Ten minutes into a fresh wipe you have a 2×1, a sleeping bag, and 300 wood burning a hole in your inventory. You slap a wooden door rust on the front, snap a lock onto it, and go back out to farm. That door is the only thing between a stranger and everything you own.
It will hold for about as long as it takes somebody to walk up with two bottles.
The wooden door in Rust has 200 health, costs 300 wood, needs no workbench, and is known by default on every server. It is the first real door you will ever place and it is genuinely useful. It is also, by a huge margin, the cheapest thing in the entire game to break, and almost nobody understands why. The answer is not C4. It is fire.
This guide gives you every real number: exact raid costs for satchels, C4, rockets, explosive ammo, molotovs, fire arrows, incendiary shells and a flamethrower, how many hatchets and spears it actually takes, the doorway maths that decides whether the door or the frame is the weak point, upkeep and decay, recycling, and when you should stop using one.
- What it is
- Stats
- Craft cost
- Fire raids
- Satchels
- C4 and rockets
- Explosive ammo
- Full raid table
- Cheapest raid
- Melee
- The doorway trap
- Vs other doors
- Double door
- Upkeep and decay
- Recycling
- Pick up and replace
- Locks
- Mistakes
- FAQ
What is the wooden door in Rust?
The wooden door is the first tier of hinged door and the cheapest lockable entrance in the game. Facepunch describes it bluntly in the item text: a cheap door to secure your base, and its vulnerability to fire and weak explosive resistance make it a temporary solution.
That is the whole item in one sentence. It is temporary. Every experienced player treats it as a placeholder that buys you an hour or two while you farm the metal for something better.
Mechanically it works like every other hinged door. It hangs in a doorway (not a wall frame, which is what double doors and garage doors use), it accepts a code lock or a key lock, it can be picked up while you have building privilege, it decays without a tool cupboard behind it, and you repair it with a hammer.
Three things make it different from the doors above it:
- It is free. The blueprint is known by default. No scrap, no research table, no workbench. Every player on every server can build one immediately.
- It burns. Wood takes full damage from fire. Every metal door in the game takes none. This single property is why the wooden door is the cheapest raid target in Rust.
- It rots fast. Three hours of decay outside with no upkeep, the shortest of any door.
Wooden door stats
| Stat | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 200 HP | Lowest of any door in Rust. |
| Craft cost | 300 Wood | No workbench needed. |
| Craft time | 30 seconds | Drops to about 7 seconds at a workbench. |
| Blueprint | Known by default | Research only matters for an industrial crafter. |
| Recycler output | 180 Wood | 120 Wood in a safe zone recycler. |
| Hammer repair | 150 Wood | Four swings, roughly 2 seconds. |
| Upkeep | 30 to 100 Wood per 24 hours | Scales with total base size. |
| Decay | 3 hours outside | 30 hours if it is under a roof or floor. |
| Stack size | 1 | One inventory slot per door. |
| Despawn time | 5 minutes | Far shorter than the 40 minutes on metal doors. |
| Deployable on boats | Yes | Works on rafts, tugboats and the siege tower. |
| Shortname | door.hinged.wood | Item ID 1729120840. |
Wooden door crafting cost
300 wood. That is the entire recipe. No workbench, no components, no blueprint to unlock.
Three hundred wood is nothing. A single tree with a stone hatchet gives you most of it, and a chainsaw or a proper hatchet clears it in seconds. That is exactly the point: the wooden door exists so that a naked who spawned twenty minutes ago can lock a box behind something.
Craft time is 30 seconds by hand. Standing at a workbench cuts it to roughly 7 seconds, though you will rarely care because you are usually crafting it before you own a bench.
How many molotovs for a wooden door? The fire answer
This is the section that matters, and it is the one most guides skip entirely.
Wood takes full damage from fire. Sheet metal, garage and armored doors take none at all, which is why fire never appears in their raid tables. Against a wooden door, every fire tool in the game is absurdly efficient.
Molotov cocktails: 2
Two molotovs. Each one does roughly 147 damage to a wooden door over its burn, so two comfortably clear 200 health in about 19 seconds.
The cost is 100 low grade fuel and a bit of cloth. That is zero sulfur. Compare that to one C4 at 2,200 sulfur for the same result and you can see why nobody who knows what they are doing brings explosives to a wood base.
Fire arrows: 50
Fifty fire arrows. Each arrow deals 4 damage to the door, so 50 covers the 200 health pool with nothing to spare.
Fifty fire arrows costs 250 wood and some cloth, which is not far off the price of the door itself. The bow you use only changes the speed, not the count: a hunting bow gets there in about 49 seconds, a mini crossbow in around 1 minute 9, and a compound bow in a little over 3 minutes because of the draw time.
12 gauge incendiary shells: 16
Sixteen incendiary shells from a pump shotgun, double barrel, waterpipe or eoka. Each shell does 12.5 damage. A pump shotgun clears the door in about 20 seconds.
