How do you open a locked door in Rust?

Rust is a popular survival game where players must survive against hunger, thirst, cold, heat, radiation, hostile wildlife, and hostile players. An important skill in Rust is knowing how to get past locked doors and into bases or loot rooms. This guide will explain the different ways to open a locked door in Rust.

Understanding Door Strength

Before trying to open a locked door, it’s important to understand how strong the door is. Doors in Rust have different levels of strength based on the material they are made from:

• Wooden doors – Very weak, can be destroyed by most weapons and raiding tools
• Sheet metal doors – Stronger than wood, but can still be easily destroyed by raiding tools
• Armored doors – Very strong and resilient, require lots of explosives or time to destroy
• Garage doors – Moderate strength, stronger than sheet metal but weaker than armored
• High external wooden gates – Relatively weak like wood doors
• High external stone walls – Much stronger than wood gates

The stronger the door, the more resources, explosives, weapons and time it will take to get through it. Keep this in mind when deciding how to approach opening a locked door.

Depending on Authorization

The easiest way to open a locked door in Rust is to simply have building authorization in the area. Players that are authorized on cupboards/TCs in a base can freely open and close any doors connected to that cupboard, even if they are locked.

Ways to gain authorization include:

• Building a base yourself and authing on your own TC
• Joining a team or clan and getting door codes and auth
• Taking over a base by destroying and replacing the TC
• Finding the base owner’s sleeping body and attempting to auth on TC (rare)

For solo players or small groups trying to raid larger clans, getting authorization is very unlikely. But for anyone who is already part of a team/base, simply using door codes and your auth status allows easy access through any doors.

Using Door Codes

Many team bases use keycode locks on their doors to allow easy access for teammates while keeping outsiders locked out. Teammates are given the keycode for the doors, allowing instant access.

As a raider, there are a couple ways to potentially get a door code:

• Listening in when a door is opened and typing in the code you hear
• Looking over someone’s shoulder when they type in a code
• Killing a player and checking their inventory/notes for codes
• Checking common default codes like 1111, 2222, 1234, etc.

Codes are very convenient for teams but vulnerable to espionage and being compromised. Many savvy players will change their codes frequently to prevent unauthorized access.

Destroying Doors with Weapons

The brute force way to get through a door is to simply damage it until it breaks. Here are some ways to quickly destroy doors:

• Hatchets – Effective on wood doors, inefficient on armored
• Pickaxes – Better than hatchets for weaker doors
• Flamethrower – Devastating on wood structures and players
• Shotguns – Strong blunt damage against all doors
• Assault rifles – Quick damage with lots of ammo
• Explosive 5.56 ammo – Extra damage but expensive to craft
• Rockets and C4 – Massive damage to all structures

Many raiders use a combination of methods, like blowing off a wooden airlock with shots and melee, then using explosives on the armored interior doors. Destroying doors takes lots of resources so players must gauge if the potential loot is worth the investment.

Using Melee Raiding Tools

Instead of conventional weapons, many raiders use specialized melee tools to break down doors for increased efficiency:

• Bone club – Cheap and effective on wood structures
• Salvaged icepick – Extra damage versus sheet metal
• Salvaged axe – Great for both wood and metal doors
• Satchel charges – Temporary sticky explosive charges

The advantage of raiding tools is they only damage structures and don’t waste resources destroying loot in the process. The icepick and satchel in particular are extremely cost effective ways of raiding sheet metal doors and honeycomb.

Using Explosives

When brute force won’t cut it, raiders turn to explosives to quickly demolish fortified doors and bases. The most common options are:

• F1 Grenades – Cheapest homemade explosive
• Beancan Grenades – More powerful but expensive F1s
• C4 – Very expensive but extremely devastating
• Rockets – Cause splash damage making them effective against groups of doors

Explosives rapidly damage all structures in their radius, making short work of even the toughest doors. Learn how craft and utilize them properly, and no base in the game will be safe from you.

Going Through Soft Sides

Most permanent structures in Rust have a “soft side” which takes extra damage. Armored walls, door frames, window bars, etc. are weaker on one side than the other. Smart raiders exploit soft sides to bypass doors entirely.

The difference is often extreme – soft sides take 200% normal damage. You can pound a sheet metal wall for hours from one side but tear through it in minutes from the other.

