One of the few great things about 2020 was the massive uptick in interest towards Rust. The game, originally released on Steam in 2018, became something of an underrated gem. Millions of players enjoy it regularly, and the developers support it with loads of new content additions and patches. The community saw an all-time high in popularity last year, and this surge means that now is as good a time as any to pick it up.
Rust is somewhat of a rare oddity in the survival-MMO genre, especially owing to its mainstream popularity. The game has no true objectives other than to survive as long as possible in an unforgiving world. Tending to hunger, thirst, and temperature needs become paramount, and so does building shelter and weapons.
Enemy players, equipped with much better gear and know-how, often stalk the grounds searching for new blood. The unique initial focus on outsmarting and evading skilled enemies while gathering resources make Rust unique in the multiplayer category.
Rust is only available on PC for now, though console versions will release sometime this year. It runs well on a variety of tiers of gaming hardware, meaning you don’t need the RTX 3080 to enjoy it. That said, players occasionally encounter several bugs, glitches, and errors that show the game’s relative lack of polish. In fact, one particular issue was so persistently game-breaking we wrote a guide on how to fix it, which you can read here.
Rust players report that the recent update on Steam keeps failing at specific percentages
The main thing about Rust, owing to its always-online multiplayer nature, is that the game cannot work offline. Everything from a custom server with friends to official servers needs online services. This entails having the most up-to-date version of the game to connect to the Rust servers. This requirement is essential, as players using outdated and obsolete game files would break the multiplayer experience. It’s also why, in a similar vein, the recent update for Dota 2 led to so much outcry.
All updates routinely appear on the Steam client, under the Downloads tab. However, in recent weeks players claim that the update will not proceed past a set number, then fail. For instance, some claim that it will pause at 39.7% then fail to proceed. This is, quite naturally, a highly infuriating bug because it effectively locks you out of your game. Retrying the download repeatedly can take significant amounts of time, and usually results in the same outcome. In all cases, users had perfectly capable hardware and enough storage space.
Fortunately, there have been several instances of online users reporting successful tips to resolve this error. That’s why we have taken the liberty of compiling only the most effective and reliable fixes for this Rust download is stuck error. Keep in mind that even if none of these resolve the issue, the developers and Valve constantly monitor and fix these kinds of issues all the time. An upcoming update to Steam or Rust is sure to end the problem eventually. Till then, here’s how you can resolve your Rust update error.
1) Restart your PC then launch Steam again
We totally understand why you may have rolled your eyes reading this fix. It is so cliche that even the leading IT joke is usually, “try turning it off and on again”. However, there is occasionally wisdom in the simplest of advice. When your PC runs for prolonged periods of time, the countless simultaneously running processes are liable to accrue errors.
It just takes one mistimed execution or one small corrupted data set to lead to a cascade of bugs altogether. These can slow down your system and make programs like Steam run haphazardly, thereby compromising the download integrity. To avoid this, simply restart your PC to kill off any misbehaving processes, then try running Steam again. This time, the Rust update download error may cease to occur.
2) Run Steam as Admin, and retry the download
Ever laugh at the seemingly oblivious warnings on the labels of medicines? Where the pros include immediate pain relief, but the cons include the risk of death? The same ridiculous analogies apply to PC’s, with their unmatched computing prowess but the looming threat of malware. For this reason, Windows Defender often tries to block off suspicious online processes by default and usually doesn’t even tell you. Unfortunately, sometimes this applies to perfectly safe connections to Valve’s online servers.
To avoid this, you’ll need to close Steam and right-click the icon. Use the menu to “Run as Admin” and proceed. This small change seems trivial but in reality, it allows your anti-malware to whitelist Steam entirely. That means all downloads should no longer face blocks.
3) Verify your game’s integrity on Steam
The best thing about Rust isn’t even its own merits. It is simply the fact that developers chose Steam of all platforms to release. This is because Steam offers users additional tools to manage their games. These tools prove useful as they include the ability to verify your game’s files. To do this, find Rust in your Library and click on Manage. From the Properties section, select the Verify option.
This great feature allows Steam to check your system’s game files against the records on its servers. All and any discrepancies are rooted out and usually sorted out. Therefore, you can troubleshoot and try to find the issue before necessitating a reinstallation of Rust.
4) Make sure your internet settings don’t interfere with the Rust update download process
Often at times we tend to overlook the fact that Rust update errors can originate from a faulty internet connection. Therefore, you’ll need to contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and request your router’s portal login credentials. Once you have accessed the portal, you can monitor your bandwidth and tweak two useful advanced settings. These are enabling QoS and changing your NAT type, both of which by default can impede unfamiliar online traffic as security precautions.
Enabling QoS will help your bandwidth prioritize your online gaming connection over less useful devices. On the other hand, changing the NAT type from the default Strict to Moderate will allow for fewer blocks in your Steam connection. This translates to a smoother, less volatile connection for downloading Rust updates.
5) The last resort – Reinstall Rust on Steam
Let’s face it, everyone dreads this measure. Unfortunately, if the game directory has errors and bugs, no amount of retrying can get it to work properly. The only solution is to wipe the storage clean of Rust, and reinstall it again. This has two advantages: the new installation will have fewer bugs, and it will also contain the latest update automatically. Just keep in mind, depending on your bandwidth, that this could take a significant amount of time.
For more on Rust, PC gaming, and guides, stay tuned!