The Shotgun Trap in Rust is the closest thing a solo or duo has to a free security guard. It bolts onto a wall, ceiling or floor, watches a narrow cone in front of it, and blasts anyone who walks into that cone with handmade shells. No wiring, no batteries, no electricity at all. That single fact is why the shotgun trap is the defense of choice for trap bases, drop-down loot rooms, and anyone who cannot afford to power a wall of auto turrets.
This is the complete guide to the shotgun trap in Rust: what it is, how the tool cupboard decides who it shoots, the crafting recipe, the ammo it eats and how long a full load lasts, the best places to mount one, how it stacks up against the auto turret, and exactly how raiders shut it down. The headline numbers are right below.
A shotgun trap has 300 HP, crafts at a Workbench Level 1 from 500 wood, 250 metal fragments, 2 gears and 2 rope, and needs no power. It holds up to 384 handmade shells, fires 2 a second, and shoots any player not authorized to a nearby tool cupboard. You can also buy one ready-made at Outpost for about 150 scrap. It is cheap and power-free, but its cone is narrow and drainable, so it is a speed bump, not an unbreakable wall.
- What it is
- How it works
- Crafting recipe
- Ammo and fire rate
- Where to place it
- Trap vs auto turret
- How to beat one
- Traps and the wipe
- FAQ
What is a shotgun trap in Rust?
The shotgun trap is a deployable defensive trap: a fixed shotgun barrel on a swivel mount that you attach to a building piece. When an unauthorized player steps into its cone, it fires handmade shells at them automatically. Unlike the auto turret, it has no target camera and no aim, it simply sprays whatever crosses the line in front of the barrel.
Its whole appeal is being dumb, cheap and power-free. There is no CCTV, no targeting computer, and crucially no electricity, so a fresh-wipe solo can slap one over a doorway on day one. The trade-off is that it is short-ranged and blind outside its cone. Here are the raw numbers straight from the item files.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Item type | Deployable trap (base defense) |
| Health | 300 HP |
| Crafted at | Workbench Level 1 |
| Recipe | 500 Wood + 250 Metal Fragments + 2 Gears + 2 Rope |
| Craft time | 30 seconds (15s at WB2, 7s at WB3) |
| Research cost | 60 scrap at a research table, or a 60 scrap node in the tech tree |
| Power needed | None |
| Ammo | Handmade Shell only, holds up to 384 |
| Fire rate | 2 shells per second |
| Stack size | 1 |
| Item shortname | guntrap |
Because it is a placed deployable, a shotgun trap can be picked back up and repositioned, which matters a lot when you are trying to line its cone up with a doorway. Treat it like a cheap, movable guard dog that only bites in one direction.
How the shotgun trap works
The single most important thing to understand is that a shotgun trap does not have its own authorization list. Instead it borrows the building privilege of your tool cupboard. If a shotgun trap is within range of a TC, it fires at any player who is not authorized to that cupboard, and leaves your teammates alone.
There is a catch that catches new players out constantly: if there is no tool cupboard in range, the trap fires on everyone, including you. So a trap you toss down while roaming, or one you place before your TC is set, will happily blast its own owner. Always have your cupboard down and authorized first.
The cone itself is narrow and short. It covers roughly one foundation square directly in front of the barrel, a tight frontal wedge rather than a wide sweep, and it will reach through a doorway, an open frame or a twig wall. Anything outside that wedge is a total blind spot, which is the whole basis of how raiders drain it.
Set up your tool cupboard and make sure every teammate is authorized on it before you arm a shotgun trap. The trap trusts the cupboard, not a separate list, so an un-authorized clanmate walking past an armed trap is going to eat a face full of shells.
The shotgun trap crafting recipe
The recipe is refreshingly cheap for what you get. A shotgun trap is a Workbench Level 1 craft, so it is available very early, and it only asks for basic resources plus a couple of looted components.
You need 500 wood, 250 metal fragments, 2 gears and 2 rope, crafted in 30 seconds at a Workbench Level 1. The wood and fragments are nothing, so the practical cost is the gears, which you loot from crates and barrels or recycle out of components. To craft it yourself you also need the blueprint, unlocked for 60 scrap at a research table or a 60 scrap node in the tech tree, plus the nodes before it.
If you would rather skip the blueprint and the gear hunt, the weapons vending machine at Outpost sells a finished shotgun trap for around 150 scrap. For a solo who is swimming in scrap but short on gears, buying a couple pre-built is often the faster route to a defended doorway.
Ammo and fire rate
A shotgun trap runs on one thing and one thing only: the Handmade Shell. It will not accept buckshot, slugs or any other 12-gauge round, just handmade shells, which is actually great news for your wallet.
Handmade shells are a default blueprint made from gunpowder and stone, so the ammo itself is dirt cheap to mass-produce. A trap holds up to 384 shells and fires two a second, which means a fully loaded trap can blast for roughly 3 minutes and 12 seconds non-stop before it empties. Each shell does around 80 damage at point-blank range, so a naked or lightly geared player who wanders into the cone is dead almost instantly.
