# Staging

Rust has a public staging branch on which players test new features early and reports bugs/helps testing. Upcoming map changes are also public on there usually the last Thursday in the current month (1 week before force wipe)

We make use of this branch so maps can be prepared days in advance before force wipe for map votes, testing etc.

Depending on the size of the changes we aim to enable the staging generation on 3-6 days before force wipe. Exact dates can be found [here](https://rustmaps.com/schedule#staging).

Staging maps should only be used on servers after the upcoming force wipe update as they may be incompatible with the current server version.

Roughly 1 hour before the force wipe we will update the site and make staging the default maps.

The staging option can be found in the following places once enabled:

<figure><img src="https://hpl.gg/43f7e244d4b246fd8d48ec58f30c7a90.png" alt=""><figcaption><p><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>Map Generator</strong></mark></p></figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="https://hpl.gg/6429ae3d9b0b43438693e1b21e03e1bc.png" alt=""><figcaption><p><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>Custom Map Generator</strong></mark></p></figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="https://hpl.gg/04e9e8476380430cbdec8bc44bd22d1e.png" alt=""><figcaption><p><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>Gallery to search staging maps</strong></mark></p></figcaption></figure>

Staging generated maps will have a little warning like this

<figure><img src="https://hpl.gg/481c634dd85b4d219b0bab449bef5978.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>


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