Rust Softcore vs Hardcore: Every Rule, Raid Windows & Live Servers (2026)

Softcore and hardcore are Facepunch’s two official alternatives to vanilla Rust. Softcore is the easy mode: since July 2026 it has 2x gather, bases can only be raided between 6 PM and 9 PM server time, and when you die away from your base you respawn with half of your inventory. Hardcore is the hard mode: the map starts hidden under fog of war, your position only shows with a compass in your belt, guns can’t be crafted (every gun comes from loot), ammo costs 5x to craft and upkeep is doubled.

This guide covers every rule in both modes as they work today, how each one changed over the years, a live list of softcore and hardcore servers with players online right now, and tips for winning on each. If you only want a quick overview of every kind of server, see our Rust server types guide. Official softcore and hardcore servers wipe on the monthly force wipe, so keep an eye on our Rust force wipe countdown for the next fresh start.

• Softcore vs Hardcore
• Live Servers
• Softcore Rules
• Raid Windows
• Hardcore Rules
• Hardcore Guns and Ammo
• History
• Tips
• Run Your Own
• FAQ

Rust Softcore vs Hardcore: Full Comparison

Vanilla Rust sits between the two. Softcore takes the sting out of dying and getting offlined, while hardcore takes away the conveniences vanilla players lean on, like the map, crafted guns and fast respawns. Here is every difference that matters.

Live Softcore and Hardcore Servers

These are the softcore and hardcore servers online right now, straight from the Steam server list through our Rust server browser. Facepunch’s own servers are marked Official. Community servers can run the mode with their own extras on top (some add PvE, zombies or a custom map), so read the server name before you join. If the live data can’t load you’ll see our snapshot from October 22 2026.

Rust Softcore Mode: Every Rule in 2026

Softcore is built to make Rust less punishing without turning it into PvE. You can still be killed and raided, you just lose less each time. These are the rules on official softcore servers today.

You respawn with half your stuff

If you die outside a building privilege area, you respawn with 50% of your belt, main inventory and backpack automatically. Since the Soft Refresh update in April 2025 the game keeps half the total count of each item, so you keep half your meds and half your ammo instead of half your slots. The other half, plus everything you were wearing, stays on your corpse for whoever gets there first.

Two exceptions: if you die inside building privilege (your base or someone else’s) or someone F1 kills you, you lose everything like on vanilla. That stops players from abusing the rule as free storage during raids.

Raids, TC limit and clans (November 2026)

Until November 5, 2026, a destroyed box, furnace, locker, workbench or tool cupboard left a repairable corpse with half of its contents. Facepunch removed that deployable corpse system in the Printed and Polished update, because with 2x gather and the raid window it made raids too toothless, so raided storage now drops its loot like on vanilla. Each player can also place at most 6 Tool Cupboards, so nobody can spam TCs to claim half the map, and clans are disabled on softcore. Train car loot is doubled. Door upkeep is higher than on vanilla to stop huge compound bases.

2x gather and a team limit of 4

The Common Ground update on 2 July 2026 added a 2x gather multiplier on trees, ore, animal corpses and pickups (planted crops stay 1x), so you progress about as fast as on a 2x modded server. Official softcore servers also cap teams at 4 players, and that cap includes everyone authorized on your tool cupboard and turrets, so big groups can’t stack auth to get around it. Our Rust clans and teams guide compares team limits across server types.

Softcore Raid Windows Explained

The biggest softcore change is the raid window. By default, bases can only be raided between 6 PM and 9 PM in the server’s local time, the same three hours for everyone on the server. Outside the window, explosive and projectile damage can’t hurt the walls, floors, roofs, doors and ladder hatches covered by a tool cupboard. Inside the window, it’s normal Rust raiding.

The protection has limits, and knowing them is the difference between a safe base and a looted one:

• The tool cupboard has to be 1 hour old. A base you just built is open until its TC has been down for an hour, so you can’t drop a TC mid-fight to stop a raid.
• Deployables are never protected. Boxes, furnaces, turrets and anything else you place can be destroyed at any time if raiders can reach them, for example through a window or an open doorway.
• An exposed tool cupboard can be destroyed. Keep your TC behind walls and doors, not in a twig shack.
• Twig, high external walls and melee damage still count outside the window, so do your upgrades before you log off.
• Server owners can change the hours. Community softcore servers may use a different window, so check the server description for its raid times and time zone.

