Rust Halloween 2026: Event Guide, Tradeable Skins and Base Invaders Twitch Drops

Facepunch released the Rust Halloween patch on October 22, 2026, and the event runs until November 5. The event brings back the Frankenstein pet you build from monster parts, the R.U.I.N rifts that open around the map, and the Candy Hunt. A new set of Halloween skins is in the Steam item store, and the "Base Invaders" Twitch drops run from October 23 to November 1. Most of the new store skins can be traded and sold on the Steam Market once a one-week hold ends, but a few can't be sold there. Details are in Facepunch's Halloween 2026 post.

Key dates

• October 22: Halloween patch released, with the Spooky Decor skins and Alien Costume in the store.
• October 23, 18:00 UTC: Base Invaders Twitch drops start.
• About October 29: the one-week trade and Market hold ends for skins bought on release day.
• November 1, 23:59 UTC: Twitch drops end.
• November 5: the Halloween event and the Discord Zombie Wumpus offer end.

What's in the Halloween event

Candy Hunt

A Candy Hunt starts roughly every two in-game days and lasts three minutes. The three players who collect the most candy get special loot bags. Candy and bags open into loot that ranges from scrap up to an M249, and you can upgrade candy for better rolls.

Frankenstein pet

Kill scarecrows and mummies to collect a head, a torso and legs. Craft a Frankenstein's table, put the parts in it, and wake the monster. It follows you, defends you and attacks targets. Press P to give it orders. If P is already bound or the menu won't open, type bind X +pets in the console.

R.U.I.N rifts

Portals open at random spots on the map and take you to an unknown destination. In the lore, some blame cultists, and others think it's a Cobalt experiment code-named R.U.I.N. Server owners can change how many rifts spawn with the halloweendungeon.population convar, so the number can vary between servers.

Returning Halloween gear

The Dracula Cape and the Wooden Stake drop from the corpses of undead enemies. The stake kills undead in one hit and gives extra loot. The Dracula Mask is different: it's a store item ($3.99), and owning it lets you craft the mask in game for 10 cloth. The Dracula Cape is also in the store for $5.99, and both can be traded and sold on the Market.

New Halloween skins in the Steam item store

Facepunch's post names the Spooky Decor set and the Alien Costume. The store's Limited section also lists a set of new Halloween weapon, deployable and clothing skins that the post doesn't mention. Prices are in USD as of October 26, 2026.

The new Limited Halloween items, and whether you can sell each one on the Steam Market:

The Spooky Decor Bundle includes Manor, Cultist Tile, Derelict Wood and the Skull Wall Lamp, plus a Halloween Wreath and Halloween String Lights you can only get in the bundle. Bought separately, the four skins cost $11.96, the same as the bundle, so the wreath and lights are effectively free. The catch is that the bundle page shows no trade or Market tags for any of its six items, while the four individual store pages do. If you want skins you know you can sell, buy them individually.

What's tradeable, and when

The new items fall into three groups:

• Tradeable and marketable after one week. Most of the new skins. Their store pages say they can't be traded for one week after purchase, or listed on the Steam Community Market for one week. As of October 26, none of them has a Market listing. That fits the hold: skins bought on release day can first be listed around October 29.
• Tradeable but not marketable. The Monster Water Purifier and the three Hayman Burlap pieces. After the week you can trade them to another player, but you can't sell them on the Market.
• Not stated. The bundle-only Halloween Wreath and String Lights, the Discord Zombie Wumpus Plush, and this year's Twitch drops. Facepunch hasn't said whether you can trade them.

Returning skins such as the Dracula Mask and Hockey Mask already have Market listings, so you can buy those from other players now.

If you plan to use the new skins on a skin site, sites price deposits from Market data. A skin with no sales history yet may be priced low, or not accepted, until it has traded for a while. Wait for a few days of Market sales before you deposit anything.

Base Invaders Twitch drops

This year's Halloween drops campaign is "Base Invaders", drops round 54, hosted by Rustoria with a Twitch Rivals broadcast. According to twitch.facepunch.com, it runs from October 23, 2026 at 18:00 UTC to November 1, 2026 at 23:59 UTC.

• Streamer drop: the Twitch Rivals Spooky Backpack, for 30 minutes of watching the TwitchRivals channel. Facepunch called it a one-day drop, starting with the main broadcast on October 23 at 11 AM PT. As of October 26, twitch.facepunch.com still lists it under Streamer Drops.
• General drops: earned on any Rust stream with Drops enabled, until November 1. Only one channel counts at a time, so watching two streams at once doesn't speed it up.

How to claim them

1. Go to twitch.facepunch.com/connect, link your Steam and Twitch accounts, and press Activate Drops. You need Rust on that Steam account to receive the items. You don't need Prime.
2. Watch a Rust stream with Drops enabled until each watch-time goal is reached.
3. Press Claim in your Twitch Drops inventory. The item can take up to 10 minutes to appear in your Steam inventory.
4. If it hasn't arrived after 30 minutes, your accounts may not have been linked when you claimed. Link them, then use "Check for Missing Drops".

If you claim drops before you own Rust, buy it within 180 days of claiming, then link your accounts and press "Check for Missing Drops". The items don't arrive on their own, and after 180 days they expire.

Can you trade the Twitch drops?

Facepunch hasn't said. Neither the drops page nor the Halloween post mentions trading. Items named "Base Invaders" from earlier rounds are listed on the Steam Market today, which suggests past rounds were marketable. Treat that as a guess about this round, not a promise, until the new skins show up on the Market.

Discord Zombie Wumpus Plush

From October 22 to November 5, eligible Discord Nitro subscribers can claim a Zombie Wumpus Plush in the Rust Game Shop on Discord using Discord Orbs. Terms apply. It's a deployable that gives 70% comfort when you're near it. Facepunch hasn't said whether it can be traded.

Is it worth buying the skins to flip?

Only if you're happy to gamble on it. A skin bought for $2.99 only makes a profit if it later sells on the Market for more than $2.99 after the Market fee. Whether it does depends on how many people buy it while it's in the store, and nobody knows that yet. Buy the skins you want to use. If you'd rather try to win skins on a case site, remember that every case has a house edge, so you lose on average.

← Back to the blog