Every first Thursday of the month, at exactly 19:00 UTC, Facepunch force-wipes every official Rust server. New map, fresh start, everyone equal. This page shows you the next wipe, the next twelve wipes after it, and lets you see all of them in your local timezone.
01 // Full 12-Month Wipe Schedule
Every Rust force wipe for the next twelve months. Facepunch ships a major patch on these dates and all official servers wipe simultaneously. Community servers often follow the same schedule but are not required to.
The "Your Local Time" column auto-detects your timezone — no signup, no settings, just open the page and the dates are in your clock.
| Date (UTC) | Day | UTC Time | Your Local Time | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 2026 | Thursday | 19:00 | — | Next |
| Jun 4, 2026 | Thursday | 19:00 | — | Force Wipe |
| Jul 2, 2026 | Thursday | 19:00 | — | Force Wipe |
| Aug 6, 2026 | Thursday | 19:00 | — | Force Wipe |
| Sep 3, 2026 | Thursday | 19:00 | — | Force Wipe |
| Oct 1, 2026 | Thursday | 19:00 | — | Force Wipe |
| Nov 5, 2026 | Thursday | 19:00 | — | Force Wipe |
| Dec 3, 2026 | Thursday | 19:00 | — | Force Wipe |
| Jan 7, 2027 | Thursday | 19:00 | — | Force Wipe |
| Feb 4, 2027 | Thursday | 19:00 | — | Force Wipe |
| Mar 4, 2027 | Thursday | 19:00 | — | Force Wipe |
| Apr 1, 2027 | Thursday | 19:00 | — | Force Wipe |
Schedule follows Facepunch's official rule: first Thursday of each month at 19:00 UTC. This page auto-rolls as each wipe passes — bookmark it.
02 // Wipe Time in Your Timezone
Force wipes happen at 19:00 UTC. That means different local times depending on where you live and whether daylight saving time is active. Here's a quick reference table for the biggest player regions:
| Region | Timezone | Wipe Time (local) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 US East | EDT / EST | 3:00 PM (EDT) / 2:00 PM (EST) | EDT runs Mar–Nov |
| 🇺🇸 US Central | CDT / CST | 2:00 PM (CDT) / 1:00 PM (CST) | — |
| 🇺🇸 US West | PDT / PST | 12:00 PM (PDT) / 11:00 AM (PST) | Lunch-time wipe 🍔 |
| 🇬🇧 UK | BST / GMT | 8:00 PM (BST) / 7:00 PM (GMT) | BST runs Mar–Oct |
| 🇪🇺 Central Europe | CEST / CET | 9:00 PM (CEST) / 8:00 PM (CET) | Peak evening 🔥 |
| 🇸🇪 Nordic | CEST / CET | 9:00 PM (CEST) / 8:00 PM (CET) | Same as Central EU |
| 🇷🇺 Moscow | MSK | 10:00 PM (MSK) | No DST |
| 🇦🇺 Sydney | AEST / AEDT | Fri 5:00 AM (AEST) / 6:00 AM (AEDT) | Next morning 🌅 |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | JST | Fri 4:00 AM (JST) | Next morning |
The schedule table at the top auto-converts every wipe date to your browser's timezone. No setup, no accounts — just open the page and read your local clock.
03 // What Is a Force Wipe?
A force wipe is Facepunch's mandatory monthly reset on all official Rust servers. Every first Thursday of the month at 19:00 UTC, the game ships a major patch, and every official server wipes its map at the same moment. This is different from a regular map wipe, which community servers can run on any schedule they want (weekly, bi-weekly, custom).
The force wipe is tied to the monthly patch because patches often change items, deployables, or world generation in ways that break save compatibility. Rather than have each server owner decide whether to update, Facepunch makes it synchronous across the entire official network.
04 // What Actually Gets Wiped?
Not every wipe is the same. There are three types, and it matters a lot which one you're walking into:
| What Gets Reset | Map Wipe | Force Wipe | BP Wipe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map (terrain, monuments) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Player structures (bases, TCs) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Inventories (boxes, backpacks) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Blueprints (learned recipes) | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Player-placed items (sleeping bags, signs) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Stats (kills, hours, etc.) | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Steam inventory skins | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Frequency | Any (server owner) | 1st Thursday monthly | Every 2–3 months (irregular) |
Short version: your skins are safe forever. Your bases, loot, and base locations die every wipe. Your blueprints only die on a BP wipe.
05 // BP Wipes — The Big One
A BP wipe (blueprint wipe) is the nuclear option. On top of the normal map reset, every player's learned crafting recipes are erased. You start over knowing nothing — no workbench tier, no tech tree progress, no component knowledge. Pure stone-age survival until you grind your way back up.
BP wipes are not on a fixed schedule. Facepunch decides based on whether the upcoming patch meaningfully changes crafting — new items, rebalanced recipes, a new tech tree branch. Historically it happens roughly every 2–3 months, but sometimes longer gaps.
BP wipes are always announced by Facepunch in the devblog and on rust.facepunch.com ahead of the force wipe. If no BP wipe is announced, the upcoming first-Thursday wipe is map-only — your blueprints carry over.
Community servers can force a BP wipe on any of their own wipes too. Check the server's description or Discord before committing.
06 // Why Does Rust Wipe Every Month?
Three reasons, in order of importance:
- Patch compatibility. The monthly patch often changes world generation, items, or underlying systems in ways the previous save can't load cleanly. Wiping is the simplest guarantee of a clean slate.
- Server freshness. After 3–4 weeks, the power balance on a Rust server has usually settled — one or two clans dominate, new players can't catch up, and population drops. Wiping resets the ladder and brings everyone back.