Raiding through soft sides rather than doors has many advantages:

• Avoid traps and turrets usually covering doors
• Bypass door strength for easier access
• Catch complacent base owners off guard

Just beware of external cupboards and stability when going through walls. With patience and game knowledge, soft sides provide a cunning alternate route into bases.

Using Vehicles

For quick and devastating raids, nothing beats using vehicles. Armored cars, helicopters and boats can all be weaponized to smash through doors and any other fortifications with ease.

• Armored cars – Use rockets or C4 to blow off doors and walls
• Armored boats – Drive up rivers to inland bases
• Helicopters – Rain down rockets and gunfire from above

Just beware of anti-air turrets and shotgun traps when using vehicles. And be prepared to quickly loot and escape before counters arrive to investigate the sounds of your rampage.

Avoiding Traps

When opening any door in Rust, be very cautious of traps installed to kill, maim or distract intruders. Common traps to expect include:

• Large window frames – used to block doors and entryways
• Flame turrets – roast players alive
• Shotgun traps – blast away at close range
• Alarms – trigger loud alarms to notify owners
• Flash traps – blind players with camera flashes
• Land mines – explode when stepped on

Experienced raiders always watch their step, listen for turrets, and look around corners before rushing through new doors. Being observant and methodical is key to avoiding traps.

Using Silent Raiding

One creative strategy is silent raiding – using specific techniques to break into bases without causing any sound.

Why be silent? To avoid:

• Alerting owners and counters
• Triggering sound-based traps
• Keeping the element of surprise

Methods of silent raiding include:

• Picking through wooden doors
• Melee raiding with bone club or ice pick
• Placing twig structures to block turret vision
• Using electricity to open garage doors

Silent raiding relies heavily on cunning over force. But for expert sneaky players, it’s an invaluable skill for stealthy base infiltration.

Picking Locks

Locks are physical items you can loot, research, and craft to lock most doors and containers in Rust. To pick locks, you’ll need:

• Enough lockpicks researched and crafted
• Time and patience to pick without breaking lockpicks

The process involves inserting lockpicks and manipulating the lock tumblers until they are properly set. Locks get harder to pick past level 2. Auto turrets will shoot you while picking locks so be cautious.

Advantages of lock picking:

• Non-destructive access to doors and boxes
• Locks can be reused afterwards
• No need for door codes

Picking is a reliable way to sneakily re-seal doors after raiding so your tracks are covered. For stealthy solo raiders, it’s an essential alternative to explosions and destruction.

Using Electricity

You can use electricity and circuits to open many types of doors in Rust:

• Trigging garage doors to open or close
• Wiring switches to control door access
• Hacking into a door controller circuit

With some basic electrical knowledge, you can manipulate a base’s power grid to gain access through doors. Some tips:

• Look for nearby solar panels, generators, and windmills powering a base
• Try switches, pressure pads, and timers that may open doors
• Splice into the wiring and hotwire doors open

Electricity raiding takes practice but provides a very clever way to outsmart opponents and break into bases while drawing minimal attention.

Busting Bunkers

Many large bases use bunker designs with doors embedded deep inside honeycombed structures. These bunkers prevent doors from being attacked. How do you break into a bunkered base?

Solutions include:

• Raid through less protected side walls and ceiling
• Rockets and C4 to blast sideways into bunkers
• Patience and persistence to grind through honeycomb

Bunker bases are designed to be extremely frustrating to raid. Be prepared to spend many resources and time to break through the honeycomb and closed-off bunker entrances.

Online Raiding

Online raiding means attacking a base while its owners are logged in and can defend. This adds extra challenge but reaps bigger rewards if successful. Why online raid?

• Catch owners before they log off and despawn loot
• Interrupt production of resources
• Kill defenders repeatedly as they try to counter
• The thrill and glory of defeating opponents directly

Doing it solo is very difficult but can be done with skill and nerve. Bring plenty of explosives and ammo – online raiding often devolves into chaotic siege warfare!

Conclusion

Rust offers many ways to open those pesky locked doors standing between you and sweet loot. Evaluate door strength, raid cost, necessary tools, and likelihood of counters. Adapt your tactics as needed – stealth, forced entry, subterfuge, or raw explosive power.

Learn when to be patient versus ramping up risk and spending more to finish off a stubborn base. Above all, stay unpredictable and creative to avoid becoming another easily countered raid. With enough skill and determination, no door in Rust can stay locked forever.