Helpful Strategies to Survive RUST’s Deep Sea Event.
Rust has its fair share of stroll-in-the-park activities: wandering through lush green fields, frolicking amongst the hemp plants and wild potatoes. Some even find ASMR qualities in more constructive activities like building houses, planting berries, and roofcamping upset 12-year-olds for their burlap kits and Revolvers.
The Deep Sea has some of that, maybe. Once you get past the roaming boats intent on killing you, other players also probably intent on killing you, and the waves that start when the event is coming to an end, that passively attempt to kill you… Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, the beaches are really pretty.
For every negative presented by the surroundings you select, a positive emerges. As with all things, every dark side has its lighter component, and this RUST event is the same if you know how to navigate this aquatic nightmare. Consider this your compass to surviving the RUST Deep Sea.
The Deep Sea was added with the Naval update in February of 2026, marking the end of months-long delays of this massive content release. With the Deep Sea itself came a host of other attractive offerings that players are taking advantage of, such as Player-Made Boat Building. These things all work towards the same end, offering content outside the realm of a standard map’s dimensions, even if only for a few hours at a time.
Similar to portaled instancing used in other games, the Deep Sea is its own segmented map area. Segregated from the mainland island map by a portal-adjacent threshold in the form of a map-long row of floating, lit buoys.
When active, it also has a highly noticeable overlay on the mainland map, in whichever hemisphere it manifests in that particular map seed. The Deep Sea is the ‘world’ that encapsulates several unique features exclusive to itself, such as Ore Islands, the new Floating City Monument, Ghostships, and hostile Patrol Boats.
Preemptive Considerations
The Deep Sea is hands down the most difficult environment for PVE and PVP content that Facepunch has released, eclipsing endgame monuments like the Large Oil Rig or Nuclear Missile Silo with its most up-to-date AI, the fact that you’re facing it mostly in water, and that the loot within the event itself is desirable to everyone well into the end of wipe.
Gearcheck
I know we’ve said it over and over with every new piece of content released, but this place is no joke. Some players honestly have no business attempting the Deep Sea, as it’s quite unforgiving and the AI hits hard.
If you’re unable to complete events like Cargo or either Small or Large Oil Rigs without difficulty, we recommend going full kit, with tons of meds and a quite extensive backup plan.
Even if you do feel confident, don’t overlook any of the other considerations we’re about to lay out. As with any non-safe venture, check out our Best RUST Armor Combinations guide to maximize your chances of survival.
The Event Timer(s)
The Deep Sea event is on a timer system that is not forgiving. It’s important to take note of these facts about the event:
The Deep Sea event lasts for 3 hours.
When the timer has ended, everything inside is destroyed.
There is no chance of recovering loot if the event has ended.
There is currently an in-game toast pop-up that says “a Storm is approaching, the Deep Sea will close in 20 minutes”, etc. You’d be wise to listen to it and not be in the Deep Sea when it happens. It will start physically storming in-game alongside the warning. Radiation begins to flood the zone right around the 5-minute mark and becomes overwhelming at 3 minutes.
Recommendation
Be sure to check out the map beforehand. To visit the event, it must be open. Maps will decide which area (North, South, East, or West) the Deep Sea will spawn at for the duration of that wipe. It does not vary from event to event, so if you build a base on the East coast of a wipe that spawns the event on the East coast, you will be as close as possible for the entire wipe.
The event itself displays a large clock counter on the map, over the Deep Sea marking. Players should factor in travel time, anticipated time inside the event, and exit time. If you see that an event only has 45 minutes left and you live 15 minutes away by boat, you might be best served waiting the 45 minutes plus an additional 90 minutes for the next event to spawn.
Long story, very short, keep an eye on the clock. You have to give yourself enough time to gather your belongings, make it back to your vessel, avoid other players and Patrol Boats, and get the hell out of the event before the timer gets too low. Don’t count on making it out if you’re mid-map and have less than 5 minutes remaining.
Logistics of Accessing the Deep Sea
At present, the Deep Sea event is accessible only by approaching the threshold in a boat-type vehicle, as described in the map tooltip as any “sturdy boat.” As of the live release, several previously acceptable naval vessels were excluded from ‘capable’, Tugboats were removed from the game altogether, and two new types of vessels were added.
RHIBs – Rhibs are no longer strong enough to survive the voyage
Rowboats – Rowboats are no longer strong enough to survive the voyage
Submarines – Submarines are no longer strong enough to survive the voyage
Player-Made Boats
PT Boats
To enter or exit, simply head into the Deep Sea threshold as it appears on the map, or towards the mainland. Each also features a silhouette of islands as a visual placeholder for unmapped areas.
