THE SHORT ANSWER
Rust Softcore combines faster gathering, scheduled raiding, reduced player-to-player bullet damage, partial item retention, and a four-player default team limit. Choose Softcore when those rules suit your schedule and group; choose Vanilla when you prefer the default Rust rule set without these Softcore-specific changes.
- Vanilla is the default Rust gameplay mode, while Softcore is Vanilla gameplay with changes intended to make the game easier.
- Facepunch added a 2× gathering rate and raid windows to Softcore on July 2, 2026.
- The Softcore gathering multiplier applies to ore, wood, food, and animal loot.
- Softcore's default raid window runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the server's local time.
- Outside the raid window, Tool Cupboards project protection within their radius that prevents building blocks and doors, including walls, floors, roofs, doors, and ladder hatches, from being raided.
- Deployables and an exposed Tool Cupboard can still be attacked outside the Softcore raid window.
- A Tool Cupboard must be at least one hour old before it can provide raid protection.
- Facepunch provides server owners with configuration variables for the Softcore raid-window system.
Rust Softcore combines faster gathering, scheduled raiding, reduced player-to-player bullet damage, partial item retention, and a four-player default team limit. Choose Softcore when those rules suit your schedule and group; choose Vanilla when you prefer the default Rust rule set without these Softcore-specific changes.
Gathering and raid windows
Facepunch added a 2× gathering rate and raid windows to Softcore on July 2, 2026. The gathering multiplier applies to ore, wood, food, and animal loot.
Softcore's default raid window runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the server's local time. Outside that window, Tool Cupboards project raid protection within their radius. Building blocks and doors—including walls, floors, roofs, doors, and ladder hatches—cannot be raided there.
Deployables and an exposed Tool Cupboard can still be attacked outside the raid window. A Tool Cupboard must also be at least one hour old before it can provide raid protection. Server owners can configure the raid-window system, so check an individual server's rules before joining.
PvP and death recovery
Softcore reduces player-to-player bullet damage by 25%.
When a player dies outside a building-privilege radius, the player respawns with 50% of their inventory automatically. Softcore keeps 50% of inventory and hotbar items, but not armor or clothing. Inventory and hotbar items are lost when the death occurs within the player's own Tool Cupboard range.
Base recovery and upkeep
Supported Softcore containers retain 50% of their contents in a destroyed version, while the other 50% drops. These destroyed objects can be repaired, and objects displaced by losing their ground can be picked up and repaired later. Supported objects include large and small wooden boxes, storage barrels, coffins, small and electric furnaces, lockers, Tool Cupboards, refrigerators, vending machines, and workbenches.
A destroyed Softcore Tool Cupboard continues to provide building authorization within its normal radius for 48 hours and can be repaired only by players who were previously authorized on it.
Softcore applies higher upkeep to doors while leaving building-block upkeep unchanged. Facepunch says an average large base can have door upkeep of around 90% in Softcore, compared with around 30% in Vanilla, while smaller, tighter bases are affected less.
Team size
Softcore's default maximum team size is four players, and authorization is limited to four. Server owners can change the maximum team and authorization size through a configuration variable.
Which mode fits you?
Softcore is the better fit when you want faster gathering of the specified resources, a predictable default raiding period, reduced bullet damage, partial recovery after field deaths, and additional recovery options after a raid. Its door-upkeep rules encourage more compact bases.
Vanilla is the better fit when you do not want these Softcore-specific gathering, raid-window, damage, recovery, or default group-size rules. After deciding which rule set you prefer, you can browse Rust servers on Rust You and verify each server's configuration before joining.