Temporal stability

Temporal Stability is a game mechanic that measures how close the player is to entering the Rust World . It is represented through a blue gear icon above the player's hotbar; color drains from the gear as temporal stability is lost. If it drains completely, the player enters the Rust World, taking unavoidable damage until they regain some temporal stability.

The earliest warning sign of a temporally unstable area is the blue gear on the player's hotbar turning counterclockwise. The faster the gear turns, the more unstable the area. Conversely, the gear will turn clockwise as the player gains stability.

The world has areas of high and low stability, determined at random upon world generation. Stability of an area can be expressed as a percentage between 0 and 150%, where 100% means no change in stability. Area stability is generally lower when underground, and vice versa.

Effects of low temporal stability

Stability (%)	Effects
<60%	Unique low stability ambience begins to play
<25%	Bowtorns may spawn around the player
<12%	Player begins taking damage every 4 seconds; Player's camera will occasionally jitter; Glitchy textures appear on nearby blocks; Distant terrain begins visibly warping; Fog begins setting in.
<10%	Sounds are randomly pitched or spliced; Affected player's chat messages become filled with square symbols (Ex: H▯e▯l▯l▯o▯?); Other players will start to flicker and become transparent.
<7%	Massive cogs and the Thunderlord appear in the distant sky

Notes

• Sleeping in a temporally (un)stable area will not accelerate stability loss/gain.

• Being in a perfectly stable area will restore roughly 1% stability every 4 seconds. A completely unstable area will reduce stability by 1% every 7.5 seconds.
  • Standing near a temporal rift reduces stability by about 3% per second. It will also cause the player to experience all low stability effects, regardless of their actual stability.

• When temporal stability drops below 60%, the player will start hearing ominous ambience. Nothing tangible will happen at this point, but it is a warning to be aware that temporal stability is dropping.
  • Ambience will greatly quieten when in a stable area.

• Once the player reaches 25%, bowtorns will begin to spawn around the player regardless of if light levels are bright enough to prevent them. For every 5% lower, the bowtorns gain 1 tier - with tier 4s spawning at 5% or less.

• Upon reaching 12%, players will begin to take unavoidable damage every 4 seconds. This starts at 0.02, scaling up to 0.15 damage at 0% stability.
  • The terrain warping effect becomes stronger as stability continues dropping. Combined with the fog and marred textures, anything a fair distance away becomes extremely difficult to discern.

Temporal stability meter, above the player's hotbar. Here, the temporal stability is dropping.

Restoring temporal stability

• Temporal stability can be restored quickly through the use of a temporal gear . These are acquired through killing drifters or through trading .
  • To instantly restore temporal stability, one can equip a temporal gear in their offhand and use any knife in the main hand. The player will slash their torso, then insert the gear into the wound. This does about 2 HP of damage, but instantly restores 30% stability at the cost of the gear. Releasing click before the animation concludes can result in the player injuring themselves for no benefit. This action cannot be performed if it would kill the player.

• Another way to restore temporal stability is by killing supernatural enemies . Stronger enemies restore more temporal stability, though this may not be a reliable method to maintain stability.

• The most common way to restore stability is to simply be in a stable area. Most of the world's surface is temporally stable, though rarely one may find stable regions underground.

Temporal storms

See also: Temporal storm

Temporal storms are a weather pattern that by default occurs roughly every 10-15 days. During these storms, the entire world's area stability is temporarily lowered, with supernatural enemies able to spawn anywhere around the player as long as there is a spawnable surface (i.e. slabs will prevent spawns). Additionally, all low stability visual effects will occur regardless of the player's actual stability.

Players will get messages relating to temporal storms in the chat:

• "A light/medium/heavy temporal storm is approaching" - once this warning is issued, the temporal storm is 8h24min ingame time away - or 35% of a full day.

• "A light/medium/heavy temporal storm is imminent" - once this warning is issued, the temporal storm is 29min ingame time away - or 2% of a full day.

• "The temporal storm seems to be waning" - once this message is issued, the current temporal storm will end in 29min ingame time - or 2% of a full day.

The average duration of temporal storms will increase each time one occurs. By default it can last between 2.4h and 4.8h maximum (10-20% of a full day.) The differentiation between light, medium or heavy temporal storms does not influence its duration, but does increase the visual effects and stability loss during the storm. Stable areas will effectively be reduced to ~60%, ~40%, or ~5% stability respectively.

Medium storms seem to occur ~50% of the time, Heavy storms ~30% and Light storms ~20%. The first temporal storm in a world will not be Heavy.

There is currently no way to prevent, shorten, or avoid temporal storms ingame. They can be disabled in the world's configuration settings .

Tip: Keep in mind that all time related information is offered as they would be in a default world. Changing the length of days or the frequency of temporal storms will affect some statistics presented above.

Surviving a temporal storm

There are a few different ways to consistently survive a temporal storm if you are not ready to fight your way through one.

Hiding

Hiding in a room, such as a Cellar , is a good way to survive. Ensure there is not enough space for enemies to spawn inside, and keep the room well-lit.

Pillaring

Building a tall pillar to stand on is viable as well, though bowtorn and drifters have a ranged attack. This is not an advisable technique unless excessive heights are reached or a safety box is built on top (though building such a box at ground level would be equally effective.)

Drifter Trap

For a more detailed look at an advanced drifter trap, see video tutorials below

Digging a pit that is at least 2 blocks deep and wide while standing on a pillar in the center will lure drifters in for easy killing later on. Keep in mind that bowtorn will shoot from a distance and shivers have a jumping lunge attack - both of which could hit an unprepared player.

Sleeping

If temporalStormSleeping in the World Config is enabled, players can just sleep through a temporal storm. Wait until the 'temporal storm is imminent' message appears, and then go to sleep. Upon waking up, the storm should either be completely gone or nearly over.

• This option is false by default, so players will not "miss all the fun."

Running

For the especially bold or desperate, it is possible to run and never stop running until the storm is over; most enemies react slowly, or are physically too sluggish to keep up. Avoid hills, trees, and water, and have food ready to eat on the go. This is generally a bad idea due to the storm's punishing enemies and warping terrain effect - unless a player is familiar or lucky with the terrain, it is easy to get lost or cornered.

• Riding a tamed Elk can enable this strategy further.

Video tutorials

Detailed explanation of a drifter trap, version 1.13	Temporal stability explained in English	Temporal stability explained in German