Vehicles

Vehicles

Last updated: May 18, 2026

Rust has a full vehicle tier. Each one solves a different problem — moving fast, moving heavy, moving across water, moving across air. This file is every vehicle: cost, stats, fuel, controls, when to use it.

Ground vehicles

Horse

Tameable wild horse — the entry-level mount.

• Acquire: find wild horses near roads and fields. Hold E on a saddled horse (or rope -lasso a wild one). Stables sell saddled horses for ~75 scrap .
• Speed: ~10 m/s walk, ~14 m/s gallop. Stamina-limited.
• Inventory: 8 slots once saddled.
• Food: raw horsemeat, apples, corn , plant fiber. Auto-eats from inventory. Feed regularly or stamina drops.
• Armor: horse shoes + horse armor (HQM tier, optional). Wood /roadsign/metal variants exist.
• Dung: the horse poops periodically. 1 dung per ~15 min stabled. Compost ratio 10:1 → fertilizer . Major passive income for solos. See 05_Horticulture.md.
• Hitch post: craft a hitch post in your base to tie up to 4 horses . Hitched horses don't decay and accept food/water from the post.

Pro tip: horses are the cheapest reliable transport. They climb hills decently, accept saddle bags, and the dung-fertilizer -scrap arbitrage is real free money.

Modular Car

Build your own multi-cab car from parts. Found wrecked along roads at gas stations and auto shops.

• Acquire: find a chassis (2, 3, or 4-slot), tow it to a Modular Car Lift (only spawns at Outpost or craftable WB3 ).
• Modules: engine, fuel tank, storage cab, passenger cab, flatbed. Mix-and-match across the chassis slots.
• Engine components: crankshaft, spark plug, valve, piston (each tier 1-3). Tier 3 max speed and durability.
• Speed: 25-40 m/s depending on engine quality and chassis size.
• Fuel: low-grade fuel. Roughly 1 fuel per 10 seconds at speed.
• Inventory: 18 slots per storage module.
• Use case: hauling stuff between bases, road trips to far monuments, ramming nakeds.

Pro tip: repair kits + spare parts in a storage module mean you can fix the car mid-trip. Without spare parts you'll be walking back to base after one bad jump.

Workcart (Train)

A modular train that runs on the rail network.

• Acquire: find one at a Train Yard or in the underground rail tunnels.
• Speed: ~25 m/s at top throttle.
• Fuel: low-grade fuel. Massively efficient — one tank lasts a full underground sweep.
• Inventory: 36 slots on the locomotive plus more on attached cars.
• Use case: Train Yard farming, Tunnel Dweller monument runs. Linked passenger/storage cars let you haul a team.

Pro tip: the underground tunnel network is a hidden mid-game farming circuit. Crash through scientists with the workcart, loot stations, recycle on site.

Snowmobile

Snow biome-only fast vehicle.

• Acquire: craft (WB2 , 200 frags + 50 wood + 1 gear) or find at snow biome locations.
• Speed: ~22 m/s on snow, 10 m/s on grass (slow).
• Fuel: low-grade fuel.
• Inventory: small storage at the back (8 slots).
• Use case: Arctic Research Base runs, Christmas-themed events.

Aerial vehicles

Minicopter

Small 2-seat helicopter, the most popular vehicle in the game.

• Acquire: buy at Bandit Camp Air Wolf shop for 750 scrap . Or rarely loot from heli crashes / find as world spawn.
• Speed: ~25 m/s forward, vertical takeoff/landing.
• Fuel: low-grade fuel. ~1 LG per ~3 seconds of throttle. A full tank (500 LG max) is ~10 minutes of flight.
• Inventory: none — what you carry stays in your inventory. (Mini doesn't have storage.)
• Use case: monument runs, scouting, escaping ambushes, transporting two players quickly.
• HP: ~750 hull. Crashes destroy it; rockets /explosives shred it; SAM sites lock onto it.

Pro tip: keep your minicopter at a dedicated landing pad inside your base behind a garage door . Crashes happen — having spare LG and a repair plan keeps it alive.

Scrap Transport Helicopter

Bigger heli — 4 seats + storage.

• Acquire: Bandit Air Wolf for 1,250 scrap .
• Speed: slower than minicopter (~20 m/s).
• Fuel: burns ~2x faster than minicopter.
• Inventory: 60-slot rear storage.
• Use case: clan runs, hauling loot from far monuments back to base, group transport.
• HP: ~1,000.

Pro tip: great for hauling raid material. 60 slots of C4 + rockets + sulfur means you can deliver an entire raid kit one trip.

Hot Air Balloon

Drifting aerial vehicle.

• Acquire: craft or find tied at monument fields.
• Speed: wind-dependent (~2-5 m/s).
• Fuel: low-grade fuel for the burner (vertical lift only).
• Inventory: 18 slots.
• Use case: sky scouting, AFK monument loot floating, comedy.

Limited combat utility. Vulnerable to ground fire. Fun for scouting and clan recon.

Watercraft

Rowboat

Cheap small boat .

