Uploaded March 2017 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
Starting in Rust as a solo player or with a small group is difficult because when you first start you do not have a safe place to store your loot and you do not have any way to smelt metal for metal doors. This is Wandering Wizard's Six step starting guide. This is the fastest way to get a secure base on wipe day. This guide is designed so that if you die, you will not lose all of your progress.
0:27 Step One: Choose a location to build a base (consider proximity to towns/roads, resources, visibility, activity from other players). Everyone will have their own criteria. Gather resources to make a sleeping bag as you explore.
0:49 Step Two: Hide a sleeping bag and a box (or stashes) in bushes near where you plan to build. As you begin gathering resources for the next step, place your resources in the hidden boxes. Your materials are much safer in the box than they are on your body.
1:42 Step Three: Once you have enough resources, place a stone enclosed Tool Cupboard where you plan to build to start your base. It will be safest to upgrade your TC to wood first and then immediately upgrade it to stone.
You need 2042 wood and 1125 stone
Breakdown=
5 wood for a Building Plan
100 wood for a hammer
1000 wood for a tool cupboard
187 wood for twig building parts
1125 stone to upgrade parts to stone
3:28 Step Four: Start building your base. You need a design that includes a small section first that is fully enclosed in stone with two doorways (a 1x2 works
great). In other words, you need an airlock with an inner doorway and an outer doorway. Do not place any doors or other items yet. Store all of your extra resources in your hidden boxes.
4:19 Step Five: Craft a wooden door and a key lock and gather at least 2025 wood, 700 metal ore, 43 cloth, 200 stone, and 39 animal fat. Once you have that, grab all of the items hidden in your boxes, run inside the completed section of your base and place the wooden door and key lock on the outside doorway. The inner doorway should still be left empty.
Here is a breakdown of why you need these resources:
200 wood, 200 stone, 13 cloth, and 39 animal fat for a furnace
1000 wood to burn in your furnace
700 metal ore, and 600 wood for two code locks and two sheet metal doors
100 wood and 30 cloth for a sleeping bag
300 wood for three boxes
25 wood for door key
Craft and place the furnace, sleeping bag, and three wooden boxes in your base and use 1000 wood to smelt your metal ore in your furnace. It will take you about twenty minutes to smelt 700 metal.
5:45 Step Six: Craft two sheet metal doors and two code locks, and place them
on your two doorways creating an airlock to protect your furnace and loot. Since your inner doorway is still empty, you can place the first sheet metal door without having to remove the wooden door. Once you have the second sheet metal door crafted, remove the outside wooden door and replace it with a sheet metal door.
I have used this strategy dozens of times on populated servers, and it works. You do not need any PVP skill to use this guide. Be persistent and it will work.
Starting in Rust as a solo player or with a small group is difficult because when you first start you do not have a safe place to store your loot and you do not have any way to smelt metal for metal doors. This is Wandering Wizard's Six step starting guide. This is the fastest way to get a secure base on wipe day. This guide is designed so that if you die, you will not lose all of your progress.
0:27 Step One: Choose a location to build a base (consider proximity to towns/roads, resources, visibility, activity from other players). Everyone will have their own criteria. Gather resources to make a sleeping bag as you explore.
0:49 Step Two: Hide a sleeping bag and a box (or stashes) in bushes near where you plan to build. As you begin gathering resources for the next step, place your resources in the hidden boxes. Your materials are much safer in the box than they are on your body.
1:42 Step Three: Once you have enough resources, place a stone enclosed Tool Cupboard where you plan to build to start your base. It will be safest to upgrade your TC to wood first and then immediately upgrade it to stone.
You need 2042 wood and 1125 stone
Breakdown=
5 wood for a Building Plan
100 wood for a hammer
1000 wood for a tool cupboard
187 wood for twig building parts
1125 stone to upgrade parts to stone
3:28 Step Four: Start building your base. You need a design that includes a small section first that is fully enclosed in stone with two doorways (a 1x2 works
great). In other words, you need an airlock with an inner doorway and an outer doorway. Do not place any doors or other items yet. Store all of your extra resources in your hidden boxes.
4:19 Step Five: Craft a wooden door and a key lock and gather at least 2025 wood, 700 metal ore, 43 cloth, 200 stone, and 39 animal fat. Once you have that, grab all of the items hidden in your boxes, run inside the completed section of your base and place the wooden door and key lock on the outside doorway. The inner doorway should still be left empty.
Here is a breakdown of why you need these resources:
200 wood, 200 stone, 13 cloth, and 39 animal fat for a furnace
1000 wood to burn in your furnace
700 metal ore, and 600 wood for two code locks and two sheet metal doors
100 wood and 30 cloth for a sleeping bag
300 wood for three boxes
25 wood for door key
Craft and place the furnace, sleeping bag, and three wooden boxes in your base and use 1000 wood to smelt your metal ore in your furnace. It will take you about twenty minutes to smelt 700 metal.
5:45 Step Six: Craft two sheet metal doors and two code locks, and place them
on your two doorways creating an airlock to protect your furnace and loot. Since your inner doorway is still empty, you can place the first sheet metal door without having to remove the wooden door. Once you have the second sheet metal door crafted, remove the outside wooden door and replace it with a sheet metal door.
I have used this strategy dozens of times on populated servers, and it works. You do not need any PVP skill to use this guide. Be persistent and it will work.
