Every wipe is a fresh start: blueprints and the map reset, everyone rebuilds, and the first base you throw down decides how your wipe goes. This guide covers when the next Rust wipe is, what changes each wipe, and the best bases to build right now for every team size. We refresh it each forced wipe, so bookmark it and check back on wipe day.

When is the next Rust wipe?

Rust runs a forced wipe on the first Thursday of every month — that's when blueprints and the map reset alongside the monthly update. The last forced wipe was Thursday, November 5, 2026, and the next forced wipe is Thursday, December 3, 2026. Most servers also run a weekly map wipe (often Thursdays) in between, while blueprints stay until the next forced wipe. Always check your server's own wipe schedule — modded and community servers set their own cadence.

Want a live countdown and the full year's force-wipe dates? See the Rust wipe schedule & countdown.

Best bases to build this wipe

These are the current top community-rated builds on RustBaseDesign for each team size — all cheap enough to get up on wipe day but expensive to raid. Tap through for the full build cost, upkeep, raid cost and a video tour, or browse the whole category to filter by your own budget.

Want the full breakdown with videos and stats? See our Best Rust Base Designs 2026 roundup, and if you want to seal your loot away, the Rust bunker guide.

What changed this wipe: the November 2026 Printed and Polished update

The November 5 forced wipe shipped the Printed and Polished update. The big change is how you progress. These are the parts that touch your base:

  • Blueprints were reworked. Workbenches no longer need blueprint fragments to craft, and the tech trees no longer use scrap. They now take blueprint fragments, pages and books, one for each level. The lowest tier turns up in barrels and boxes and can be upgraded into the next tier, though puzzle rooms and harder content are still the fastest way up. You can still research items with scrap on the research table.
  • L and U stairs can now be mirrored. Flip them with Shift + R while placing, or with the hammer within 10 minutes of placing them. They can also be rotated after placement, and false "Line of sight blocked" errors on stairs are fixed. Our base planner does not have the mirrored versions yet.
  • Triangle frames no longer take explosive splash through walls. Facepunch says this happened in some situations, depending on where the frame was placed.
  • Ramps get blocked less. Deployables or other ramps no longer block them through a roof, including when upgrading. Auto turrets can no longer be hidden inside ramps, and triangle foundations can no longer sit on top of brutalist ramps.
  • Building skins now follow the same rules. Roof overhangs only block deployables, whatever the skin, and square roof side overhangs no longer block foundations beside them. Frames have the same colliders on every skin of a grade, so stone frames no longer block triangle roofs depending on how they face.
  • A few bugs and exploits are gone. Players can no longer shoot through several deployables or briefly clip into floors by ducking and jumping. Turrets no longer drain their ammo on players behind twig foundations, and spiral stairs that sometimes did not decay now do. A few ways for industrial connections to go through walls by destroying building blocks are also fixed.

On softcore servers, there is now a limit of 6 tool cupboards per player, the deployable corpse system has been removed and clans are disabled. Full notes: Printed and Polished update.

In general, the monthly update that ships with each forced wipe is what shifts the building and raiding meta. New deployables, building changes, and especially new raiding tools (siege weapons, explosives tweaks) can quietly change how many rockets a base actually takes — so a design that was great last wipe can be cheaper to raid this wipe. Before you commit resources, skim the official notes for the current patch and watch the build video to confirm any bunker or peek tricks still work.

Read the latest update notes on the official Rust news page, then use the raid-cost and feature filters on our home page to find a base that still holds up.

Meta watch

Bunkers, honeycomb depth and external TC placement are the usual things to re-check each wipe, since they're the most common targets for balance changes. When a raiding tool gets buffed, offline-oriented bunker bases feel it first; when building costs change, cheap solo and duo builds shift the most. We note anything major here on the monthly refresh.

November 2026: Facepunch's notes list no change to building costs, upkeep, or the cost and damage numbers of explosives. We have not re-tested the picks above on the new build. What to re-check: a raid path that relied on splash hitting a triangle frame through a wall, a design that hides a turret inside a ramp, and one that relies on shooting through deployables. The blueprint rework also changes how you reach each workbench level, so plan your first days around blueprints rather than saving scrap for the tech tree.

Building this wipe? Browse every design on the home page and filter by build cost, raid cost and features.

Updated: November 2026. Next forced wipe: Thursday, December 3, 2026.