Sanguine RustRust Halloween 2026 Guide: Pet Monster, Candy Hunt and Rifts
The Rust Halloween 2026 event is live now and runs until November 5. This guide walks you through the four things worth your time: building a pet monster, winning Candy Hunt, handling the new rifts, and farming the undead loot. For the full list of what the update added, see our Halloween 2026 patch notes. This page is the how-to.
Everything here comes from Facepunch's own event notes. Nothing is a guess.
How to build a pet monster
The pet monster is the headline feature, and it takes some farming. You need three body parts: a head, a torso and legs. These drop from the scarecrows and mummies that roam the map during the event.
Here is the order:
- Kill scarecrows and mummies until you have one head, one torso and one set of legs.
- Craft a Frankenstein's table and place it in your base.
- Put the three body parts into the table.
- Wake your monster up.
Once it is awake, press P to open the pet controls. The monster follows you, defends you when something attacks, and goes after targets you point it at. Treat it like a bodyguard you had to earn.
If P is already bound to something, or the menu will not open, set a new key in the F1 console:
bind X +pets
Swap X for any free key, or set it in the in-game controls menu. A tip: bring a Wooden Stake (more on that below) when you farm parts, because it drops undead in one hit and pays extra loot.
How to win Candy Hunt
About once every two in-game days, a Candy Hunt starts. You get three minutes to grab as much candy as you can. When the timer ends, the top three players get special loot bags.
Even if you never place top three, Candy Hunt is worth joining every time, and here is why. The candy itself is loot. Candies and loot bags can be opened, and the rewards run from scrap at the low end up to an M249 at the top. On top of that, candy can be upgraded for better loot. So a handful of candy from a hunt you lost still turns into something.
Our quick plan: when a hunt starts, cover ground fast and scoop every pile you can reach instead of fighting for one spot. Open or upgrade your candy afterward in safety, not out in the open.
How to handle the rifts
Rifts are portals that open in random spots across the island. In the story, cultists opened them, or a Cobalt experiment called R.U.I.N went wrong. Facepunch is staying quiet about what is on the other side, saying only that few players who go in come back out.
Treat a rift like any unknown fight. Go in with meds, a kit you are ready to lose, and a friend if you have one. Do not carry your best gear through a portal you have never cleared.
Server owners can set how many rifts spawn on a map with the halloweendungeon.population convar.
How to farm the undead loot
Two items come back for the event, and both help your monster farm:
- Wooden Stake: kills undead in a single hit and drops extra loot from their bodies. It also drops from undead corpses. Carry one while you farm scarecrows and mummies for parts.
- Dracula cape: a thick outer layer with strong protection. It drops from undead bodies. The matching Dracula mask is a store item this year, gives early head protection, and takes ten cloth to craft.
If you only grab one thing from the event, make it a stake. It makes every monster-part run faster and richer.
When does the event end?
The Halloween event runs until November 5, which is the first Thursday of November and the usual day for Rust's monthly update and forced wipe (see how Rust updates and forced wipes work). Build your monster and upgrade your candy before then, because the event content goes away with the wipe.
FAQ
How do you get a pet monster in Rust Halloween 2026? Kill scarecrows and mummies for a head, a torso and legs, craft and place a Frankenstein's table, put the parts in, and wake it. Press P to control it.
What is the best thing to get from Candy Hunt? Candy and loot bags range from scrap up to an M249, and candy can be upgraded, so keep and upgrade candy even when you do not place top three.
Are the rifts worth going into? Facepunch says few who enter return, so go in with meds and gear you can afford to lose, not your best kit.
When does Rust Halloween 2026 end? November 5, 2026, by Facepunch's event notes.
Sanguine Rust
Sanguine Rust is a PVE server with zombies, bosses and skill levels. We test every Rust build on a test island before we move our islands over, so seasonal events like this one land smoothly. See what Sanguine Rust is about.
Source: Facepunch, Halloween 2026 news