The wooden wall is the first upgrade most players ever make in Rust. You throw down a twig 1×1, drop a tool cupboard, and hammer it up to wood so the first naked who walks past cannot punch through. It is cheap, it is fast, and it is also the weakest real wall in the game: the only tier that burns, and the only one a single player can open with a hatchet.
This wood wall Rust guide covers everything about the wooden wall: health, upgrade cost for every wood piece, raid cost with every explosive, how fire and the soft side work, upkeep and decay, and when you should move on to stone. For the full tier ladder, see our Rust building guide.
Wood Wall Basics
A wood wall is not an item you craft. It is a twig wall placed with the Building Plan and upgraded with the Hammer: hold right click on the wall and pick Wood. You need building privilege from a tool cupboard and 200 wood in your inventory. There is no blueprint to learn and no workbench needed, so it is available from the first minute of a wipe.
Wood is tier two of five: twig (10 HP), wood (250 HP), stone (500 HP), sheet metal (1,000 HP) and armored (2,000 HP). It is 25 times tougher than twig, which stops anyone breaking in with a rock, but it is still soft enough that a raider with a few molotovs or a hatchet can get through.
| Stat | Wooden wall |
|---|---|
| Health | 250 HP |
| Upgrade cost | 200 wood (from twig) |
| Twig placement cost | 50 wood |
| Workbench / blueprint | None, default for everyone |
| Takes fire damage | Yes |
| Decay with no upkeep | 3 hours |
| Upkeep per day | 20 to 66 wood |
Wood Wall Cost in Rust
Every wall shaped piece in wood has the same 250 HP, but the upgrade cost depends on how much wall there is. A full wall and a half wall both cost 200 wood, doorways and windows 140, and low walls and wall frames 100. Floors cost half a wall, which our Rust floors guide covers in detail.
| Wood piece | Upgrade cost | Health |
|---|---|---|
| Wall | 200 wood | 250 HP |
| Half wall | 200 wood | 250 HP |
| Low wall | 100 wood | 250 HP |
| Wall frame | 100 wood | 250 HP |
| Doorway | 140 wood | 250 HP |
| Window | 140 wood | 250 HP |
| Floor | 100 wood | 250 HP |
| Foundation | 200 wood | 250 HP |
A whole wooden 1×1 (one foundation, three walls, a doorway and a floor) comes to about 1,040 wood on top of the twig cost, which is a few minutes with a hatchet. A wooden door is another 300 wood.
Wooden Wall Raid Cost
A 250 HP wooden wall is the cheapest real wall to raid. These numbers are for one wall from either side and are the same for wooden half walls, low walls, doorways, windows and wall frames, since they all have the same health.
| Raid tool | Amount | Sulfur cost |
|---|---|---|
| Incendiary rocket | 1 | 300 (cheapest) |
| Molotov cocktail | 4 | 0 |
| C4 | 1 | 2,200 |
| Rockets | 2 | 2,800 |
| High velocity rockets | 9 | 1,800 |
| Satchel charges | 3 | 1,440 |
| Explosive 5.56 ammo | 49 | 1,225 |
| Beancan grenades | 13 | 1,560 |
| F1 grenades | 59 | 3,540 |
| MLRS rockets | 1 | Loot only |
If you are bringing sulfur anyway, satchels or explosive ammo are the cheapest explosive options at around 1,200 to 1,450 sulfur. C4 is overkill on wood: one charge does far more damage than the wall has health. Our Rust raid calculator adds up a whole route, and the Rust explosives guide covers every recipe.
Fire Damage on Wood Walls
Wood is the only building tier that takes fire damage. Stone, sheet metal and armored walls are completely immune to molotovs, incendiary rockets, fire arrows and flame throwers. That is what makes wood so cheap to raid: four molotovs need no sulfur at all.
| Fire source | Amount for one wall | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Molotov cocktail | 4 | About 21 seconds |
| Incendiary rocket | 1 | About 20 seconds of burning |
| Fire arrows (hunting bow) | 125 | About 2 minutes |
| Flame thrower | 206 low grade fuel | About 44 seconds |
Wood Wall Soft Side
Every wall in Rust has a hard side and a soft side, and melee tools do around ten times the damage on the soft side. On a wooden wall the soft side is the face with the exposed support struts, the beams that brace the planks. The flat log face is the hard side. When you build, that strut side should always face into your base.
| Tool | Hard side | Soft side |
|---|---|---|
| Hatchet | 12 hatchets, about 12 minutes | 2 hatchets, about 1m 12s |
| Salvaged axe | 6 axes, about 7 minutes | 1 axe, about 42 seconds |
| Pickaxe | 11 pickaxes, about 16 minutes | 1 pickaxe, about 1m 34s |
| Salvaged icepick | 8 icepicks, about 9 minutes | 1 icepick, about 52 seconds |
| Jackhammer | About 4m 30s | About 27 seconds |
| Stone hatchet | 46 stone hatchets, about 19 minutes | 5 stone hatchets, about 2 minutes |
Even the hard side of a wooden wall is only a dozen hatchets away, which is why wood is called a speed bump. On the soft side, a single salvaged axe gets through in under a minute. Explosives and fire do the same damage from either side, so the soft side only matters for melee raids.
