We'd hoped not to have to add decay to the Rust servers after we removed it late last year, but the sheer amount of entities that were being created recently because players have been leaving temporary non-twig structures everywhere means we have no choice. If players could be relied on to clean up after themselves (it's a raid tower rule) then it wouldn't be a problem, but we have no reliable way of enforcing this. (We DO know whose structures they are, but knowing if they're still active is another matter and is fairly time consuming to us.)
So decay is back (at least for the time being) in an attempt to keep the entity count down, and the servers as lag free as possible. As there's quite a lot to read and understand, I've summarised the decay we've applied to the servers as tl;dr and then given a full explanation. The decay is NOT as bad as default Rust decay and can be avoided by the use of Metal or Armoured (TopTier) bases.
All hours described below are real time hours, not game hours.
tl;dr
Twig: 2 hour reset timer. Total Decay in 10 hours with or without Tool Cupboard (TC).
Wood: 12 hour reset timer. TC - Decays in 40 hours. No TC - Decays in 20 hours.
Stone: 18 hour reset timer. TC - Decays in 60 hours. No TC - Decays in 20 hours.
Metal: 18 hour reset timer. TC - No Decay. No TC - Decays in 100 hours.
Top Tier: 24 hour reset timer. TC - No Decay. No TC - Decays in 100 hours.
Explanation
The FacePunch "Activity Delay" (reset timer) can be summarised as opening and closing a door that is attached or connected to a base (I personally would open and close a few, just to make sure.) When this happens the Activity Delay is reset to 0 and the timer starts counting again.
According to the Rust Wiki on Decay, the Activity Delay is:-
Twigs - 2 Hours Activity Delay
Wood - 12 Hours Activity Delay
Stone - 18 Hours Activity Delay
Sheet Metal - 18 Hours Activity Delay
Armored - 24 Hours Activity Delay
Assuming those delays are correct (we currently have no control over them), we've set decay to work in such a way as it gives this effect:-
Within Tool Cupboard Range
Twigs - Activity Delay of 2 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 2 hours and is gone in 10 hours.
Wood - Activity Delay of 12 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 8 hours and is gone in 40 hours.
Stone - Activity Delay of 18 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 12 hours and is gone in 60 hours.
Metal - No Decay.
Armored - No Decay.
Outside Tool Cupboard Range
Twigs - Activity Delay of 2 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 2 hours and is gone in 10 hours.
Wood - Activity Delay of 12 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 4 hours and is gone in 20 hours.
Stone - Activity Delay of 18 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 4 hours and is gone in 20 hours.
Metal - Activity Delay of 18 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 20 hours and is gone in 100 hours.
Armored - Activity Delay of 24 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 20 hours and is gone in 100 hours.
All I can hope now is I've not made a typo in any of that or in the configs. It's been a bit of a painful job to do, like setting up loot tables.
If you've noticed something isn't right, then please post here with details of what YOU think is happening and I'll check the configs again (and again, and then again).
So decay is back (at least for the time being) in an attempt to keep the entity count down, and the servers as lag free as possible. As there's quite a lot to read and understand, I've summarised the decay we've applied to the servers as tl;dr and then given a full explanation. The decay is NOT as bad as default Rust decay and can be avoided by the use of Metal or Armoured (TopTier) bases.
All hours described below are real time hours, not game hours.
tl;dr
Twig: 2 hour reset timer. Total Decay in 10 hours with or without Tool Cupboard (TC).
Wood: 12 hour reset timer. TC - Decays in 40 hours. No TC - Decays in 20 hours.
Stone: 18 hour reset timer. TC - Decays in 60 hours. No TC - Decays in 20 hours.
Metal: 18 hour reset timer. TC - No Decay. No TC - Decays in 100 hours.
Top Tier: 24 hour reset timer. TC - No Decay. No TC - Decays in 100 hours.
Explanation
The FacePunch "Activity Delay" (reset timer) can be summarised as opening and closing a door that is attached or connected to a base (I personally would open and close a few, just to make sure.) When this happens the Activity Delay is reset to 0 and the timer starts counting again.
According to the Rust Wiki on Decay, the Activity Delay is:-
Twigs - 2 Hours Activity Delay
Wood - 12 Hours Activity Delay
Stone - 18 Hours Activity Delay
Sheet Metal - 18 Hours Activity Delay
Armored - 24 Hours Activity Delay
Assuming those delays are correct (we currently have no control over them), we've set decay to work in such a way as it gives this effect:-
Within Tool Cupboard Range
Twigs - Activity Delay of 2 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 2 hours and is gone in 10 hours.
Wood - Activity Delay of 12 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 8 hours and is gone in 40 hours.
Stone - Activity Delay of 18 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 12 hours and is gone in 60 hours.
Metal - No Decay.
Armored - No Decay.
Outside Tool Cupboard Range
Twigs - Activity Delay of 2 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 2 hours and is gone in 10 hours.
Wood - Activity Delay of 12 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 4 hours and is gone in 20 hours.
Stone - Activity Delay of 18 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 4 hours and is gone in 20 hours.
Metal - Activity Delay of 18 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 20 hours and is gone in 100 hours.
Armored - Activity Delay of 24 hours, then starts decaying at a rate of 20% every 20 hours and is gone in 100 hours.
All I can hope now is I've not made a typo in any of that or in the configs. It's been a bit of a painful job to do, like setting up loot tables.
If you've noticed something isn't right, then please post here with details of what YOU think is happening and I'll check the configs again (and again, and then again).
