a fix for unintended drawing while opening the editor. An ice sculpture is currently marked hidden, suggesting that not every tested variant is intended to appear immediately.

A main-branch merge is a stronger shipping signal than an isolated prototype branch, particularly when accompanied by interface and bug-fix work. It still does not make sculptures confirmed for this force wipe. Facepunch could retain the code while keeping the associated items disabled.

Other recently merged work includes a second-generation demo interface, a bag-favourite branch, Rust+ camera and turret-control fixes, water-catcher tests and an admin-status-indicator branch. RUMOR: these are plausible quality-of-life or maintenance additions for August, but the commit summaries do not establish their final player-facing behavior.

A separate game-room DLC branch contains a pool table, pool cues, darts-related work and bar stools. It is receiving asset polish and interaction fixes, but it had not merged into main in the supplied 23 July snapshot. That makes it a less certain August candidate than sculptures. Players should also assume that any DLC pricing, contents and launch date remain unconfirmed.

High external wall upkeep: do not trust the current numbers yet

RUMOR — COMMUNITY REPORT ONLY: A community video claims that high external walls and gates will begin requiring upkeep, citing test values of 267 wood or stone per wall per day and 600 resources per gate. It also associates the change with 4 August. The report can be viewed on youtube.com.

No matching official Facepunch statement or relevant commit was included in the available evidence. Consequently, neither the mechanic, the stated date nor those upkeep values should be considered confirmed for the 6 August force wipe. If the change does arrive, it would raise the ongoing cost of large compounds and make lightly funded external Tool Cupboards less effective for claiming territory. Until Facepunch documents it, clans should calculate a contingency rather than redesigning their entire wipe around the reported figures.

What is not yet confirmed

• No headline August monument or event has been formally announced.
• No final satellite activation cost, loot table or targeting rules are confirmed.
• No power-grid output, operating duration or fuse economy is confirmed.
• No sculpture release date or game-room DLC launch is confirmed.
• No official August balance changelist has established upkeep values for high external walls and gates.

The final authority will be Facepunch’s August devblog and changelist. Features seen on test branches can be delayed, divided across updates or released behind disabled server variables.

What it means for wipe day

Plan for a normal fresh-map race on 6 August, but keep your opening flexible. If satellite crashes ship, Launch Site may become more valuable and more dangerous than usual. If the maintained power grid arrives, Power Plant and roadside electrical access could reshape both monument control and base placement. Large groups should stock extra building resources in case external-wall upkeep is real, while smaller teams should avoid committing scarce components to any unconfirmed activation cost.

Server owners should update plugins and test against the Jobs 3 behavior before opening queues. Players can use our item database and calculators to prepare resource plans, follow the exact launch window with the force-wipe countdown, and choose a destination from our Rust game servers. Above all, check the final Facepunch notes before locking in a monument route: right now, Jobs 2’s August removal is confirmed, while the exciting gameplay features remain strong but unguaranteed rumors.