• Acquire: Fishing Village shop for 125 scrap , or rarely as wreckage on shore.
• Speed: ~5 m/s.
• Fuel: low-grade fuel.
• Inventory: 18 slots in the seat storage.
• Use case: lake crossings, river travel, fishing trips.

RHIB (Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boat)

Combat-capable fast boat with mounted weapons.

• Acquire: Fishing Village for 400 scrap .
• Speed: ~12 m/s — faster than rowboat.
• Fuel: low-grade.
• Inventory: 30 slots.
• Weapons: mounted M2 Browning option in some servers.
• Use case: Cargo Ship boarding, ocean island monuments, underwater lab travel.

Pro tip: for Cargo Ship runs, RHIB is essential. Approach from low waterline to avoid sniper fire, dock at the side ladder.

Submarine (Solo)

One-seat submersible.

• Acquire: Fishing Village for 300 scrap .
• Speed: ~6 m/s underwater.
• Fuel: low-grade fuel.
• Inventory: 12 slots.
• Weapons: torpedo tube. Torpedoes loaded from inventory.
• Use case: Underwater Lab runs, ocean treasure recovery, escape route.

Submarine (Duo)

Two-seat submersible.

• Acquire: Fishing Village for 500 scrap .
• Speed: ~6 m/s.
• Inventory: 24 slots.
• Weapons: torpedo tube + improvised gun port.
• Use case: duo lab runs. One drives, one mans torpedo.

Fuel system

All powered vehicles run on low-grade fuel.

• Craft at WB1 : 1 animal fat + 1 cloth = 1 low-grade fuel (and 4 charcoal ).
• Alternatively: 3 crude oil + furnace = 9 low-grade fuel.
• Pump jacks pull crude oil from natural deposits (oil monuments).
• A modular car uses ~6 LG per minute at speed.
• Minicopter uses ~20 LG per minute at full throttle.
• Sub uses ~3 LG per minute.

Pro tip: stockpile 200+ LG in your base before any long-haul trip. Running out mid-flight = falling out of the sky.

Repair

Vehicles take damage from:

• Crashes (don't crash)
• Bullet/explosive impact
• Decay (gradual HP loss when unmanned outdoors)
• Random terrain (sharp rocks , trees)

To repair:

• Modular car: drive onto a Modular Car Lift, click repair, costs scrap + parts
• Minicopter / Scrap heli / boats : approach with a hammer + materials (frags /wood /HQM depending on damage), look at vehicle, repair
• Workcart: hammer -repair similar to heli

Carry a hammer and 100-200 frags on any long trip. A 20-second mid-trip repair beats a 20-minute walk back to base.

Storage for vehicles

Dedicate a section of your base for vehicle bays:

• Minicopter pad: open roof (no twig overhang) or large hangar with garage door
• Modular car bay: 2-3 foundation deep room with a wide garage door
• Boat dock: if base is coastal, a floor-extension over water with a fence around it
• Multiple vehicles: dedicate one large outbuilding to vehicles, separate from main base

Pro tip: vehicles don't despawn if hitched/parked inside your TC bubble. Outside it, they're picked up after ~3 hours unmanned.

When to use what

Situation	Best vehicle
First wipe day mount	Horse (cheap)
Solo mid-game monument runs	Minicopter (fast, low-cost)
Hauling materials between bases	Modular Car (storage + speed)
Clan raid logistics	Scrap heli (4 players + cargo)
Underwater Lab runs solo	Solo Submarine
Cargo Ship boarding	RHIB
Cross-map travel road-only	Modular Car or Workcart on rails
Sky scouting / fun	Hot Air Balloon

Common vehicle mistakes

1. Flying a minicopter without spare LG. Tank runs dry, you fall, vehicle dies.
2. Parking outside the TC bubble. Some random griefer takes it.
3. Riding the heli over Bradley APC. Bradley shoots minicopters out of the sky.
4. Crash-landing on water with a horse . Horses can't swim well. Pick land routes.
5. Engaging Cargo Ship without a RHIB . Rowboats are too slow and visible.
6. Carrying 200 LG on your person mid-flight. If you crash, all your LG is gone too. Store some at home.
7. Forgetting to repair. Vehicles at 20% HP die from a single bullet. Top them up.

Pro tips

• Buy a minicopter at hour 8-10 of every wipe. 750 scrap is achievable by then and the time savings on monument runs pays back 10x.
• Modular Car > Workcart for non-rail travel. Workcart is rail-only.
• Park at the Bandit Air Wolf shop if you crash near it — repair on the same trip.
• The Scrap Heli is too expensive for solos. Save it for clan-tier wealth.
• Don't take a minicopter into the patrol heli's airspace. Patrol shreds you in seconds.
• Snowmobiles only matter in snow biome bases. Outside the snow biome they're slow.

Vehicle decay and unmanned timers — the rules that lose you vehicles

More vehicles are lost to decay and despawn than to raiders. Every powered vehicle in Rust runs two separate clocks: a health-decay clock (the vehicle slowly loses HP while not in use) and an unmanned despawn clock (the whole entity is removed if nobody touches it). Understanding both is the difference between a permanent garage and a graveyard.

