RustRust Base Builder: calculate raid costs, decay & upkeep
Rust Base Builder combines a base calculator and raid calculator: place foundations, walls, and doorways on the grid and instantly see the sulfur cost to raid your entire base, raid difficulty, decay time without upkeep, and daily upkeep. Free, with no sign-up required, right in your browser.
Built by Moritz
Base planned? Build it on your own Rust server.
Click a tile to place a Foundation in the selected Tier.
Values as of: 2026-09-14
Example result
How the Base Calculator calculates a base
You place foundations, walls, and doorways on the grid, and the calculator shows raid costs, the longest decay time without upkeep, and daily upkeep. The example below is the sample base from the “Load example” button; your values depend on your base.
Example · Example base with 12 building parts
Raid difficulty: Very hard (4/5)- Building components
- 12
- 7× Wood, 4× Stone, 1× Tank steel
- Raid costs
- 35,200Sulfur
- Sulfur equivalent, cheapest option per tier
- Longest decay time without upkeep
- 12 h
- Tank steel lasts the longest
- Daily upkeep
- 140Holz
- plus 120 Stein, 2 Hochwertiges Metall
How to read the raid difficulty
The total raid cost is converted to a sulfur equivalent and divided into five tiers.
| Tier | Sulfur equivalent |
|---|---|
| Easy | below 1,000 sulfur |
| Medium | 1,000 to less than 5,000 sulfur |
| Heavy | 5,000 to less than 15,000 sulfur |
| Very hard← Example | 15,000 to less than 40,000 sulfur |
| Extreme | from 40,000 sulfur |
Features
What the Base Calculator calculates for you
Raid calculator, decay calculator, and upkeep calculator in one tool: All values apply to the entire base you build on the grid, not just one building piece.
Raid cost in sulfur
For each tier, the calculator chooses the cheapest raid option and adds up the cost for your entire base as a sulfur equivalent. The underlying materials, such as gunpowder, metal fragments, or tech trash, appear directly below.
Raid difficulty
Five levels from Easy to Extreme, based on the sulfur-equivalent raid cost: from under 1,000 sulfur to 40,000 sulfur and above. All thresholds are listed in the guide beside the example above.
Decay time without upkeep
Shows your base’s longest decay time when there are no upkeep resources in the Tool Cupboard, and which tier lasts longest. The “Decay & Upkeep” tab shows the time for each tier.
Daily upkeep
Daily upkeep is totaled by resource: wood, stones, metal fragments, and high quality metal, depending on the tiers you use.
Group upkeep
Enter your group size: From the 5th player onward, the tool calculates the upkeep surcharge from the Breach and Clear update, capped at +300%.
AI building assistance and checklist
On an empty grid, the AI builds a base based on your focus. For an existing base, it directly adds a tier upgrade, interior wall, or second entrance. The checklist shows whether your base is fully enclosed and has exactly one entrance.
Values by tier
Raid cost, decay, and upkeep by tier
The tool uses these values for a single building piece. For your base, it multiplies them by the number of pieces in each tier and adds everything up.
| Tier | HP | Cheapest raid option | Sulfur equivalent | Decay without upkeep | Daily upkeep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branch | 10 | 1× Tool (sledgehammer/stone hatchet, per hit) | 0 | 1 h | 5 Wood |
| Wood | 250 | 5× Tool (sledgehammer/stone hatchet, per hit) | 0 | 3 h | 20 Wood |
| Stone | 500 | 2× C4 explosive | 4,400 | 5 h | 30 Stone |
| Sheet metal | 1,000 | 4× C4 explosive | 8,800 | 8 h | 20 Metal Fragments |
| Tank steel | 2,000 | 8× C4 explosive | 17,600 | 12 h | 2 High Quality Metal |
Simplifications: Damage per explosive is an average for each tier, whether it hits a foundation, wall, or doorway. The tool calculates upkeep at a flat rate per building piece, without a group surcharge. Values as of 2026-09-14, checked against rusthelp.com.
How it works
How to plan your Rust base in the Base Builder
From an empty grid to raid costs, decay time, and base upkeep in six steps.
- 1
Step 1
Choose grid size
Use the slider to set the grid size from 3×3 to 8×8 tiles; the default is 5×5. Changing the size clears the grid. Alternatively, select “Load example” to load a small example base with 12 building pieces.