- Economy reset. Mid-wipe, stockpiled resources and looted bases give established groups a compounding lead. A full wipe levels the playing field every month, which keeps the game interesting for both veterans and returners.
There's also a practical engineering reason: a world that's been online for months accumulates edge-case bugs and performance issues. Fresh saves are faster saves.
07 // How to Find a Freshly Wiped Server
Wipe day is the best day to play Rust. Everyone starts with a rock, nobody has a compound bow yet, and the map is still foggy with unexplored monuments. Here's how to actually get onto a fresh server instead of joining one 4 days post-wipe:
Option 1 — In-game server browser
- Launch Rust, click Play Game → Community (or Official for vanilla-only)
- Look at the filters on the right: set Max Players to your preferred population (100, 200, 300+)
- The server list shows a wipe time column — sort by it. Anything under 1 hour old is a fresh wipe.
- Pay attention to the server tag:
wipe=weekly,wipe=bi-weekly,wipe=monthly, etc. Monthly servers give a slower, more strategic experience; weekly servers are PvP sprints.
Option 2 — Battlemetrics (the pro move)
Battlemetrics is a third-party server browser with much better filtering than the in-game one. You can filter by:
- Next wipe — sort servers by who wipes soonest
- Last wipe — find servers that JUST wiped, filtered to the last hour
- Wipe schedule — filter to weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly
- Region and ping — only show servers you can actually play on
- Max players — find the population band you want
Add servers you like to your favorites, and Battlemetrics will email or Discord-ping you when their next wipe is imminent.
Option 3 — Server Discord communities
Most serious communities announce their wipes in a dedicated #wipe-schedule channel, sometimes with role pings. Join the Discord of servers you enjoy and you'll never miss a wipe again. Established communities like Rusty Moose, Reddit servers, OXIDE, and Facepunch Official all post wipe times ahead.
Option 4 — Twitter/X #RustWipe
Search #RustWipe on the first Thursday of the month. Server owners post wipe announcements in real time.
08 // Wipe Day Tips
- Pre-lock a server. 20 minutes before wipe, the server is usually already at queue cap. Connect early and wait in queue for the wipe to drop — you'll load in seconds after reset.
- Plan your spawn plan. Rust's spawn system puts you on the beach. Know which monuments are closest to each beach region on that server's map (check their website for map preview) so you can run toward loot immediately.
- Don't farm wood for 20 minutes. The first 30 minutes of a wipe are about tools and food. Kill chickens, loot barrels, rush a small monument for a workbench tier 1. Wood towers lose the game.
- Solo? Avoid clan servers. 200-player servers with "MAX TEAM 10" in the name will be miserable if you're alone. Look for solo/duo/trio tagged servers — same population, 10x fairer.
- Monthly vs weekly wipes are different games. Monthly = deep economy, big bases, clan wars. Weekly = fast PvP, small bases, raid-every-day. Pick based on your mood.
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09 // Frequently Asked Questions
The next Rust force wipe is Thursday, May 7, 2026 at 19:00 UTC (3:00 PM EDT / 12:00 PM PDT / 21:00 CEST). Facepunch force-wipes all official servers on the first Thursday of every month at the same time. The countdown at the top of this page auto-updates in real time.
Rust force wipes at 19:00 UTC, which in US Eastern time is 3:00 PM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time, roughly March–November) or 2:00 PM EST (Eastern Standard Time, November–March). In 2026 from March onwards, wipe time in EST is 3:00 PM.
Facepunch force-wipes Rust once a month — specifically on the first Thursday of every month at 19:00 UTC. This is tied to their monthly patch cycle. Individual community servers may wipe more often (weekly, bi-weekly) or less often on their own schedules.
A BP wipe (blueprint wipe) resets your learned crafting recipes in addition to the normal map/inventory wipe. You lose your workbench tier progress and have to re-research items from scratch. Facepunch does not BP wipe on a fixed schedule — roughly every 2–3 months when a patch meaningfully changes crafting. BP wipes are always announced in the devblog.
Every map, every player structure (bases, TCs, sleeping bags), every inventory (boxes, bags, backpacks, on-body loot), and every placed item (signs, furnaces, auto-turrets). Not wiped: your Steam skins, your stats, your playtime. Blueprints are only wiped on BP wipes, not regular force wipes.
Three reasons: (1) Facepunch ships a major patch on the first Thursday each month, and patches often break save compatibility. (2) After 3–4 weeks servers get stale — one or two clans dominate and population drops. (3) Resets the economy so returning players aren't hopelessly behind.
A force wipe is Facepunch's mandatory monthly reset on all official servers at 19:00 UTC the first Thursday. A map wipe is a voluntary reset a community server owner runs on their own schedule — could be weekly, bi-weekly, or custom. Same effect on the map and inventory, just different timing and scope.
No, never. Steam inventory skins are stored on your Steam account, not on the Rust server. Even full BP wipes don't touch them. You keep every skin you've ever owned forever, across all servers.
Honestly? Depends on how you like to play. Fresh wipe (days 0–2): everyone starts equal, chaotic PvP, fastest progression. Mid wipe (days 7–14): settled economy, raid-heavy, harder for solos. Late wipe (days 20+): dominated by clans, often empty. If you're returning after a break, waiting a day for the wipe is almost always worth it.
10 // Share This Page
Found this useful? Send it to your squad so nobody misses the next wipe. Direct link: hostingbuff.com/rust-wipe-schedule.html
11 // Related Guides
- Running your own Rust server? — Full dedicated server setup guide on Linux
- Want to automate your wipes? — Rust server wipe automation with cron (admin guide)
- Picking a host? — Compare the 5 biggest Rust hosts side-by-side
- My personal recommendation? — Read my Physgun review