Rust Blueprint Rework: Fragments, Pages and Books for Tech Trees

Facepunch is reworking how blueprints work in Rust. In new commits from October 20, workbenches go back to plain scrap prices, and the tech trees will be unlocked with blueprints instead of scrap. Three new loot items carry this: the Blueprint Fragment, the Blueprint Page and the Blueprint Book.

This is work in progress on a development branch. Facepunch has not said when it ships, and the developer wrote that there is "more balancing and changes to come". Here is everything the commits show so far.

What changes for workbenches

Right now you need blueprint fragments to craft the higher workbenches. The new commit takes the fragments out of the workbench recipes and goes back to the old scrap costs:

• Workbench Level 1: 50 scrap
• Workbench Level 2: 500 scrap
• Workbench Level 3: 1,250 scrap

So getting a workbench down becomes a scrap grind again, the way it was before the fragment system.

Tech trees now cost blueprints

The bigger change is the tech tree. Today you spend scrap to unlock items in a workbench tree. After the rework, each unlock costs a blueprint item, 1 per item for now:

• Level 1 tree: Blueprint Fragment
• Level 2 tree: Blueprint Page
• Level 3 tree: Blueprint Book
• Engineering workbench: Blueprint Fragment

That means scrap stops being the one currency for progress. You will need to loot the right blueprint item for each workbench level.

Where to find Blueprint Fragments, Pages and Books

The commit says where each one drops:

• Blueprint Fragments: barrels, boxes and common low end loot.
• Blueprint Pages: the places that drop Basic Blueprint Fragments today.
• Blueprint Books: the places that drop Advanced Blueprint Fragments today.

You can turn 10 Fragments into 1 Page. You cannot turn Pages into Books, so the level 3 tree still means running the harder loot spots.

Research table costs go up

You can still research items at the research table for scrap. The costs change like this:

Rarity	Now	After
Default	10	10
Common	15	20
Uncommon	30	40
Rare	60	100
Very Rare	120	300

Very Rare items more than double. Researching a rare item you found will cost a lot more scrap than it does now.

A second commit says the "Salvage Workbench Upgrade" now has a 20% chance to not use up a blueprint, which the developer called effectively the same as before. We are not sure yet what that upgrade is in game. Our guess is a way to upgrade a workbench that can refund the blueprint item, but we will wait for the patch notes before saying more.

What this means for players

• Early game: barrels and crates matter more, because Fragments feed your first tree and the engineering workbench.
• Mid game: Pages come from the same places basic fragments do now, so monument runs stay important.
• Late game: Books replace the advanced fragment hunt. Since Pages cannot become Books, there is no way to grind around the hard loot.
• Scrap: less scrap goes into the tech tree, but more goes into the research table and workbenches. Expect the price of scrap in trades to shift.

When is it coming?

There is no date. The branch is still changing, and Facepunch usually ships big economy changes with a monthly update on the first Thursday of the month. If it is ready, the next chance is the November update on November 5, but that is a guess, not a promise. Read how Rust updates and forced wipes work to see how that schedule goes.

FAQ

Is Rust removing blueprint fragments? No. They are being split into three items: Fragments, Pages and Books. Basic and Advanced fragments are the ones being replaced.

Do workbenches still need fragments? Not after this change. Workbenches go back to 50, 500 and 1,250 scrap.

Can I still research items with scrap? Yes. The research table stays, with higher scrap costs.

Can I craft a Blueprint Book from Pages? No. Ten Fragments make a Page, but Pages do not upgrade into Books.

Sanguine Rust

Sanguine Rust is a PVE server with zombies, bosses and skill levels. We test every Rust build before our islands move to it, so changes like this land without surprises. New here? Read what Sanguine Rust is or check the Sanguine wiki.

Source: Facepunch commits 720766 and 720770 on the blueprints_2 branch, October 20, 2026.