The M4 shotgun needs 20 shells and a Spas-12 needs 22 because their damage multipliers are lower. Sixteen shells works out to roughly 320 sulfur, which makes this the cheapest sulfur-based route on the whole list.
Flame thrower: 83 low grade fuel
Point it at the door and hold the trigger. A standard flame thrower burns through 83 low grade fuel in about 25 seconds. A military flame thrower uses 102 fuel in 27 seconds because it burns hotter but faster.
This is the loudest and most obvious option, but it is also completely free if you have looted a flamethrower and have fuel spare.
Incendiary rocket: 1
One incendiary rocket does 1,713 damage to a wooden door. It is not so much a raid as a deletion. It costs around 300 sulfur plus 75 low grade fuel, which is still cheaper than a standard rocket, but it is comical overkill on a 200 health target.
How many satchels for a wooden door?
Two. A satchel charge deals 170 damage to a wooden door, so one leaves it at 30 health and two finish it with 140 of overkill.
Two satchels costs 960 sulfur and about 10 seconds. Some guides list the exact combination as one satchel plus one beancan grenade, and that maths checks out: 170 plus 35 is 205 against 200 health. It saves you 240 sulfur if you have loose beancans and a steady hand.
How many C4 for a wooden door? And rockets?
One C4. One rocket. Both are enormous overkill.
A timed explosive charge deals 1,100 damage. A wooden door has 200. You are throwing away 900 damage and 2,200 sulfur.
A rocket deals 550.4 damage for 1,400 sulfur. Same story, slightly less waste.
High velocity rockets are the interesting one. An HV rocket does 63.75 to a wooden door, so you need four, at 800 sulfur total. That is cheaper than a single standard rocket and it is the only situation in the game where HVs beat regular rockets on a door.
The honest advice: if you are already rocketing a base and a wooden door happens to be in the way, one rocket is fine because you were spending it anyway. If the door is the whole job, put the launcher away.
How many explosive 5.56 for a wooden door?
Around 18, and the exact count depends on which gun you are holding, because explosive rounds inherit the weapon’s damage multiplier.
| Weapon | Damage per round | Rounds needed | Sulfur |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bolt Action Rifle / L96 | 12.03 | 17 | 425 |
| Assault Rifle / M249 / HMLMG | 11.27 to 11.65 | 18 | 450 |
| LR-300 / M16A2 / SKS / Semi-Auto | 11.02 to 11.08 | 19 | 475 |
Call it 18 if you want one number to remember, and note that a bolt action is the most round-efficient option even though it is the slowest to fire. Our own Rust raid calculator uses 18 for the wooden door.
Explosive ammo is the standard mid wipe answer when you do not have fire on hand, because you are usually carrying a rifle anyway. It is roughly 450 sulfur and takes a couple of seconds on full auto.
Full wooden door raid cost table
| Tool | Damage each | Amount | Sulfur | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Molotov Cocktail | ~147 | 2 | 0 (100 low grade) | 19 sec |
| Fire Arrow | 4 | 50 | 0 (250 wood) | 49 sec |
| Flame Thrower | ~24 per second | 83 fuel | 0 | 25 sec |
| Torpedo | 23 | 9 | 108 | 52 sec |
| Handmade Shell | 4.5 | 45 | 225 | 1 min 10 |
| Incendiary Rocket | 1,713 | 1 | 300 | 8 sec |
| 12 Gauge Incendiary Shell | 12.5 | 16 | 320 | 20 sec |
| Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo | 11.3 | 18 | 450 | 2 sec |
| Mortar Shell | 120.4 | 2 | 600 | 2 sec |
| Beancan Grenade (stuck) | 35 | 6 | 720 | 25 sec |
| High Velocity Rocket | 63.75 | 4 | 800 | 18 sec |
| Satchel Charge | 170 | 2 | 960 | 10 sec |
| F1 Grenade (stuck) | 8.75 | 23 | 1,380 | 59 sec |
| Rocket | 550.4 | 1 | 1,400 | 1 sec |
| Timed Explosive Charge | 1,100 | 1 | 2,200 | 10 sec |
| Battering Ram | 200.25 | 1 hit | 0 (6 HQM to repair) | 4 sec |
The cheapest way to break a wooden door in Rust
Two molotov cocktails. One hundred low grade fuel, nineteen seconds, zero sulfur. Nothing else in the game comes close.
If you have no molotovs, the ladder looks like this:
- Molotovs (2) if you have low grade fuel. Free and fast.
- Fire arrows (50) if you have wood and cloth but no fuel. Free, slightly slower, and quiet compared to explosives.
- Incendiary shells (16) if you are running a pump shotgun. Cheapest sulfur route at 320.