Cheap shells do not mean free defense. A trap that a raider drains, or one that fires at wildlife and door campers all wipe, will run dry, and an empty trap is just a 300 HP box. Bank a few hundred handmade shells and top your traps up whenever you pass them, the same way you would refill a furnace.
Where to place a shotgun trap
Placement is everything with a trap, because the cone is so narrow. A well-aimed trap over the one path into your base is worth three sloppy ones pointed at open air. You can mount it on a floor, wall or ceiling, and each has a use.
- Ceiling. Mounts up high and fires down at head height, and it does not eat any floor space. This is the classic trap base and drop-down loot room placement, catching raiders as they fall or push into the room.
- Wall. Angle it across a hallway or a doorway so anyone pushing through walks straight into the cone. Great for defending the single choke point into a bunker.
- Floor. A waist-height blast that is brutal in a tight room, but a jumping raider can hop over the cone, so floor placements are the easiest to cheese. Use them where there is no room to jump.
Because the trap can be picked up and re-placed, do not settle for a rough angle. Deploy it, walk the attacker’s path yourself, and adjust until the cone lines up exactly with the doorway or drop the raider has to use. Stacking two traps covering the same choke from slightly different angles closes the blind-spot gap that a single trap leaves.
Shotgun trap vs auto turret
Every base-defense conversation eventually comes down to shotgun trap or auto turret. They solve the same problem in completely different ways, and the honest answer is that most bases want both. Here is the straight comparison.
| Feature | Shotgun Trap | Auto Turret |
|---|---|---|
| Workbench | Level 1 | Level 2 |
| Power | None | 10 rW, needs wiring |
| Health | 300 HP | 1,000 HP |
| Coverage | Narrow front cone | 360 degree fire, ~30 m |
| Ammo | Handmade shells only | Any gun you load it with |
| Authorization | Uses your tool cupboard | Its own auth list |
| Outpost price | ~150 scrap | ~400 scrap |
The takeaway: the shotgun trap wins on cost and simplicity, the turret wins on range, health and coverage. Traps are perfect for the deep interior, bunkers and drop-downs where fights happen at doorway range and running electricity is a pain. Turrets are your outer-wall and rooftop deterrent. A cheap solo base might run nothing but traps; a clan compound runs turrets on the walls and traps in the loot room.
The no-power angle is the trap’s superpower. A hidden bunker, a boat base, or a raid tower deep in someone else’s compound can all carry traps with zero electrical setup. Anywhere you cannot easily run a wire, the shotgun trap is the automated defense that still works.
How to beat a shotgun trap
If you are on the raiding side, shotgun traps are a nuisance but never a wall. As Corrosion Hour puts it, there is no such thing as an undrainable, invincible trap placement. With only 300 HP and a fixed blind cone, every trap has an answer.
- Melee it from the side. Traps take heavy melee damage and the cone is narrow, so stepping to the side and hitting it with a tool or a machete drops it fast for zero ammo cost.
- Rifle it down. Roughly 60 rounds of 5.56 will destroy the 300 HP trap from a safe angle if you would rather not close the distance.
- Blow it up. A single satchel or a grenade ends a trap instantly when you can spare the explosives, though that is usually overkill.
- Drain the cone. Bait the trap into firing from a blind spot until its 384 shells run dry, then walk in past a harmless empty box.
- Plant your own tool cupboard. Get a TC of your own down in range and the trap now reads the defenders as unauthorized, flipping it to fire on them.
This cuts both ways. When you are defending, assume a competent raider will drain or side-melee a lone trap, so back your traps with real walls, layered doors and, ideally, a turret covering the angle the trap cannot see.
Shotgun traps and the wipe cycle
Like every deployable in your base, your shotgun traps and every shell loaded in them vanish the instant the server force wipes. The map resets, your tool cupboard and traps are gone, and your carefully aimed cones go with them. Early wipe is exactly when a cheap, power-free trap earns its keep, because it is one of the only automated defenses a fresh solo can afford on day one while everyone is still fighting over scientists and crates.
Being online the moment the map goes live means you can wall off a doorway and arm a trap before the first roaming geared players come knocking. Knowing precisely when your server force wipes is how you get that head start instead of scrambling to defend a half-built base.
Defend from minute one. Line your session up with the countdown so your first trap is armed before the roamers arrive.
Check the force wipe countdownShotgun trap FAQ
How do you craft a shotgun trap in Rust?
You craft a shotgun trap at a Workbench Level 1 using 500 wood, 250 metal fragments, 2 gears and 2 rope, which takes 30 seconds. You also need the blueprint, unlocked for 60 scrap at a research table or a 60 scrap node in the tech tree. If you would rather not craft it, the Outpost weapons vending machine sells a finished shotgun trap for around 150 scrap.
