How long is a day in Rust? Rust day and night system, explained

Just like any other survival game, Rust offers a day and night system for you to explore, and ultimately try to survive to see the sun rise the next day. Equipped with no tools or clothes on your back, it is solely down to your animalistic instincts to survive.

Minecraft offers 20 minutes of daylight, and Sons of the Forest gives you a whopping 76 minutes to play with. But what about Rust?

Here’s everything you need to know about Rust‘s day and night system.

How long does a day last in Rust?

The daytime on Rust lasts for 50 minutes. Dawn and dusk separates the day and night system, adding a layer of realism in what is otherwise a very short day on Rust. As for night, darkness lasts for approximately 10 minutes. This totals to one hour per day in Rust. This gives you more than enough time to delegate tasks to friends, or divide your exploration, base building, and raiding into that allotted 50-minute slot.

If you’re unhappy with the default day and night duration, you can change it at Nitrado. Be mindful that this method requires a Nitrado subscription. Here you can connect your server to this plugin, enable Oxide, and download the time of day plugin. You can then upload the plugin and add it into the Plugins folder on Nitrado. Make sure to restart the server before you set the time of day inside the config folder.

Rust: Day and night differences explained

On the surface, Rust has similarities to life sims (without the cozyness) and Minecraft (without the Creepers and Zombies). The tip of the iceberg offers classic survival gameplay of farming, crafting tools, and building bases, but below it are various obstacles and threats that want nothing more than to send you back into the ocean you spawned out of.

If you’re new to Rust but are aware of other survival games, then you’ll know how dangerous it is to wander around at night compared to the day. The threat level increases once night falls, so having a base built is essential to surviving (especially if you don’t have weapons to deal with these threats). Dangers can include wildlife and other players, but don’t forget to build a fire for your shelter. This not only cooks meals, but keeps you safe from the elements.