Approaching unauthorized vehicle types, such as Minicopters (or cars, we checked), will subject you to ‘repel forces’ and the stern warning that your vehicle isn’t capable. The transition between mainland and Deep Sea occurs roughly in the same time window as entering a Christmas or Halloween event portal.
Recommendation
I can’t really stress this point enough: the AI within the Deep Sea is quite vicious.
It hits harder than AI elsewhere (roughly 18 health points per bullet against a Hazmat.)
It is very accurate in its barrages.
It works very well as a team.
While we will cover the AI portion later in this guide, you need to have a plan B in the mainland to get back quickly if you die. Because naturally spawning boats like the Rowboat won’t be able to make the journey, we recommend placing a Sleeping Bag and a Small Stash near a Fishing Village monument with the required Scrap, should the worst occur. Having a few kits ready with provisions is also a good idea, since the window to return is limited by the clock.
Patrol Boats & Island AI
Deep Sea Patrol Boats are fast-moving, persistent new AI that seek out and pursue players they detect within the event.
They travel in fleets of 3
The lead attack vehicle is a new PT boat
They’re flanked by two newly upgraded RHIBs
The RHIB variants are simple cargo-equivalent shooters with similar weapons. The PT boat, however, has M249 adjacent shooters on both the front and the back, and will attempt to shoot from a rather far distance once tracking you, and will not stop following you until they’re dead, or you are.
The island AI are essentially the same, except way fonder of chucking Smoke Grenades and creeping around in the bushes. I have personally seen some of the better, more experienced players in the world go onto one of these islands and be immediately killed because they overestimated how accurate the bots are. Don’t be that person.
Recommendation
Go for the drivers first; these boats are much easier to deal with once they stop moving. Sinking the boats also works wonderfully, but is often impractical unless you’re packing a lot of incendiary ammunition.
The best course of action is making it to shore or onto an empty Ghost Ship, as mounted patrols cannot dismount to follow you, and you can pick them off much easier under cover. It is equally important to be sure that the island or ship you’re attempting to occupy is actually empty.
Player-Controlled Cannons
Cannons are the latest in naval warfare-exclusive armaments, appearing on either player-controlled housing structures (check out our full guide on that here) or within sandbagged fortifications on Deep Sea islands. While scientists on said islands can’t currently fire them, other players certainly can.
They’re the primary boat-on-boat raiding mechanism at the moment if you’re on a serious budget, as the Cannonballs can be found in small green crates on islands besides the entrenched cannons.
When deployed from the side of a customizable modular boat, it can be mounted, aimed, and fired at anything one wishes. The Cannon can accidentally hit the ship it is attached to, and cause considerable damage to the vessel and crew. It exclusively fires Cannonballs. If you find yourself behind the wheel of one of these bad boys and happen to possess some Cannonballs of your own, use the following controls to shoot back.
Controls:
Hold W, A, S, D, or use mouse movements to aim and direct the attackW up
A left
S right
D down
Once aimed, hold the R key to prime
Press the Left Mouse Button to fire
Recommendation
If you’re visiting the Deep Sea and start taking fire from one of these behemoths, it’s probably best to put your vessel on autopilot and ensure you aren’t directly impacted. The best friend you have when in a Cannon fight is speed, so it’s objectively the best strategy to have the fastest possible vehicle when Cannonballs start firing.
Other Players
Nothing here is sacred, and there are no rules or courtesies. Because of the richness and variety of loot present within the Deep Sea event, other players are naturally going to want their piece. Islands are going to be camped, traps are going to be laid, and lifelong friendships are going to be created and destroyed.
You need to view PVP in the Deep Sea as Hardcore Mode, in that aside from having a Sleeping Bag or Bed on a player-made boat, it’s going to take you a long time to get back to the fight. This sense of finality needs to be understood before you lose a lot.
Recommendation
Advice here is really contingent on the element in which the fight is happening. Falling off a boat during a firefight and not being able to get back on is a terrible predicament, so consider scuba gear as a quick way to get back on. Fighting from a houseboat can be great, so long as you don’t get put on a bag timer and end up raided.
Utilize island obstructions when available, and always make sure an island is clear of scientists before you post up on one. This new AI sneaks, crouches, throws Smoke Grenades, and hits almost as hard as other players. Most islands have a steady incline with a rock at the top, and plenty of places to hide.
