Rust isn’t just hard—it’s one of the most brutal survival games out there. With no in-game tutorial, toxic players lurking around every corner, and punishing mechanics, stepping into Rust for the first time can feel like being thrown into a storm without a map. That’s why this guide breaks down the most important beginner tips I wish I’d known starting out. Whether you’re completely new or already have a few wipes under your belt, you’ll likely find something here that improves your survival odds.

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Understanding Wipe Cycles and Server Selection

Before you even spawn in, you need to understand wipe mechanics. Rust enforces a forced wipe—a full reset of servers, including Blueprints and maps—on the first Thursday of every month. This is a major event and affects nearly every server.

Most servers also do weekly map wipes, which clear your base and loot, but preserve Blueprints and progression. You can always check a server’s wipe schedule in the description before joining. Pay attention to that—it determines what kind of start you’re walking into.

Avoid official servers if you’re new. Servers like Rustafied or Rustopia are often packed with sweaty clans, long queues, poor performance, and cheaters. Instead, look into community servers with slightly adjusted vanilla settings. These often include quality-of-life improvements like faster crafting, reduced upkeep, and unlocked Tier 1 BPs without straying too far from the core Rust experience.

Modded servers tend to have TP commands, kits, and other dramatic differences. If you’re here to learn the game as it’s meant to be played, vanilla-style community servers are your best bet.

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Performance Depends on More Than Your PC

A surprising number of Rust players don’t realize that FPS is heavily tied to server state. The more players, the more buildings, and the longer since the last wipe—all of these impact server performance. A server that’s several days into a wipe with 200+ active players will often feel laggier than a freshly wiped one with only 50.

Use battlemetrics.com to compare server performance before committing. It could mean the difference between a choppy, frustrating experience and a smooth run.

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Best Settings for Visibility and FPS

In your settings, make these changes for a competitive edge and cleaner visuals:

• Enable grass displacement (see items on the ground better)
• Disable grass shadows and contact shadows (boost FPS and clarity)
• Set nudity to underwear (avoids screen-wide censorship pixelation and improves FPS)
• Enable compass visibility (lets you see markers without opening the map constantly)

Also, bind auto-run to a key using the console. Press F1, and input:

bind g forward;sprint

Now pressing G makes you auto-run—great for long journeys or loot routes. To clear it later, just type:

unbind g

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Picking a Base Location That Won’t Get You Wiped Instantly

Choose a green biome with access to roads and a recycler but away from beaches and clans. Desert is tough (low wood/stone), and snow is harsher still—more loot but dominated by aggressive players and clans.

To avoid building near clans, look at vending machine clusters on the map. Lots of vending machines in one area usually means a clan base. Don’t build there.

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Quick Starter Tips: Trees, Stone, and Stashes

• Small trees are safer than big ones. Large trees falling can be seen from far away.
• When farming stone, miss the sparkle once—the node breaks one hit faster.
• If you’re using a jackhammer, click repeatedly instead of holding. It speeds things up and preserves durability.

When you’re full on loot, but your inventory is maxed, eat pumpkins or corn directly from the ground by holding E and selecting Eat. But ideally, craft a stash and drop your extra loot, then mark the location on your map. Even better, build a quick one-by-one airlock base as a backup.

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Inventory and Crafting Efficiency

• Hold H and mouse over items to loot quickly.
• Rebind hover loot to a mouse side button if possible—it’s a game changer.
• Alt + H will auto-equip clothes or armor.
• Middle click to craft 5x of any item.
• Right-click an item in the crafting queue to cancel or reprioritize.
• Middle click a stack to split it evenly. Shift + right-click splits a third.
• You can also right-click and enter a specific amount for custom splitting.

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Simple Rules for Surviving PvP

• Avoid running through open fields or empty snow areas—you’ll be easy pickings.
• Carry wooden or stone barricades to use as emergency cover.
• Always tilt your head downward while healing or reloading—your head hitbox becomes smaller.
• Use natural cover or hide behind structures. Keep your head low and tucked.

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Bed Placement and Base Expansion

• Place 4+ extra sleeping bags around your base to always have a close respawn.
• Blue = bag is far enough from others; orange = too close and shares timer.

Don’t horde stone. The moment you get enough, use it to expand. Add honeycomb, airlocks, or extra doors. Resources sitting in boxes are just a prize for Raiders.

Avoid building too close to monuments or others. You’ll lose your ability to expand due to building privilege restrictions.

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What’s Next?

Once you’ve mastered these early fundamentals, you’ll want to learn about more advanced building like bunkers. Despite patches and changes, bunker meta is alive and well in creative new forms. It’s one of the key ways to protect your loot from offline raiders and deserves a guide of its own.