- 2
Step 2
Select a building piece and tier
Under “What to place?”, choose Foundation, Wall, or Doorway, then select the tier: Twig, Wood, Stone, Sheet Metal, or Armored.
- 3
Step 3
Build a base on the grid
Click a tile to place a foundation, or an edge between two tiles to place a wall or doorway. Use “Erase” to remove pieces, and “Undo” and “Redo” to move between steps.
- 4
Step 4
Use AI building assistance (optional)
On an empty grid, “AI: Build Base” builds a base based on your focus, such as a “cheap solo base”. If you have already built something, “AI: Improve Base” applies improvements directly. You can reverse any AI change with “Undo”.
- 5
Step 5
Enter group size
Under “Daily upkeep,” enter how many players have access to your Tool Cupboard. From the 5th player onward, the tool includes the group upkeep surcharge.
- 6
Step 6
Read results
Once you place a building piece, the tool shows raid cost in sulfur, raid difficulty, the longest decay time without upkeep, and daily upkeep. The “Raid” and “Decay & Upkeep” tabs show everything by tier, including additional raid options.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Rust Base Builder
Quick answers about costs, raid calculations, decay, group upkeep, AI building assistance, and how current the values are.
Yes: free, with no login or download required.
You build directly in your browser, and the tool recalculates raid costs, decay time, and upkeep with every click. Only the AI features send the grid size, your optional focus, and your base’s stats to the AI. The tool does not change anything on a running Rust server or send data to Rust itself.
Raid cost, raid difficulty, decay time without upkeep and daily upkeep.
For the example base from “Load example” (12 building pieces), the tool shows raid costs of 35,200 sulfur equivalent (raid difficulty Very hard), a maximum decay time without upkeep of 12 h (Tank steel), and daily upkeep of 140 Wood, 120 Stone, 2 High Quality Metal.
Cheapest raid option per tier, totaled as a sulfur equivalent.
For each tier, the tool compares the raid options used against it: tools (salvaged hammer or stone hatchet), beancan grenade, explosive 5.56 ammo, satchel charge, rocket, and C4. It converts their costs to a sulfur equivalent: sulfur counts 1:1, and each unit of gunpowder counts as 2 sulfur. The calculator chooses the cheapest option for each tier; a tool without explosives is enough for twig and wood. In the “Raid” tab, you can expand the other options for each tier. Damage per explosive is an average for the tier, regardless of whether it hits a foundation, wall, or doorway.
Five tiers calculated from the sulfur equivalent of the raid cost.
The total raid cost of your base (explosives, tools) is converted to a sulfur equivalent and divided into five levels: up to about 2 Satchel Charges is Light, up to about 2 C4 is Medium, up to about 7 C4 is Hard, up to about 18 C4 is Very Hard, and anything above that is Extreme.
Between 1 h and 12 h, depending on the tier.
Without upkeep in the Tool Cupboard, the tool uses these decay times: twig 1 h, wood 3 h, stone 5 h, sheet metal 8 h, and armored 12 h. For your base, it shows the longest decay time and which tier lasts the longest. Values for each tier are in the “Decay & Upkeep” tab.
"Upkeep Group Scaling" from the Breach and Clear update.
Since the Rust "Breach and Clear" update (September 2026), a Tool Cupboard with more players (auth list + code-lock users) requires more upkeep: the first 4 players add no surcharge, the next 6 add +2% each, and each additional player adds +4%, capped at +300%. Enter your group size in the results section to see the actual surcharge.
Builds or upgrades your base, no chat required.
If the grid is empty, it can ask for your base’s focus (e.g. “cheap solo base”) and build a base on the grid. If you have already built something, it applies specific improvements instead: a tier upgrade, interior wall, or second entrance. “Get AI Tips” also gives you an assessment of your defenses, costs, and layout. You can reverse any change with “Undo”.
Researched against rusthelp.com as of 2026-09-14.
The HP, raid, decay, and upkeep values were researched against rusthelp.com; the date of the data is shown directly below the tool. The tool calculates upkeep per building piece using the low end of the range listed there. Rust occasionally changes balance values in major updates, so the results are a useful guide rather than an exact reference.
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