Know what you’re getting yourself into before you get into it. While players cannot build or place Sleeping Bags, you can use things like Wooden Barricade Covers as temporary PVP shields.
Fog of War
Fog of war in the Deep Sea is less taxing than its Hardmode counterpart, in that you still have full visibility to the pin that represents your current position, as well as the direction you’re pointing. Since the map of the Deep Sea is also substantially smaller, it doesn’t take nearly as long to discover it, and most structures, boats, and islands are visible from spawn.
Recommendation
Not a whole lot to preemptively consider here. If you know going in that you won’t have immediate access to a map, that’s almost its own form of preparedness. If the Deep Sea were bigger, this might be more of an inconvenience, but as it stands, we recommend paying closer attention to the patrols flanking you and where to fight them than what portion of the map you haven’t been to.
Deep Sea Exclusives
The Floating City Monument
The Floating City is essentially Outpost and Bandit Camp stitched together, hoisted onto barges, and shoved out into the Deep Sea with a pirate flair.
It’s a static safe zone monument that appears with each Deep Sea instance, complete with turrets, vendors, and more seating than any one group reasonably needs. You can fish in peace from multiple spots, wander a maze of walkways and platforms, and bump into a variety of NPC vendors whose exact appearance may change from run to run.
Post-launch of the Deep Sea, the fishing is enhanced, with better fish and larger quantities available during the event.
We put together a Floating City Monument Guide as a standalone that you can check out.
Island Resources
Each island generally has a theme, and each also has the Deep Sea exclusive food, the Coconut (not game-changing, but worth mentioning). There are longer, completely flat islands with 3-5 scientists guarding them, sometimes with a dock, possibly a shed, or some nodes.
Others have ancient rune fortifications similar to jungle assets, with a higher-end guard count. Wherever you land, unless someone has been there before, always assume there are blue baddies in the bushes. Enough of the negative talk, this is why you’re here.
Fuel Barrel Heaven
I mentioned talk of docks and sheds, often attached to said docks. The reason is that these dwarf the Dome in quantity of red fuel barrels. During our research phase, one island had 32 red fuel barrels. This is an absolutely absurd amount of this resource type.
When you figure that multiple islands can spawn this, you could theoretically get enough Low Grade Fuel for the rest of your wipe in a single Deep Sea event. On top of docks and sheds, red barrels can spawn individually along the length of any island.
Airdrop Terminals
Some islands have one (or more, confirmed) computer terminals tucked inside their ancient ruins. At first glance, the computer area appears compact, with “100%” written across the screen, very similar to the Giant Excavator. In fact, it operates exactly the same way, except that spending time and Diesel Fuel there doesn’t cause the number to go back up.
When interacting with it, the screen will glitch out with various code for a moment, and an airdrop will be sent to the island. There definitely can be more than 1 of these terminals, both per island and per Deep Sea event. The most we found in a single instance was 4, across 3 islands.
Ore Islands
More commonly on the flatter islands, players might find an absolute treasure trove of resource farmable nodes. It usually comes in the form of exclusively metal or exclusively sulfur, but other random nodes can also spawn as one-offs.
Stone is the rarest resource out here, with only a few nodes existing across all islands at once. If you’re coming for resources, don’t forget Jackhammers and pure ore teas, as a single island can net you a quick 12 – 30 nodes, and multiple islands can spawn this at once.
Metal Detecting
Finally, sort of a retro RUST activity, metal detecting, needs highlighting. In our short time experimenting with this out on the islands, we noticed that the markers seem to appear closer to one another than on the mainland, and that the resource and RNG drops are slightly better.
The most notable thing I found in probably 30 prospects was a Semi-Automatic Rifle, not a SAP. Still, this is a game-changing early game acquisition for most teams, and the process once the scientists are gone couldn’t be simpler. If you need help getting started, check out our Metal Detecting guide.
Ghost Ships
In total, there will be three versions of the Ghost Ship, all generally the same layout but with subtle (often disgusting) visual changes. Much like Abandoned Military Base, these ships spawn when the Deep Sea loads, are placed randomly throughout it, and are noted on the map (though through the fog of war) with a small ship icon as their representation.
Architecturally, each resembles a Soviet-era cruiser or surveillance vehicle. The three types of Ghost Ships are as follows:
Clean Deck
The clean deck, which we call this because it’s the neatest of the three versions, definitely offends less than the other entrants in this ship type. As shown in the image, the deck is relatively clean and free of obstructions, offering less cover for the boat’s tenants.