Wood Wall Upkeep and Decay
Upkeep is paid from your tool cupboard and scales with the size of your base. A wooden wall costs 20 to 66 wood a day, and if the cupboard runs dry it decays from full health in about 3 hours, the shortest of any upgraded tier.
| Wall tier | Upkeep per wall a day | Decay with no upkeep |
|---|---|---|
| Twig | 5 to 17 wood | 1 hour |
| Wood | 20 to 66 wood | 3 hours |
| Stone | 30 to 99 stone | 5 hours |
| Sheet Metal | 20 to 66 metal fragments | 8 hours |
| Armored | 3 to 8 HQM | 12 hours |
Wood upkeep is the easiest to keep stocked, since wood is the most common resource in the game. The Rust decay guide explains how the upkeep range grows with base size.
Wood Wall vs Stone Wall
Stone costs 300 stone instead of 200 wood, and for that you get double the health, immunity to fire, and a soft side that needs seven pickaxes instead of two hatchets. Raid cost jumps from 1 C4 to 2, and from 3 satchels to 10. For any wall you want to keep overnight, stone is worth it.
| Wood wall | Stone wall | |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 250 HP | 500 HP |
| Upgrade cost | 200 wood | 300 stone |
| C4 / rockets / satchels | 1 / 2 / 3 | 2 / 4 / 10 |
| Explosive ammo | 49 | 185 |
| Fire | Burns (4 molotovs) | Immune |
| Soft side | 2 hatchets | 7 pickaxes |
| Decay with no upkeep | 3 hours | 5 hours |
Upgrading never refunds the lower tier, so a wall that goes twig to wood to stone costs 200 wood more than going straight from twig to stone. If you already have the stone, skip wood entirely.
Wood Wall Building Tips
- Tool cupboard first. Without a TC anyone can build next to you, and nobody can upgrade anything. Place it, authorise, then hammer to wood.
- Stone before you log off. A wooden base can be burned by one player with four molotovs. Get at least the outer walls to stone before you go offline.
- Struts face inside. Rotate any wall whose strut side faces out. Rotation only works for a short time after placing or upgrading.
- The weakest piece sets the price. A wooden door is 200 HP, even weaker than the wall. Upgrade to a sheet metal door early.
- Wood is great for compounds. Cheap, quick wooden pieces and high external walls make good outer layers that slow raiders down.
- Skip the wood step when you can. Twig to stone in one click saves the 200 wood you would never get back.
Wood Wall Rust FAQ
How much HP does a wood wall have in Rust?
A wooden wall has 250 HP. Wooden half walls, low walls, doorways, windows, wall frames, floors and foundations all have the same 250 HP.
How much does a wood wall cost in Rust?
200 wood to upgrade a twig wall to wood with the Hammer, plus 50 wood to place the twig wall with the Building Plan. Doorways and windows cost 140 wood, and low walls and wall frames cost 100.
How many C4 does it take to break a wood wall?
One C4. A wooden wall also takes 2 rockets, 3 satchel charges, 49 explosive 5.56 rounds or 13 beancan grenades.
What is the cheapest way to raid a wood wall in Rust?
Fire. One incendiary rocket (300 sulfur) or 4 molotov cocktails (no sulfur) will burn down a wooden wall. With tools, 2 hatchets or 1 salvaged axe on the soft side breaks it in about a minute.
How many molotovs does it take to break a wood wall?
Four molotov cocktails break a 250 HP wooden wall in about 21 seconds. Molotovs do nothing to stone, sheet metal or armored walls.
Which side of a wood wall is the soft side?
The side with the exposed support struts. Melee tools do around ten times more damage on that side, so it should always face into your base.
How long does a wood wall take to decay in Rust?
About 3 hours from full health once the tool cupboard runs out of upkeep. Upkeep for one wooden wall is 20 to 66 wood a day depending on base size.
Is a wood wall worth it in Rust?
For your first night, yes: it stops anyone getting in with a rock and costs only 200 wood. For a base you want to keep while offline, upgrade to stone, which has double the health and cannot be burned.
Sources and Further Reading
- Wooden wall health, decay, upkeep and per-tool raid numbers: rustlabs building data, cross-checked with RustClash, Wooden Wall
- Wood piece upgrade costs: RustHelp, Wood Wall Half and RustHelp, Wood Wall Frame
- Building grades and the Hammer: Rustafied, Building: What you need to know