How Seasonal Events Work
Twice a year Facepunch runs limited-time events that need a mandatory client patch and run until the next forced wipe: Halloween (late October) and Christmas ("Rustmas", late December). Exact dates shift each year and differ between PC and Console.
Both share the same core loop: a free collectible drops around every player on a timer, and you TRADE UP small collectibles into bigger, better loot bags/presents. The trade-up works in tens -- roughly 10 of the base item makes one small bag, 10 small make one medium, and so on, with each tier holding better loot (top tiers can drop an M249, LR300, or rockets). You can always just open what you have, or hoard and upgrade for the big stuff.
Halloween: The Candy Hunt
Roughly every two in-game days a "Trick or Treat" candy hunt fires: after a short countdown, Halloween Candy spawns around every player and you have 3 minutes to grab as much as you can. The top 3 collectors get special loot bags.
Collection tips and the trade-up: - Candy spawns in the direction you pick it up, so circle a spot to bunch it in the middle. - Candy (stacks to 10) can be eaten (+1 health, +25 calories) or upgraded: 10 candy -> Small Loot Bag, 10 Small -> Medium, and up to Large/Top bags holding rifles, rockets, and a Grenade Launcher. - Two edge items from Small bags: the Pumpkin Bucket (left-click to pick up candy instantly; right-click throws candy for ~20 damage) and the Scarecrow Wrap (candy vision -- you see candy farther away than players without it).
Halloween: Monsters, Pets & Portals
The map fills with hostile Scarecrows and Mummies that charge you with chainsaws, sickles, machetes, or beancan grenades -- and drop loot (fuses, metal blades, a SAR body, F1 grenades, and more). The Stake, found on undead corpses, kills them fast and yields extra loot.
Build-a-monster: loot a Head, Torso, and Legs from the undead, craft a Frankenstein's Table, place the parts, and awaken your own pet monster -- command it (Idle / Follow / Combat) via the pets menu (press P). Blue glowing PORTALS also appear randomly for a limited time; step through into a small loot dungeon full of scarecrows, clear it, and jump back. The event also adds themed gear: Mummy/Scarecrow suits, the Crate and Barrel disguise costumes, spider webs, coffins (storage), graveyard fences, and gravestones.
Christmas: Presents & Santa
Each in-game day a festive jingle plays -- that's your cue to run OUTSIDE. Santa drops two presents per player within about 40 m, each marked by a spotlight and swirling snowflakes, and they stay for 30 minutes before vanishing.
Opening and trading up: - Presents have 30 HP -- hit them a few times to break them open. - Trade up just like candy: 10 small -> 1 medium, 5 medium -> 1 large (the large holds the premium loot). - Contents range from resources and candy to weapons and festive gear: Santa hats and reindeer antlers (both wearable WITH some armor value), the Candy Cane Club (a melee weapon you can ALSO eat for calories/hydration/a healing buff), the Snowball Gun + snowballs (from medium presents), tree decorations, a sled, and premium drops like HQM, a Flame Turret, or a Custom SMG.
Christmas: Stockings, Tree & Gingerbread
Beyond presents, Rustmas adds base-side festivities:
- Stockings: deployables you hang in your base BEFORE the jingle rings -- they slowly fill with loot over time (sparkles mean it's ready), and the Super Stocking has better odds. Each lasts ~5-10 refills.
- Christmas Tree: craft one for 500 Wood + 30 Cloth and interact with it like a box to add Baubles, Candy Canes, Pinecones, and Gingerbread Men decorations (themselves found in presents/stockings).
- Advent Calendar: a craftable deployable that gives one free surprise per REAL-LIFE day from December 16th.
- Gingerbread Mines: gingerbread houses scattered on the map lead into small dungeons guarded by deadly Gingerbread Men, who drop scientist-tier gear plus festive extras (Santa hats, snowball guns, a sled).
Keep a Candy Cane Club on you all event -- it's a weapon and an emergency snack in one.