Rust Base Designs
14 proven base designs for every group size, each costed piece by piece. Rather than a screenshot and a build cost with no working shown, every design here lists what it takes to build, what it drains from the tool cupboard per day, and how many rockets a raider needs to reach the loot room.
Every design compared
Sort by build cost to find what you can afford on wipe day, by upkeep to find what you can still hold on day five, or by rockets to see what actually survives a raid. Open a design for the full piece list.
| Raid sulfur | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Base Any group · Starter | 2,500 wood | 250 wood | 2 | 2,800 |
| 2x1 Base Solo · Starter | 3,000 stone · 150 metal frags · 1,000 wood | 300 stone · 15 metal frags · 100 wood | 4 | 5,600 |
| Boat Base Duo · Niche | 5,100 metal frags · 1,000 wood | 510 metal frags · 100 wood | 16 | 22,400 |
| Solo Base Solo · Bunker | 7,000 metal frags · 1,000 wood · 2 gears | 700 metal frags · 100 wood | 24 | 33,600 |
| Bunker Base Solo · Bunker | 7,800 metal frags · 1,000 wood · 2 gears | 780 metal frags · 100 wood | 24 | 33,600 |
| 2x2 Base Duo · Core | 8,400 stone · 300 metal frags · 1,000 wood | 840 stone · 30 metal frags · 100 wood | 8 | 11,200 |
| Duo Base Duo · Core | 9,550 metal frags · 1,000 wood · 2 gears | 955 metal frags · 100 wood | 16 | 22,400 |
| PVE Base Any group · Utility | 9,000 stone · 1,600 wood | 900 stone · 160 wood | — | — |
| Circle Base Duo · Core | 10,350 metal frags · 1,000 wood · 2 gears | 1,035 metal frags · 100 wood | 24 | 33,600 |
| Tower Base Duo · Niche | 11,000 metal frags · 1,000 wood | 1,100 metal frags · 100 wood | 16 | 22,400 |
| Trio Base Trio · Core | 13,300 metal frags · 20 HQM · 1,000 wood · 7 gears | 1,330 metal frags · 2 HQM · 100 wood | 24 | 33,600 |
| 3x3 Base Trio · Core | 15,300 stone · 450 metal frags · 1,000 wood | 1,530 stone · 45 metal frags · 100 wood | 12 | 16,800 |
| Farm Base Group · Utility | 18,000 stone · 450 metal frags · 1,000 wood | 1,800 stone · 45 metal frags · 100 wood | 8 | 11,200 |
| Clan Base Group · Core | 48,000 stone · 25,500 metal frags · 580 HQM · 1,000 wood · 24 gears | 4,800 stone · 2,550 metal frags · 58 HQM · 100 wood | 39 | 54,600 |
Showing 14 of 14 designs. Build cost and upkeep are for the reference build listed on each design page; rockets are hard-side, from the same data as our raid calculator.
Browse the designs
Solo Base
For solo players
A compact, low-upkeep base built for one player. The goal is a small footprint with a hidden loot room and a bunker so a single raider has to spend more than your loot is worth.
- Build
- 7,000 metal frags · 1,000 wood · 2 gears
- Upkeep / day
- 700 metal frags · 100 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 24
2x2 Base
For solo & duo players
The most popular starter footprint — a 2x2 core gives four ground-floor tiles for workbench, furnaces and storage, with room to add a second floor and a bunker.
- Build
- 8,400 stone · 300 metal frags · 1,000 wood
- Upkeep / day
- 840 stone · 30 metal frags · 100 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 8
2x1 Base
For solo players
The cheapest real base — two tiles for a workbench and storage. A temporary wipe-day home you upgrade out of quickly.
- Build
- 3,000 stone · 150 metal frags · 1,000 wood
- Upkeep / day
- 300 stone · 15 metal frags · 100 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 4
Starter Base
For wipe-day players
A minimal wipe-day base to protect your first loot while you farm toward a real base. Prioritises a sleeping bag, a locked door and a tool cupboard.
- Build
- 2,500 wood
- Upkeep / day
- 250 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 2
Duo Base
For two-player teams
A base sized for two — more storage and a proper loot room, but still cheap enough for two players to upkeep. Often a 2x2 or 3x3 core with a shared bunker.
- Build
- 9,550 metal frags · 1,000 wood · 2 gears
- Upkeep / day
- 955 metal frags · 100 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 16
Trio Base
For three-player teams
A group base with enough storage and defensive tiles for three players and their gear. Usually a 3x3 or compound with peek-downs over the entrance.
- Build
- 13,300 metal frags · 20 HQM · 1,000 wood · 7 gears
- Upkeep / day
- 1,330 metal frags · 2 HQM · 100 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 24
Clan Base
For large groups
A large compound for a full group — multiple loot rooms, turret coverage, and deep honeycomb. Expensive to build and upkeep but very hard to fully raid.