On average, there are six total scientists per Ghost Ship. Two scientists chiefly patrol and are limited to the clean deck, with two patrolling between the inner and outer decks, and two more mostly staying inside.
Chum Deck
The dirty, chum-covered deck is basically just a clean deck, with the same patrol patterns and loot. Scientists also patrol in the same way and in the exact numbers. There are flies around the chum for that extra disgust factor.
Cargo Crate Deck
The cargo crate deck has the most cover, but the same loot spawns and scientist patrols are present. Two large and one small cargo containers provide said cover, but these are strictly cosmetic and don’t offer additional loot. You can enter the largest, which has open doors, and is identical to the top deck Cargo Ship crates that can spawn on that event.
Modes of Boarding Ghost Ships
Stern Access
At the back of the ship, players will find a ladder on both rear sides, as well as a vertical ramp that allows cargo to be acquired when at port. Since the Ghost Ship doesn’t move, you may dock your Patrol Boat directly onto this ramp.
Port and Starboard Access
On either side of the Ghost Ship, players will have access to stationary sets of ladders. Additionally, the greenish fish netting covering the outer hull area along the sides is also climbable by players. At the moment, there doesn’t seem to be a way up towards the front of these boats, but this is highly subject to change.
Ghost Ship Sections
Main Deck
The main deck area is pretty wide open and manned by new AI scientists intent on keeping players off their ship. Expect to encounter 2-6, depending on how many are triggered when you board. Aside from a few breakable barrels, there is no real loot on the main deck. It is easiest when clearing to bait any scientists from other areas back to this deck and use doorways at bottlenecks or chokepoints to get better angles.
Storage Hull
The bottom storage hull, located directly through either set of doors off the main deck, has the most loot consolidated into one area in the entire ship. There is the potential for a few scientists to patrol in and out, but they will most likely be pulled when you board. Shelving provides a few spawn points for brown crates or red tool boxes. Green crates can be plentiful or scarce, depending on your luck.
Locked Crate
Though reports from other outlets have speculated that there can be 1 locked crate, our research found there to be 2 locked crates on 2 separate Ghost Ships within the same Deep Sea Event. These crates aren’t marked on the map, even after being discovered, and don’t stand out at all to anyone else who hasn’t stepped into the bottom storage hull and seen them firsthand.
Additionally, these locked crates act just as ones on the mainland do, with a default 15-minute hackable timer that you have to wait out before they unlock.
The main difference is that once these crate types are unlocked, a Patrol Boat trio will show up and begin attacking players on the Ghost Ship. They will circle the ship and attempt to kill anyone who is visible. This can draw attention from other Patrol Boats in the area, and can get out of hand rather quickly.
Second Deck
Just up the stairs from the main deck, there is a patrol area for more scientists, as well as the entrance to the staff quarters hall. While there isn’t much in the way of loot on this deck, it can be a key chokepoint if other players were to show up and try to board.
There is also a ladder that leads up onto a walkway with lights and interesting peeks. Passages lead around to the front of the ship, with a secretive netting entrance to the main bridge area for those keen on a quick climb.
Staff Hall Quarters
Basically, in the dead center of the Ghost Ship is a narrow hallway with an end gathering area, flanked on either side by two small bedrooms each. This is a part of the third deck scientist patrol path, and can have quite a few loot receptacles scattered through the hall and rooms. This is an ideal grub environment, so be sure to check your corners carefully.
Main Bridge & Meeting Room
Rounding out the boat tour, the tiny third deck leads around to a double-entrance meeting room, void of loot, and to the more direct route into the main bridge area. There are at least 2 elite crates in the main control room, and the possibility of many more green and brown crates on the path there. You may exit through a broken window onto the front of the ship if needed.
Patrol Loot
We already touched on how deadly these patrols are, but we failed to mention one of the major draws of engaging them: the chance to take over the cool new PT Boat.
Onboard each RHIB and PT Boat, there is an onboard storage crate. If you’ve done the Cargo Ship event or been on an RHIB prior, you know what we’re talking about.
Patrol-specific boats taken over from AI will come preloaded with an assortment of items and weapons. The loot table isn’t entirely known, but M92 Pistols, MP5A4s, and other mid-tier pistol weapons are quite common. Even explosives can spawn in these, so never overlook the chance to check them out. Each boat will also come with 50 Low Grade Fuel in the tank.
boat go brrrrr