The single most important rule: a vehicle stored under a roof or building privilege decays far slower than one left in the open. A Minicopter parked inside a 2x2 garage with a roof can sit for a full day; the same Mini on your roof in the rain is a pile of scrap by the next login. For cars, the powered Modular Car Lift is the only true zero-decay storage — keep the lift wired to a battery or windmill bank and your car never ages.

Decay is also accelerated by being underwater or damaged. A car sitting at 50% HP decays faster than one at full health, because Rust scales decay tick damage against current condition for some entities. Repair a vehicle before you park it for the night, not after.

Towing, recovery, and getting unstuck

Vehicles get stuck. A car nosed into a rock, a Minicopter with a sheared rotor, a boat beached on a sandbar — every one of these is recoverable if you know the mechanics.

• Car winching / pushing: Modular cars can be physically pushed by another car or by players. Two players shoulder-pushing a 2-socket chassis on flat ground will move it slowly. The faster method: ram it gently with a second car or a Minicopter skid.
• The Tugboat tow: A Tugboat can nudge a stranded boat back to deep water by bumping it. There is no formal tow-rope on watercraft.
• Minicopter recovery: A Mini that has flipped can sometimes be flipped back by pushing into it, but a Mini with a destroyed rotor is dead — the rotor is not a replaceable part. Salvage the fuel, abandon the hull.
• Lasso the horse: A loose or fleeing horse can be roped with a lasso and led on foot — the only "tow" mechanic in the game that uses a literal rope.

Prevention beats recovery. Carry spare engine parts and a hammer in a car storage module; carry spare Low Grade Fuel on any flight over five minutes; never park a boat where the tide-less ocean current of the map edge can drift it into a despawn zone.

Vehicle combat — ramming, drive-bys, and the kill physics

Vehicles are weapons. The damage model rewards aggression but punishes the careless.

• Roadkill: A modular car at full speed will instantly down a naked and badly hurt a geared player. Damage scales with the car's velocity — a slow tap does little, a 35 m/s broadside is lethal. Every collision also damages your car and its engine parts, so ramming wears the vehicle.
• Minicopter rotor kills: The spinning rotor of a Minicopter is a melee blade. Skilled pilots "tap" enemies with the tail or main rotor for an instant kill, then climb away. This is the highest-skill kill in the game and the rotor takes no damage from a soft body.
• Drive-by shooting: A passenger on a Minicopter skid, in a Scrap Heli rear bay, or in an open flatbed has full weapon use. The driver of a Mini or Attack Heli can fire one-handed weapons (pistols, SMGs) with degraded accuracy. The car driver cannot shoot at all.
• Vehicle as cover: A parked car body soaks bullets. Crouching behind a module gives real cover during a road fight — but incendiary and explosive rounds will cook the module and you with it.

The counter to vehicle aggression is simple: explosive ammo and rockets shred any vehicle. A single rocket cripples a Minicopter. An HV rocket volley turns a car to scrap. Against a charging car on foot, do not strafe predictably — jump at the last instant; a jumping target is often clipped non-lethally.

The vehicle economy — what each ride actually costs to run

Buying a vehicle is the cheap part. Running it is the recurring tax. Below is the realistic per-hour fuel burden so you can budget your wipe.

Low Grade Fuel is crafted from Animal Fat + Cloth at a ratio that yields it cheaply once you have a hemp farm and a steady meat supply, or refined from Crude Oil in a Small Oil Refinery (1 Crude → 3 LGF). The meta solo move is a hemp + pumpkin farm feeding a refinery so fuel is never the bottleneck. Clans simply farm Crude from the Oil Rigs and the Oilfield and never think about it again.

Key efficiency insight: the Workcart is the cheapest way to move a long distance, the horse is the cheapest way to move at all, and helicopters are a luxury you pay for every single minute they are airborne. Plan routes so the expensive vehicle does the short, decisive leg and the cheap vehicle does the grind.

Spawn mechanics and claiming — getting a vehicle for free

Most vehicles can be acquired without scrap if you understand server spawn behaviour:

• Wild horses roam every road and grassland on a population cap. They respawn steadily — there is almost always one within a two-minute jog of any road.
• Chassis wrecks spawn at roadsides, gas stations, and the Junkyard on a server-wide cap of roughly 60 per default map. They smoke and spark so you can spot them at distance. The 4-socket chassis is rarer; check the Junkyard first.
• Workcarts spawn on the rail network at tunnel platforms and the Train Yard. There is no purchase — find one and drive it.
• Minicopters and Scrap Helis occasionally spawn loose at the Airfield, Bandit Camp outskirts, and as map-edge world spawns, in addition to the Air Wolf vendor. A free-spawn bird is first-come, first-claimed.
• Rowboats spawn loose along coastlines and at Fishing Villages — a beachcomb on wipe day frequently turns up a free one.

Ownership in Rust is mostly possession-based: there is no name-lock on a horse, car, or boat unless you add a code lock (cars only). Whoever is sitting in the driver seat controls the vehicle. This means an unlocked car parked outside your base is a free car for any passerby — always code-lock a car and always hitch a horse or park the car on a privilege-protected, walled lift.