The window is set in server time, not yours. A US server’s 6 to 9 PM is the middle of the night in Europe, so pick a softcore server in your own region if you want to defend your base. When you plan raids for the window, our raid calculator works out exactly how much boom each wall and door needs.

Rust Hardcore Mode: Every Rule in 2026

Hardcore strips Rust back to survival. Facepunch reworked it in the Harder Core update on 7 August 2025 and it now runs on official Facepunch servers again. Here is what changes.

Fog of war and the compass

When you spawn, the whole map is covered in fog of war. It only clears where you have actually travelled, so on a fresh wipe you don’t know where the monuments, roads or rivers are until you find them. Your own position isn’t shown at all unless you carry a compass in your belt; with one, your marker appears (without the direction arrow). Grid callouts are much less useful, so groups learn to call out landmarks: “the river bend north of the tunnels”, not “K14”.

Double upkeep and slow respawns

Upkeep is doubled, which pushes everyone toward small, efficient bases instead of sprawling compounds. Respawn cooldowns are also much longer: 15 minutes on a sleeping bag and 10 minutes on a bed, against 5 and 2 minutes on vanilla. Losing a fight costs you real time, so every engagement matters more.

Hardcore Guns and Ammo: Loot Only

This is the rule that changes hardcore the most. Guns can’t be crafted or researched, so the tech tree gives you no firearms. The only gun you can make is the Eoka Pistol. Every other gun comes from crates, monuments and other players.

• Ammo costs 5x as much to craft, so every magazine is a real investment.
• NPCs drop half as much ammo, and NPC vendors don’t sell pistol ammo.
• Any gun can be repaired without its blueprint, so the guns you find are worth keeping alive.

The result is a wipe where a single AK changes the balance of a whole area, and players fight over monuments with bows, spears and Eokas far longer than on vanilla.

History of Softcore and Hardcore in Rust

Every monthly update can tweak these modes again. Our Rust update hub tracks each patch, and if you’re curious how far the game has come, read about the original Rust Legacy.

Tips for Softcore and Hardcore

Softcore tips

• Roam more. Dying outside building privilege only costs half, so take fights and run monuments you’d skip on vanilla.
• Don’t fight inside bases. Dying inside building privilege loses everything, so pull fights away from compounds.
• Seal your deployables. Put every box, furnace and the TC behind a door or a wall. Raid window protection doesn’t cover anything raiders can shoot at directly.
• Upgrade before logging off. Twig takes damage all day; stone and up are the pieces the window protects.
• Use the 2x. You’ll hit tier 2 and 3 gear in a day or two, so plan for a real fight in the second week.

Hardcore tips

• Get a compass early and keep it in your belt, or you won’t know where you are on the map.
• Learn the map by walking it. Follow roads and rivers on day one to clear the fog around the monuments you’ll farm.
• Treat every gun as precious. Repair them, don’t carry spares into fights, and bank ammo. Bows, crossbows and the Eoka carry the early wipe.
• Build small. Double upkeep makes a compact 2×2 or 2×3 far easier to keep alive than a compound.
• Place several bags. With 15 minute cooldowns, rotating between bags and a bed gets you back into the game faster.

Running Your Own Softcore or Hardcore Server

Both are built into the Rust dedicated server, so no plugins are needed. Set the mode at startup with +server.gamemode softcore or +server.gamemode hardcore, or switch a running server with gamemode.set softcore. Switching mid-wipe resets every player and their inventory, so do it on a wipe. Softcore’s raid window hours and gather rate can be changed with server convars, and team size with relationshipmanager.maxteamsize. Our guide to Rust server types covers PvE, modded and the other options.

Which Mode Should You Play?

Whichever you choose, start on a fresh wipe so everyone is at the same point. Official softcore and hardcore servers wipe on the force wipe, the first Thursday of the month, and our when is force wipe Rust timer shows exactly when that is in your time zone.

FAQ

Sources and Further Reading

• Softcore respawn and storage changes: Facepunch, Soft Refresh devblog (April 2025)
• Softcore 2x gather and raid windows: Facepunch, Common Ground devblog (July 2026)
• Hardcore fog of war, compass, guns, upkeep and respawns: Facepunch, Harder Core devblog (August 2025)
• Game mode convars and the 2022 to 2023 hardcore history: Facepunch Wiki, Server Gamemodes
• Live servers, team limits and wipe dates: Steam game server list for Rust (app 252490), October 22 2026, via our Rust server browser