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Tool Cupboards

Everything you need to know about TCs — building privilege, upkeep, decay, and how to protect your base

Rust Basics

Crafting Cost

1,000

Wood

600

Hits to destroy

Per Base

TC limit

Upkeep

24h

Max stockpile

Auth Range

~50m

Build privilege

What Is a Tool Cupboard?

The Tool Cupboard (TC) is the most important item in your base. It does three things: it grants building privilege to authorised players, it prevents other players from building near your base, and it collects upkeep resources to stop your base from decaying.

Without a TC, your base will start decaying within hours and anyone can build right next to (or on top of) your walls. Every base needs one, and it should be the first thing you place when starting a build.

Placing Your TC

Craft it — costs 1,000 wood at a workbench (or by hand with a longer craft time).

Place it inside your base — it must be placed on a foundation or floor. Put it in a protected room, ideally behind an airlock and at least one armoured door.

Authorise yourself — press E and click "Authorize". You now have building privilege in the area around it.

Add upkeep resources — open the TC and deposit the materials your base requires. The TC shows exactly what's needed per cycle.

⚠️Only 1 TC per building. You cannot place a second TC on the same connected structure. Plan your TC room location carefully — you can't move it later without destroying it.

Building Privilege

When you're authorised on a TC, you gain building privilege — a status shown in the bottom-right of your screen. This lets you build, upgrade, rotate, and demolish structures within the TC's radius.

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Build & upgrade — place new structures and upgrade walls/floors

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Rotate — rotate recently placed items (within 10 minutes)

🗑️

Demolish — remove structures within 10 minutes of placing

🚫

Block enemies — unauthorised players can't build in your zone

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Ladders — enemies can still place ladders on your walls without auth

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Teammates — authorise friends so they can build too

📐Building privilege extends roughly 50 metres from the TC in all directions, but it follows the shape of your building — not a perfect circle. Foundations further from the TC extend the zone outward.

Upkeep & Decay

Every building block in your base requires upkeep — a recurring resource cost deducted from your TC every cycle. If the TC runs out of materials, your base starts to decay and will eventually be destroyed.

Upkeep cost depends on the material tier of each block and scales up the more blocks of that tier you have. The first few blocks are cheap, but large bases get expensive fast.

Material	Upkeep Resource	Decay Time (empty TC)	Max HP
🪵 Twig	Wood	1 hour	10
🪵 Wood	Wood	3 hours	250
🪨 Stone	Stone	5 hours	500
🔩 Sheet Metal	Metal Fragments	8 hours	1,000
💎 Armoured	High Quality Metal	12 hours	2,000

🕐The TC holds a maximum of 24 hours of upkeep. You need to refill it at least once a day. If you're going offline for a while, fill it to the max before you log off.

💡Tip: Open your TC to see the exact breakdown — it shows each resource type, how much is needed per cycle, and how many hours of upkeep you have remaining. Top up whatever's running low.

Authorising & Deauthorising

Multiple players can be authorised on the same TC. This is essential for teammates who need to build and access the base.

To authorise — walk up to the TC, press E, and click "Authorize". Your name appears in the authorised list.

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To deauthorise — open the TC and click "Deauthorize" next to a player's name, or click "Clear Authorized List" to remove everyone.

🔐Always lock your TC. Place a code lock or key lock on it. If an enemy gets to your unlocked TC, they can authorise themselves, deauthorise you, and take over your base without firing a shot.

Protecting Your TC

Your TC is the heart of your base. If raiders destroy or access it, they control your building zone. Here are the best practices for keeping it safe:

🚪

Airlock it — put the TC behind at least 2 doors so raiders can't door-camp to it

🏰

Centre of base — place it deep inside, not next to exterior walls

💎

Armoured room — upgrade the TC room walls, floor, and ceiling to armoured (HQM)

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Code lock — always lock it with a code lock, never leave it open

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Trap it — shotgun traps or auto turrets in the TC room add another layer

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Keep it stocked — fill upkeep to max before logging off

FAQ

Not directly. You can demolish it within 10 minutes of placing, or destroy it with a tool after that. Once destroyed, place a new one where you want it. Be quick though — your base starts decaying immediately without a TC.

Your base immediately starts decaying and anyone can build in the area. Place a new TC as soon as possible. All upkeep resources stored inside the destroyed TC are lost.

No — Rust only allows one TC per connected building. If your foundations are linked, only one TC can exist. Some players build separate external TCs for compound walls, but they must not be connected to the main base.

It depends entirely on how many building blocks you have and what material they are. Open your TC to see the exact cost per cycle. Stone and metal are most common — a small base might cost 2–3k stone per day, while a large base can cost 15k+ stone, thousands of metal, and hundreds of HQM.

Decay happens 24/7 regardless of whether you're online. The TC deducts resources continuously. If it empties while you're playing, your base still decays. Always keep it topped up.

Building blocked means you're in another player's TC zone and can't build. No building privilege means you're outside any TC zone — you can build freely but there's no protection from others building nearby.

No — they can't place any building blocks. However, they can place ladders, which don't require building privilege. That's why honeycomb and roof access design matter even with a TC.

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