Every December, Rust turns into a gift hunt. Wrapped boxes pop up around your base, Santa’s sleigh drops crates full of loot, and everyone’s inventory slowly fills with purple, orange and red packages. Those are Rust presents, and what you do with them decides whether you end the event with a pile of stones or a Custom SMG and a flame turret.
This guide covers all three sizes: the Small Present, the Medium Present and the Large Present. You get the full loot odds for each one, how to upgrade small presents into bigger ones, where presents come from during the Christmas event, how wrapping paper works, and when you should open a present right away versus stacking it up.
- What They Are
- Where to Get Them
- Small Present
- Medium Present
- Large Present
- Upgrading
- Open or Upgrade?
- Wrapping Paper
- When Presents Return
- Server Settings
- Tips
- FAQ
What Are Presents in Rust?
Presents are seasonal loot items that only appear while the Christmas event is running. They work like a loot bag in your inventory: you right click one and unwrap it, and the game rolls one item from that present’s loot table. You cannot craft them, research them or buy them from Outpost. They come from the world during the event, and every one is deleted at the next force wipe like any other item.
| Present | Shortname | Item ID | Stack | Best loot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Present | xmas.present.small | -722241321 | 10 | Metal fragments, Eoka Pistol, scrap |
| Medium Present | xmas.present.medium | 756517185 | 5 | Pookie Bear, Waterpipe Shotgun, Small Stocking |
| Large Present | xmas.present.large | -1622660759 | 1 | Custom SMG, Pump Shotgun, Flame Turret, 60 HQM |
The stack sizes are not random. A full stack of small presents is exactly what you need for a medium, and a full stack of mediums is exactly what you need for a large. The full list of Christmas item IDs is in our Rust item IDs table.
Where to Get Presents in Rust
- Gift boxes near players. Once per in-game day a bell rings and gift boxes spawn around every active player (2 each by default). Each gift box has only 30 HP, so a few hits with a rock or any tool break it open. Inside you get small presents, and roughly 4 times in 10 a stack of 1 to 5 medium presents instead.
- Santa’s sleigh. During the event, Santa and his reindeer fly over the map and drop a gift crate. That crate always holds 4 to 6 Medium Presents, so it is worth chasing the same way you would chase an airdrop.
- Gingerbread mines. The Christmas tunnels are full of 2 to 6 gingerbread NPCs with candy canes and the odd MP5. They drop small presents along with normal scientist loot, and the boxes inside have a good chance at a medium present.
- Upgrading. The only way to get a Large Present for most players is to build it out of smaller ones (see below).
- Trading. On busy servers presents show up in vending machines, usually for scrap.
Small Present Loot
The Small Present is the one you will hold the most of. Its table is built for early wipe: useful resources, some food and a cheap gun. One unwrap gives one roll.
| Item | Amount | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Candy Cane Club + Wrapping Paper + Snowball | 1 each | 13% |
| Chocolate Bar | 3 to 4 | 13% |
| Metal Fragments | 25 to 49 | 13% |
| Stones | a stack | 13% |
| Wood | a stack | 13% |
| Eoka Pistol + Handmade Shells | 1 | 6.5% |
| Scrap | 8 to 11 | 6.5% |
| Low Grade Fuel + Snowball | 25 to 34 | 6.5% |
| Reindeer Antlers | 1 | 6.5% |
| Santa Hat | 1 | 2.6% |
| Decorations (plastic candy canes, gingerbread men, pinecones, tinsel) | 1 | 1.6% each |
Small presents are also the main place you find wrapping paper, which comes bundled with the Candy Cane Club roll.
Medium Present Loot
Medium Presents are where the event’s signature items live. The headline drop is the Pookie Bear, the teddy that gives 100% comfort, at roughly one in ten.
| Item | Amount | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Stones | 1,000 | 21.3% |
| Pookie Bear | 1 | 10.6% |
| Waterpipe Shotgun + Handmade Shells | 1 + 10 | 10.6% |
| Small Stocking | 1 | 10.6% |
| Salvaged Cleaver | 1 | 8.5% |
| Low Grade Fuel | 150 | 6.4% |
| Sled + Snowball | 1 | 6.4% |
| Snowball Gun | 1 | 6.4% |
| Short Ice Wall | 3 to 4 | 6.4% |
| Star Tree Topper | 1 | 2.7% |
| Decorative Baubels | 1 | 2.7% |
| Tree Lights | 1 | 1.1% |
The Small Stocking is a sleeper pick. Hang it in your base and it refills with small goodies every day for the rest of the event, so an early stocking pays out more over time than most single rolls.