- Explosive 5.56 (18) if you are already carrying a rifle. Fastest at roughly 2 seconds.
- Anything else only if the door is not the real target and you were spending the boom regardless.
The rule that falls out of this: never spend sulfur on a wooden door if fire is available. Save your explosives for the stone walls and metal walls behind it.
Can you break a wooden door with melee?
Yes, and it is one of the funniest numbers in Rust. Doors have enormous melee resistance, so the tool wears out long before the door does.
| Tool | Damage per hit | Tools destroyed | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salvaged Axe | 0.55 | 7 | 7 min 41 |
| Salvaged Sword | 0.75 | 9 | 5 min 41 |
| Hatchet | 0.275 | 11 | 11 min 05 |
| Longsword | 1.125 | 12 | 6 min 07 |
| Pickaxe | 0.25 | 14 | 20 min 13 |
| Machete | 0.525 | 15 | 6 min 35 |
| Jackhammer | 0.075 | 36 | 7 min 15 |
| Chainsaw | 0.18 | 38 | 4 min 19 |
| Stone Hatchet | 0.175 | 44 | 17 min 51 |
| Wooden Spear | 0.125 | 95 | 41 min 34 |
| Stone Spear | 0.175 | 104 | 30 min 17 |
A hatchet does 0.275 damage per swing to a door. That is 727 swings, and the hatchet snaps roughly every 66 of them. Eleven hatchets and eleven minutes of standing in the open next to someone’s base is not a raid, it is a suicide note.
The chainsaw is the fastest melee option at 4 minutes 19, and the salvaged axe destroys the fewest tools at seven. Neither is a serious plan. Melee raiding exists mostly as a last resort on a dead base whose owner has clearly not logged in for days.
Not sure how long your wooden door has to survive? The next force wipe resets every base on every official server.
Check the wipe countdownThe doorway trap: your door is only as good as its frame
Here is the part that flips the usual advice on its head.
With an armored door, the door is almost always stronger than the frame it hangs in, so raiders ignore the door and break the wall. With a wooden door, the opposite is true.
| Doorway tier | Build cost | Health | Weak point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twig Doorway | 35 Wood | 10 HP | The frame. Any melee weapon. |
| Wooden Doorway | 140 Wood | 250 HP | The door. 200 HP. |
| Stone Doorway | 210 Stone | 500 HP | The door, easily. |
| Metal Doorway | 140 Metal Fragments | 1,000 HP | The door, by a mile. |
| Armored Doorway | 18 High Quality Metal | 2,000 HP | The door, absurdly. |
Two takeaways from that table:
1. Never leave a wooden door on a twig frame. A twig doorway has 10 health. If the frame dies, the door goes with it, and 10 health is two swings with a rock. Upgrade the frame to wood before you even craft the door.
2. Once the frame is wood or better, the door is the target. A wooden doorway is 250 HP and needs 3 satchels or 4 molotovs. The wooden door in it is 200 HP and needs 2 of either. A raider will always pick the cheaper of the two, so on any real base the wooden door is the softest point in your entire structure. Upgrading walls while leaving a wooden door on the front is money set on fire, and often literally.
Wooden door vs sheet metal, garage and armored doors
| Door | Health | Cost | Takes fire damage | Decay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden Door | 200 | 300 Wood | Yes | 3 h |
| Sheet Metal Door | 250 | 150 Metal Fragments | No | 8 h |
| Garage Door | 600 | 300 Frags + 2 Gears | No | 8 h |
| Armored Door | 1,000 | 20 HQM + 5 Gears | No | 12 h |
The health jump from wooden to sheet metal is only 50 points, which looks trivial. It is not. The real upgrade is fire immunity. Going from wooden to sheet metal removes molotovs, fire arrows, incendiary shells, incendiary rockets and flamethrowers from the raider’s menu completely, and forces them onto sulfur.
Put in raid terms: a wooden door opens for 100 low grade fuel. A sheet metal door needs 4 satchels (1,920 sulfur) or 1 C4. That is not a 25 percent upgrade. That is a different category of building.
Wood double door
The wood double door is the same item in a wider shape. It has the same 200 health, so every raid number above applies unchanged.
| Stat | Wooden Door | Wood Double Door |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 200 | 200 |
| Craft cost | 300 Wood | 350 Wood |
| Fits in | Doorway | Wall frame |
| Repair | 150 Wood | 175 Wood |
| Upkeep | 30 to 100 Wood | 35 to 116 Wood |
| Despawn | 5 minutes | 40 minutes |
| Deployable on boats | Yes | No |
| Shortname | door.hinged.wood | door.double.hinged.wood |
The important difference is the mounting point. A wood double door goes in a wall frame, not a doorway. That means it can never be used as an external entrance on a normal wall, and it is mostly there for wide internal openings, shopfronts and base designs that want a big gap.
It also cannot be placed on boats, which rules it out for tugboat and raft builds where the single wooden door works fine.