Does a shotgun trap need power in Rust?
No. A shotgun trap needs no electricity, no batteries and no wiring at all. This is its biggest advantage over the auto turret, which draws 10 rW and has to be wired to a power source. Because it is power-free, a shotgun trap can be placed anywhere, including hidden bunkers, boat bases and spots where running a wire is impractical.
What ammo does a shotgun trap use?
A shotgun trap only accepts Handmade Shells. It will not fire buckshot, slugs or incendiary shells. Handmade shells are a default blueprint crafted from gunpowder and stone, so they are cheap to mass-produce. A trap holds up to 384 shells at once and fires two per second, giving it about three minutes and twelve seconds of continuous fire on a full load.
How much damage does a shotgun trap do?
Each handmade shell does roughly 80 damage at point-blank range, and the trap fires two shells a second. That is enough to drop a naked or lightly armored player almost instantly once they enter the cone. Damage falls off quickly with distance and against armor, which is why traps are placed at tight doorway range rather than out in the open.
How does a shotgun trap know who to shoot?
A shotgun trap uses the building privilege of a nearby tool cupboard. If a tool cupboard is in range, the trap fires at any player who is not authorized to that cupboard and ignores your authorized teammates. If there is no tool cupboard in range, the trap fires on everyone who enters its cone, including its own owner, so always set up and authorize your cupboard first.
How much HP does a shotgun trap have?
A shotgun trap has 300 HP. It is also very vulnerable to melee damage, so a raider who steps to the side of the narrow cone can destroy it quickly with a tool or melee weapon. Alternatively, about 60 rounds of 5.56 rifle ammo or a single satchel charge will take it out from a safer angle.
Where should you place a shotgun trap?
Place it on a ceiling, wall or floor so its narrow cone covers a doorway, hallway or drop-down that raiders must pass through. Ceiling mounts are the favorite for trap bases and loot rooms because they fire at head height and free up floor space. Since the trap can be picked up and moved, deploy it, walk the attacker’s path, and adjust until the cone lines up exactly.
Is a shotgun trap or an auto turret better?
They do different jobs. A shotgun trap is cheaper (Workbench 1, about 150 scrap at Outpost), needs no power, and is ideal for interior doorways, bunkers and loot rooms. An auto turret costs more, needs 10 rW of power, but has 1,000 HP, covers a 180 degree arc out to about 30 meters, and takes any gun. Most well-built bases use turrets on the outer walls and shotgun traps deep inside.
Can you pick up a shotgun trap?
Yes. A shotgun trap is a deployable that can be picked back up and re-placed, which lets you fine-tune the direction of its cone or move it to a better choke point. This is unlike a tool cupboard, which cannot be picked up once placed. Being movable makes it easy to reposition a trap until it perfectly covers the path a raider has to take.
How do you counter a shotgun trap?
Exploit its narrow cone and low 300 HP. Step to the side of the cone and melee it, shoot it with about 60 rounds of 5.56 from a safe angle, or blow it up with a satchel or grenade. You can also drain it by baiting its 384 shells from a blind spot until it runs empty, or place your own tool cupboard in range so the trap reads the defenders as unauthorized and fires on them.
What does a shotgun trap recycle into?
At a regular recycler a shotgun trap returns 300 wood, 150 metal fragments, 1 rope and 1 gear, with a chance at a second gear and rope. At a safe zone recycler like Outpost or Bandit Camp it returns 200 wood, 100 metal fragments, and a gear and rope at 80%. Because it recycles well, a spare trap is a fine source of gears back if you overbuilt.
The bottom line
The shotgun trap is the budget backbone of Rust base defense. For 500 wood, some fragments and a couple of gears, you get an automated guard that needs no power, fires 384 cheap shells at anyone your tool cupboard does not trust, and mounts wherever you need it. It is not going to stop a serious raid on its own, its cone is narrow and it drains, but as a layer inside a real base, over a doorway or a drop-down, it turns a casual door-camp or online raid into a bad idea.
The one thing no trap can survive is the wipe. Every trap, every shell and every wall in your base is gone the instant the server resets, so the real edge is being there when the fresh map drops, ready to build and arm before anyone else.
Be armed before the roamers are. Know exactly when the next force wipe hits so your defenses are up from minute one.
See the force wipe countdownSources
- Facepunch Wiki, Shotgun Trap for the shortname guntrap, the 500 wood + 250 metal fragments + 2 gears + 2 rope Workbench 1 recipe, the 30 second craft time, the research and tech tree cost, the stack size, and the recycle output.
- Corrosion Hour, Shotgun Trap RUST Item and their How Shotgun Traps Work guide for the 384 shell capacity, the two-shells-a-second fire rate, the tool cupboard authorization mechanic, placement on floors, ceilings and walls, and how to counter or drain a trap.
- RustHelp, Shotgun Trap for the 300 HP value and the Outpost purchase price of around 150 scrap.