Large Present Loot
The Large Present is the reason to save your smalls. Every roll on its table is useful mid wipe, and there are no stones or decorations to dilute it.
| Item | Amount | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| High Quality Metal | 60 | 13.3% |
| Crude Oil | 250 | 13.3% |
| Flame Turret | 1 | 13.3% |
| Revolver + pistol ammo | 1 | 13.3% |
| Pump Shotgun + buckshot | 1 | 13.3% |
| SUPER Stocking | 1 | 13.3% |
| Custom SMG + pistol ammo | 1 | 6.7% |
| Supply Signal | 1 | 6.7% |
| Holosight | 1 | 6.7% |
A Pump Shotgun or Custom SMG normally needs a Workbench 2 and a body or springs, and 60 HQM is a full set of upgrades for a small base. Even the “worst” roll, 250 crude oil, refines into a big stack of low grade fuel or diesel.
How to Upgrade Presents
You do not need a workbench or any resources to upgrade presents. You just need a full stack.
- Collect 10 Small Presents in one inventory stack.
- Select the stack and use the Upgrade option. The 10 smalls are replaced by 1 Medium Present.
- Repeat until you hold 5 Medium Presents in one stack, then upgrade that stack into 1 Large Present.
Should You Open Presents or Upgrade Them?
The answer depends on where you are in the wipe:
- First day of a wipe: open smalls. Metal fragments, wood and an Eoka matter more now than a gun next week.
- Your base is up: stack smalls into mediums. A medium is a 1 in 10 shot at the Pookie Bear and a decent shot at a Small Stocking, which keeps paying out.
- Mid wipe with a safe loot room: push to large. Nearly three quarters of large rolls are a gun, HQM, crude or a flame turret.
- Close to the wipe: open everything. Unopened presents are deleted at the wipe like everything else.
Wrapping Paper and Wrapped Gifts
Wrapping paper lets you make your own present. Put any item inside the paper, wrap it, and it becomes a Wrapped Gift that hides what is inside. The item keeps its ammo, durability and stack size, and you can rename the gift to keep it a surprise or to troll someone. Whoever unwraps it gets the original item back.
Wrapping does not protect anything. A Wrapped Gift can be looted, stolen or killed off you like any other item, so do not use it to hide your AK in plain sight. You get wrapping paper from small presents and from stockings during the event.
When Do Presents Come Back?
Presents return every year with the Christmas event. In 2025 the event arrived with a mid December update (around 18 December), with the Gingerbread building skin, gingerbread mines and Santa’s sleigh. It normally runs until the January force wipe, when the event items stop spawning.
For 2026 expect the same window: presents from mid December into early January. Our force wipe countdown shows the exact December and January wipe dates. Some modded servers turn the event on outside December, which is the only way to find presents the rest of the year.
Present Settings for Server Owners
If you run your own server, the Christmas event is controlled with the xmas convars. These are the ones people use most (see our admin commands list for the rest):
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
xmas.enabled true | Turns the Christmas present spawns on outside the official event |
xmas.enabled false | Stops presents and snowballs (Santa’s sleigh is tied to server events instead) |
xmas.giftsperplayer | How many gift boxes spawn around each active player per round (2 by default) |
find xmas | Lists every Christmas convar on your server version |
To hand out presents directly, use the item shortnames: inventory.give xmas.present.large 1.
Tips for Getting More Presents
- Hit every gift box you see. They only have 30 HP, so a rock is enough.
- Hang every stocking. A stocking from a medium or the SUPER Stocking from a large refills daily for the rest of the event.
- Chase the sleigh. 4 to 6 mediums in one crate is the single biggest present drop in the event, so expect a fight for it.
- Keep presents in your base, not your pockets. A naked with a rock can take a stack of mediums off you as easily as a stack of sulfur.
- Trade spares. If you have mediums but want a gun, sell them in a vending machine to someone farming Pookie Bears.
Rust Presents FAQ
How do you get presents in Rust?
Only during the Christmas event. Gift boxes spawn near active players every in-game day and break into small or medium presents, Santa’s sleigh drops a crate with 4 to 6 medium presents, and gingerbread NPCs in the Christmas mines drop small presents.
How many small presents make a large present in Rust?
Fifty. Ten small presents upgrade into one medium present, and five medium presents upgrade into one large present.
What is in a large present in Rust?
One roll from: 60 high quality metal, 250 crude oil, a Flame Turret, a Revolver, a Pump Shotgun or a SUPER Stocking (about 13.3% each), or a Custom SMG, Supply Signal or Holosight (about 6.7% each).
Which present gives the Pookie Bear?
The Medium Present, at about a 10.6% chance per unwrap. Gingerbread dungeons and the Large Stocking can also give one.
Can you craft presents in Rust?
No. Presents have no crafting recipe. The only way to make a bigger present is to upgrade a full stack of smaller ones: 10 small into 1 medium, or 5 medium into 1 large.
Do presents wipe in Rust?
Yes. Presents are normal items, so they are deleted at every map wipe and force wipe. Open them before the January wipe.
What does wrapping paper do in Rust?
It turns any item into a Wrapped Gift. Insert the item, wrap it, and give it to another player. Unwrapping returns the item with its ammo, durability and stack size intact.
When is the Rust Christmas event in 2026?
Expect it from a mid December update until the January force wipe. In 2025 it arrived around 18 December.