Upkeep, decay and repair
Decay. With no tool cupboard behind it, a wooden door decays fully in 3 hours outside and 30 hours inside. Inside just means there is a roof or floor tile above it. No walls required. That ten times multiplier is why a wooden door on an interior loot room outlives the one on your front entrance many times over.
Upkeep. Once a tool cupboard covers it, a wooden door adds 30 to 100 wood per 24 hours to your bill. The range depends on how many blocks your base has in total, because upkeep scales with base size. On a small starter base it sits near the bottom of that range.
Repair. A hammer takes a wooden door from near dead to full for 150 wood in four swings, about 2 seconds. That is half the price of a new door, so repairing a damaged one is always better than replacing it.
Recycling a wooden door
A wooden door recycles into wood, and the return depends on which machine you use.
| Machine | Wood returned | Rate | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monument Recycler | 180 | 60% | Most monuments. |
| Safe Zone Recycler | 120 | 40% | Outpost and Bandit Camp only. |
Sixty percent of 300 is 180, which is the standard recycler rate. The safe zone machines were cut to 40 percent, so you lose 60 wood by using Outpost instead of a monument recycler.
In practice you will almost never recycle a wooden door. Three hundred wood is trivially cheap and the door is worth more hanging on a frame than it is as 180 wood in your inventory. The exception is looting a raided base with a stack of spare doors you cannot carry.
How to pick up, remove and replace a wooden door
Picking up a door is simple once you know the two conditions.
- Remove any lock first. A door with a code lock or key lock on it cannot be picked up. Hold E on the lock and choose pick up.
- Stand in building privilege. You need authorisation on the tool cupboard covering that door.
- Hold E on the door and select Pickup from the wheel. The door returns to your inventory at its current condition.
To replace a wooden door with a sheet metal one, you pick the wooden door up and place the new one in the same doorway. There is no upgrade path for doors the way there is for walls. You cannot hammer a wooden door into a sheet metal door, they are separate items.
There is a long standing quirk where a door occasionally refuses to be picked up until you place a lock on it and remove it again. If the pickup option is missing and you are definitely in building privilege, try that.
Locks: code lock or key lock?
A wooden door with no lock is a door that opens for everyone. Both lock types work on it.
| Lock | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Code Lock | 100 Metal Fragments | Four digit PIN, guest codes, known by default. |
| Key Lock | 75 Wood | Physical key, no guest access, easy to lock yourself out. |
Use a code lock. It is known by default like the door itself, 100 metal fragments is nothing, and it lets you share a guest code with a teammate without handing over ownership.
The key lock exists for the first five minutes of a wipe when you genuinely have zero metal fragments. Its problem is that the key is a physical item you can lose on death, and there is no code to type from memory when you respawn naked.
Five mistakes players make with wooden doors
1. Leaving one on the front entrance past hour one. A hundred low grade fuel opens your base. Sheet metal is 150 fragments. There is no excuse past your first barrel run.
2. Hanging it on a twig frame. Ten health on the doorway means the door never even gets hit. Upgrade the frame before the door, always.
3. Upgrading walls and forgetting the door. A stone base with a wooden door on it is a wooden base with extra steps. Raiders hit the cheapest point, and that point is your door.
4. Not putting a lock on it. It happens more than you would think, usually on internal doors. An unlocked door is an open door.
5. Dropping a spare and walking off. Five minute despawn. Metal doors give you 40 minutes of grace. Wooden doors give you five.
Wooden door Rust FAQ
How much health does a wooden door have in Rust?
How many satchels for a wooden door?
How many C4 for a wooden door?
How many molotovs for a wooden door in Rust?
How many fire arrows for a wooden door?
How many incendiary shells for a wooden door?
What is the cheapest way to break a wooden door in Rust?
How many explosive 5.56 for a wooden door?
How much wood is a wooden door in Rust?
How many hatchets does it take to break a wooden door?
How long does a wooden door take to decay in Rust?
Does a wooden door take fire damage in Rust?
Can you upgrade a wooden door to a sheet metal door?
How do you remove a wooden door in Rust?
How much wood do you get for recycling a wooden door?
Is the wood double door stronger than the wooden door?
Sources
- Facepunch Rust Wiki, item page for
door.hinged.wood, for craft cost, recycle output, repair cost and item data. - RustClash Rust Wiki wooden door durability table, for per hit damage and quantity on every explosive, fire and melee tool.
- RustHelp wooden door and wood double door entity data, for health, upkeep, decay, attachment points and raid counts.
- Corrosion Hour RUST item database, wooden door entry, for the 200 hit point figure and the satchel plus beancan combination.
- RustClash building tier tables, for doorway health and build cost across twig, wood, stone, metal and armored.
- The whenisforcewiperust.com Rust raid calculator, for cross checking explosive counts.