- Build
- 48,000 stone · 25,500 metal frags · 580 HQM · 1,000 wood · 24 gears
- Upkeep / day
- 4,800 stone · 2,550 metal frags · 58 HQM · 100 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 39
3x3 Base
For duos & trios
A classic mid-size core — nine ground tiles for workbenches, furnaces and storage, with room for a central loot room protected by honeycomb.
- Build
- 15,300 stone · 450 metal frags · 1,000 wood
- Upkeep / day
- 1,530 stone · 45 metal frags · 100 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 12
Bunker Base
For solo & small teams
A base built around a bunker — a loot room sealed behind a wall or foundation that can only be opened via a mechanism (garage door, wall stack). Forces raiders to pay for an extra wall.
- Build
- 7,800 metal frags · 1,000 wood · 2 gears
- Upkeep / day
- 780 metal frags · 100 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 24
Tower Base
For solo & duo players
A vertical base that stacks floors to gain height and sightlines. Small footprint with a strong peek advantage over the surrounding area.
- Build
- 11,000 metal frags · 1,000 wood
- Upkeep / day
- 1,100 metal frags · 100 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 16
Circle Base
For solo & duo players
A rounded honeycomb design that surrounds a central loot room with a ring of triangles, so there's no single cheap face to raid.
- Build
- 10,350 metal frags · 1,000 wood · 2 gears
- Upkeep / day
- 1,035 metal frags · 100 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 24
Farm Base
For farmers & groups
A base built around a greenhouse — planters, sprinklers and electricity for genetics farming, attached to a defended loot core.
- Build
- 18,000 stone · 450 metal frags · 1,000 wood
- Upkeep / day
- 1,800 stone · 45 metal frags · 100 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 8
PVE Base
For PVE server players
On PVE servers raiding is disabled, so bases prioritise storage, aesthetics and utility over defence. Big open designs with lots of deployables are ideal.
- Build
- 9,000 stone · 1,600 wood
- Upkeep / day
- 900 stone · 160 wood
- Rockets to loot
- n/a (PVE)
Boat Base
For experienced players
A base built on or around a tugboat, letting you live on the water and relocate. A niche but fun design for coastal and oil-rig play.
- Build
- 5,100 metal frags · 1,000 wood
- Upkeep / day
- 510 metal frags · 100 wood
- Rockets to loot
- 16
Where these numbers come from
Build cost
Each building block costs 200 wood, 300 stone, 200 metal fragments or 25 HQM to upgrade, and doors and the tool cupboard come from item craft data. We multiply that by the reference piece list shown on each design page. Swap in your own piece counts in the base cost calculator.
Upkeep
A full tool cupboard drains about 10% of build cost per resource per day, which is why upkeep tracks build cost exactly. Model your own stock and decay window in the upkeep calculator.
Raid cost
Hard-side explosive counts per structure, summed along the cheapest route from outside to the loot room. Same dataset as the raid calculator, so the two can never disagree.
Building and raid data verified against July 2026. The piece list on each design is our reference build for that archetype, published so you can check the arithmetic — your own layout will differ.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Rust base design is best for a solo player?expand_more
A bunkered 2x2 — the Solo Base on this page. The reference build costs 7,000 metal fragments and 1,000 wood, upkeeps at roughly a tenth of that per day, and still forces a raider through two sheet metal walls and a bunker floor. A 2x1 is cheaper but barely slows anyone down; anything larger costs a solo player more upkeep than one person can comfortably farm.
How much does a Rust base cost to build?expand_more
It depends almost entirely on the number of building blocks and the grade you upgrade them to. A block costs 200 wood, 300 stone, 200 metal fragments or 25 high quality metal depending on grade, so a 28-block stone 2x2 is 8,400 stone before doors. Every design on this page lists its exact piece count so you can check the total.
How is base upkeep calculated in Rust?expand_more
A full tool cupboard drains roughly 10% of your base's total build cost every day, per resource. A base that cost 15,300 stone to build burns about 1,530 stone a day. Adding blocks raises both numbers together, which is why honeycomb is the main thing that makes a base expensive to hold.
What is the cheapest Rust base to upkeep?expand_more
The smallest one you can live in. Upkeep scales directly with build cost, so a 1x1 starter or a 2x1 is close to free to maintain, while a clan compound with a high external wall perimeter runs into tens of thousands of resources a day. Sort the comparison table by upkeep to see the full order.
How many rockets does it take to raid these bases?expand_more
That is the rockets-to-loot column — the hard-side cost of breaking every wall on the cheapest route from outside to the loot room. It uses the same per-structure raid data as our raid calculator: 4 rockets per stone wall, 8 per sheet metal wall, 15 per armored wall.
Do these base designs still work after a wipe?expand_more
Yes. These are archetypes rather than one creator's exact layout, so nothing here stops working when a specific build gets patched out. The costs behind them are re-checked against current building data each wipe cycle.
Related guides
A no-BS Rust base design guide: building tiers, upkeep, tool cupboards, bunkers, airlocks and honeycomb, plus the raid costs that actually matter.
A real player's Rust raid guide: exact sulfur costs per structure, C4 vs rockets vs satchels vs eco raiding, online/offline tactics and defence.