Clear as Rust

The past month or so has been one of the busiest stretches we have had since launching CaR, and I wanted to take a moment to recap everything we have been working on behind the scenes.

NPC Overhaul

We completed a full rework of our NPC configuration across every monument on the server. Every NPC preset was renamed from cryptic hash strings to a clean Location-Weapon convention like Harbor-Python or Airfield-Spas12, making the whole system dramatically easier to manage and tune going forward. Along the way we standardized damage scaling and made sure the right enemies are showing up in the right [or often times, new] places.

Plugin Compatibility

Facepunch pushed an API change that converted a number of string types to a new StringView format which broke several [40 or so] of our plugins simultaneously. Luckily the authors were pretty on the ball about this patch and shipped updates pretty quickly. I only had to manually patch ten or so plugins which while annoying, wasn't the end of the world.

The Rough Patch — May 28

I would be remiss not to address the crashes. Starting May 28, the server began going down every couple of hours due to a memory leak that took a few days to fully identify and patch. What a time to be alive. Thankfully, our host was able to patch their side a day or so before FacePunch pushed a patch for it but yeah, woof that was bad. Thankfully we haven't had any issues since then! Let's keep our fingers crossed!

At the moment it does not look like Facepunch is introducing any major changes that will impact servers this month, so this wipe should hopefully be pretty uneventful. Hopefully.

Map

For this wipe we are returning to where it all started for us: Atlanta: The Walking Dead by Gruber.

This was the map used for our very first official wipe over a year ago, so it holds a bit of nostalgia for both Snapple and myself. It felt like a good time to bring it back.

The map has been slightly modified from its default setup. I added NPCs to several of the custom monuments around the map. Since the map does not include a BetterNPC profile, I built one using NPC setups similar to what you would see at some lower tier monuments.

Snapple also ran through the map to make sure I did not go completely overboard with the NPCs. Her feedback was that players should read the left arm of our hoodie, and honestly that seems fair.

Map Voting

I am still working on implementing some kind of community map voting system. I believe we have found a plugin that might do the job, but I am still figuring out how well it can integrate with Discord.

It may end up being an in game only system. Rust does not make image based voting particularly easy, so there are some limitations there that I am still working through.

Thanks

As always, thanks for spending your time with us. We appreciate everyone who hangs out here and helps make the server what it is. Hopefully you all enjoy the wipe.

First, SkillTree. We are still experiencing occasional issues where players may be kicked due to tick rate spikes related to image handling. I am actively working on converting all of our images over to proper skinIDs instead of hosted images. Once that transition is complete, these tick-related kicks should no longer happen.

Second, the item deletion issue. We are dealing with what I believe is a host-side problem where certain items are randomly flagged as duplicates and then removed from the save file during reboot. I have disabled what I believe was triggering that behavior, so it should no longer occur. That said, it is extremely difficult to properly test because the server has to reboot in order for the issue to even attempt to trigger. If it does happen again, please let us know. As always, we are more than happy to replace anything you have lost due to this issue.

Aside from those two [admittedly big] things, the server is in a pretty good spot. That said, we are extremely entity heavy right now. Like, absurdly heavy. We are going to be looking at ways to pare that down and improve overall performance.

Because of the save issue, I am not completely confident that we will be able to keep this current map. There is a decent chance that we wipe everything and start fresh on Thursday just to ensure a clean state. If we do switch maps, it will be a procedurally generated one. Nothing wild. My hope is that once things stabilize, we can return to the normal cycle of our custom maps, probably starting with Atlanta. We will make that call once soft wipe is fully sorted out.

Looking ahead, since we are likely done purchasing custom maps unless something truly exceptional comes along, I am planning to implement a voting system so players can help decide which maps we run. It probably will not ever be fully automated because most custom maps have unique monuments that require different NPC profiles, but at least this way the community will have a say.

I am also exploring ways to allow players to design Boss Monsters and Legendary items. The Boss Monster creator is already finished, but I am still deciding how to roll it out. No promises that every idea will be implemented, but I want to open the door for more community-driven content.

For now, I am just trying to keep my head above water while we work through these weird edge-case issues that seem to pop up daily. I appreciate everyone's patience while we get things locked down.

As always, thank you for sticking with ClearAsRust ❤️

We have officially moved to a new host. Due to ongoing hardware performance issues and unsatisfactory customer service with our previous provider, we made the decision to relocate the server in order to improve stability and overall performance.

The new server is live now. However, it will be officially wiped at 9:00 AM Pacific on February 10. We will be taking a Skill Tree data snapshot at 7:00 AM Pacific on February 10 and copying that data over to the new server. Any Skill Tree progress after that snapshot time will not carry over.

With this move comes a fresh map. Many of you voiced strong opinions about Gravity, so this wipe gives us a clean slate and a new environment to explore.

There have been significant updates to our NPC plugins and the way they interact with loot tables. This is a major backend overhaul. Loot balance, NPC behavior, and certain encounters may feel different at first while everything settles in. We will be monitoring things closely and making adjustments as needed.

Because players are losing their items during this transition, we will be implementing a small starter kit as a care package to help everyone get back on their feet after the wipe.

The old server will remain live for now but will be placed into maintenance mode. It will stay up until the next soft wipe, at which point it will be officially retired and the new server will fully take its place.

Please continue checking the website regularly. We will be adding a dedicated commands section as well as a more in depth FAQ to help answer common questions and explain some of the new systems.

The goal of all these changes is simple: reduce lag, improve stability, and create a smoother overall experience for everyone.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with us and continues to support Clear As Rust. We appreciate the feedback and are committed to making each wipe better than the last.

- Bob and Snapple