Rust Raiding FAQ

Mine sulfur nodes with a Jackhammer (or high-tier pick) in dense node areas (desert & snow ridges, mountains). Use horse or minicopter routes and bank often. Set up a sulfur quarry if your server allows it and keep it fueled; it’s passive income. Speed up smelting by splitting ore evenly across multiple furnaces (or a Large Furnace) so all stacks cook at once.

Target wooden/sheet doors with early explosives (Satchels/Beancans) or soft-side weak spots where possible. Focus on doors over walls in early game, and avoid honeycomb unless you have confirmed loot paths.

• C4: precise, fast, great for single doors/TC/critical targets.
• Rockets: splash damage—best for multi-tile structures, frames, and compound breaches.
• Explosive 5.56: flexible and craftable; good for finishing or surgical work, but slower and louder.

Use the calculator to compare sulfur cost & time for your target.

It depends on tier, health, server settings, and patch balance. Enter the target HP and explosives in the GRNG calculator to get units needed, total sulfur, and an estimated time.

Use more furnaces and split stacks evenly. Don’t overfill a single stack. Large Furnace is efficient for bulk cooking; on smaller bases, run multiple Small Furnaces in parallel. Keep track of wood per minute so you don’t starve the furnaces.

They’re common along mountain slopes, ridgelines in desert and snow biomes, and scattered on open terrain. Use high-ground paths and scan with binoculars to chain nodes efficiently.

Run high-tier monuments (e.g., Launch Site, Oil Rig, Military Tunnels) for crates and recycle surplus components. Combine this with node runs so you’re gathering sulfur and components in the same loop.

Explosives are loud. The “quietest” options are soft-siding (pickaxe/hatchet on weak sides where allowed) or using Explosive 5.56 in short bursts—still audible but less explosive spam. Plan routes to avoid alerting the whole server and bring repair materials to block counters.

Build a raid base nearby (beds, boxes, repair bench), place externals (spikes, walls) and consider turrets/SAMs if you can. Control roof/peeks first, ladder block, and keep one player on perimeter watch.

Low-pop hours reduce counter-risk. On many servers, raiding during night or right after patrol heli causes cover noise and movement, but this is server-dependent—watch population graphs and clan activity.

Soft-siding targets the weak side of certain structures with melee tools (pickaxe/hatchet) to save sulfur—useful for isolated walls or ceilings where it’s allowed. It’s slower and risky if the base is active.

Farm sulfur aggressively and smelt efficiently; then craft GP in batches while you move materials back and forth. Recycling explosives to reclaim GP is situational—generally keep sulfur → GP flowing constantly so you’re never bottlenecked.

Scout for door chains, TC location, and honeycomb. Prefer doors over walls unless splash gives better value. Bring a mix of tools so you can pivot (e.g., rockets to open space, C4 for key targets, Explosive 5.56 to finish).

We keep data in data/updates.json and related files. Balance can change per patch/server—use the calculator and check the Updates to see the latest notes.