An improved method and mechanism for specified temporal deployment of rules within a rules server. A rules server applies a set of rules, stored within a rulebase, to a given set of input values or parameters. Each rule is associated with a start time and an end time. Upon receiving a transaction request, a transaction time is determined for the transaction request. Subsequently, a set of effective rules within the ruleset are identified by the rules server, wherein each effective rule has a start time before the transaction time, and an end time that is after the transaction time. The rule server applies only the set of effective rules to the transaction.