The Lighthouse was a quiet tier 1 stop on the coast for years. Since the November 5, 2026 update it has a real job: it starts every wipe with a broken lamp, and repairing that lamp opens the deep sea. The whole server shares the work, so the first group to bring the resources decides when everyone can sail out to the ghost ships and floating cities.
The repair costs 20 Tech Trash and 200 High Quality Metal, put in with a hammer. We first wrote this guide from Facepunch’s lighthouse_deep_sea commits while it was on staging; it is now checked against the official Printed and Polished devblog and the live repair data.
- What Changed
- How to Repair It
- Repair Rules
- The Deep Sea
- vs Air Wolf Helipad
- Lighthouse Basics
- Tips
- FAQ
What Changed at the Rust Lighthouse?
Facepunch’s devblog puts it simply: “The regular deep sea cycle now starts once the lighthouse has been repaired. It opens immediately after the repair is complete, and the cycle then continues as normal.” The first commit on the branch (October 15) said the same: “Lighthouse rework WIP. Lighthouse now needs repairing, like the airwolf helipad. Repairing it restores the light and opens the deep sea.” To do it, Facepunch moved the Air Wolf pad onto a new shared “RepairableStructure” system, and the lighthouse lamp now uses the same code.
The art team then built staged damage for the lamp (a broken light casing and several damaged states, each with its own models and collision), fixed the ladder so the repair point doesn’t block it, and put the light beam back at its old height once repaired. A separate change from October 14 makes the deep sea load on demand when you cross into it, which saves around 260 MB of RAM and 270 MB of VRAM while you’re on the mainland.
How to Repair the Lighthouse in Rust
The lighthouse uses the exact system Facepunch built for the Air Wolf helipad in the October 2026 Livestock update. Facepunch described that one as “a process similar to constructing siege weapons – a certain amount of resources are required and you can transfer resources from your inventory by bashing the helipad with a hammer.” For the lighthouse:
- Go to any lighthouse on the coast and climb up to the lamp.
- Bring the resources. The full repair is 20 Tech Trash and 200 High Quality Metal. Anyone can chip in, so you don’t need all of it yourself.
- Equip a hammer and hit the lamp to move the resources out of your inventory.
- Keep swinging until it is fully repaired. It takes about 20 hits (roughly 10 seconds of swinging). The light comes back on and the deep sea opens right away.
Lighthouse Repair Rules
| Rule | What it means | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple lighthouses share resource and repair progress | Resources added at any lighthouse count toward the same repair. You don’t have to fix each one. | #168362 (Oct 19) |
| Deep sea opening by any route lights all lighthouses | If the deep sea opens some other way, every lamp lights up too. | #169656 (Oct 29) |
| Auto-repair on startup if the deep sea is disabled | Servers that turn the deep sea off don’t leave you with broken lighthouses. | #168397 (Oct 19) |
| Lamp has damage stages | You can see how far along the repair is from the state of the lamp. | #169293 (Oct 27) |
“By any route” matters, and the devblog settles how it works with the old timer: the deep sea stays closed at the start of a wipe until the lighthouse is repaired, opens the moment the repair finishes, and from then on runs its regular open and close cycle. Maps without a lighthouse (custom maps, for example) start with the cycle already active.
What the Deep Sea Has
The deep sea arrived with the Naval update in February 2026. It is an offshore region past the map edge that you reach by boat (a player-built boat, an RHIB or a PT boat). Out there you find:
- Ghost Ships: stationary loot ships guarded by scientists, sometimes with a hackable crate on board.
- Floating Cities: trading hubs on the water.
- Tropical Islands: loot spots with a static Boat Building Station on every island (added in March 2026).
- Scientist boats: RHIBs and PT boats with turrets that hunt players. From this update they also patrol the main island’s coast, and you can’t take a PT boat out of the deep sea.
Our Rust boats guide covers which boat to take, and the boat building guide shows how to build one that survives the trip.
Lighthouse vs Air Wolf Helipad
| Air Wolf helipad | Lighthouse lamp | |
|---|---|---|
| Added | October 1, 2026 (Livestock update) | November 5, 2026 |
| Where | Bandit Camp | Every lighthouse on the coast |
| Unlocks | Air vehicle sales (minicopter, scrap heli, attack heli) | The deep sea |
| How | Hammer in resources | Hammer in resources |
| Shared? | One pad | Progress shared across all lighthouses |
Facepunch said the helipad change was meant to need “a communal effort” so air vehicles stop appearing too early in a wipe. Gating the deep sea behind the lighthouse looks like the same idea for boats and ghost ship loot.
Rust Lighthouse Basics
Lighthouses are small coastal monuments, and a procedural map can have several. They are tier 1: barrels, basic crates, low grade fuel and food, plus a recycler, and no keycard puzzle or radiation. That makes them good first stops for fresh spawns on the beach, which our monuments guide and procedural map guide cover in more detail. From this update, expect more traffic: anyone planning a deep sea run needs that lamp lit.
Lighthouse Tips
- Always carry a hammer when you pass a lighthouse early in the wipe. Every bit you add counts for the whole server.
- Team up. Because progress is shared, a few groups chipping in will open the sea faster than one group alone.
- Have a boat and fuel ready. The first boats through get the fresh ghost ship and island loot. Fishing Village sells RHIBs.
- Expect contact. Scientist boats now roam the coast as well as the deep sea, and PT boats carry turrets.
- Watch for griefers. A lit lighthouse is a sign that boats will be heading out. Bring a gun as well as your hammer.
The lighthouse is one of several big changes in the same patch. See the full list in our November 2026 update hub, and the force wipe countdown for the exact time it goes live.
Rust Lighthouse FAQ
Do you need to repair the lighthouse to open the deep sea in Rust?
Yes, since the November 5, 2026 update. The deep sea stays closed at the start of a wipe until a lighthouse lamp is repaired, then opens straight away and runs its normal cycle. Maps without a lighthouse start with the deep sea cycle already active.
How do you repair the lighthouse in Rust?
Bring 20 Tech Trash and 200 High Quality Metal to the lamp at the top and hit it with a hammer. Each hit transfers resources from your inventory, about 20 hits in total, the same way the Air Wolf helipad at Bandit Camp is repaired.
What resources does the lighthouse repair need?
20 Tech Trash and 200 High Quality Metal for the whole repair. Any player can add to it, and it only has to be done once per wipe.
Do you have to repair every lighthouse?
No. All lighthouses on the map share the same resource and repair progress, so fixing it once lights every lighthouse.
What if a server has the deep sea turned off?
The lighthouses repair themselves automatically when the server starts, so they are not left broken.
Does the lighthouse have a recycler?
Yes. Lighthouses are tier 1 monuments with a recycler, barrels and basic crates, and no radiation or keycard puzzle.
When did the lighthouse change come out?
With the Printed and Polished update on November 5, 2026.
Sources
- Facepunch: Printed and Polished devblog (lighthouse deep sea unlock)
- RustHelp: Lighthouse repair cost
- Facepunch Commits: rust_reboot main/lighthouse_deep_sea (Oct 15 to 30, 2026)
- Facepunch Commits: main/deepsea_unloading
- Facepunch: Livestock update (Air Wolf repairable helipad)
- Facepunch: Naval update (deep sea, ghost ships, PT boats)
- Facepunch: Devblog 122 (lighthouse images)