The flame turret is the fire trap of Rust. Load it with low grade fuel, set it down inside your tool cupboard range, and it sprays a burst of flame at any player who walks in front of it without building privilege. It needs no electricity, no wiring and no ammo, which makes it one of the first real defences you can put in a base.
This Rust flame turret guide covers what it costs, how to get the blueprint, how much fuel it uses, who it targets, where to place it so it does not burn your own base down, how to destroy one when you raid, and how it compares to the other base traps.
Flame Turret Cost in Rust
The flame turret is a Workbench Level 1 item, and every part of the recipe is easy to find in the first hours of a wipe. Empty propane tanks come from barrels and roadside crates, and gears come from crates and recycling.
| Stat | Flame Turret |
|---|---|
| Ingredients | 200 Metal Fragments, 2 Empty Propane Tanks, 1 Gears |
| Workbench | Level 1 |
| Craft time | 30 seconds (faster at a higher workbench) |
| Research cost | 30 scrap |
| Fuel | Low Grade Fuel, up to 500 |
| Power | None |
| Health | 300 HP |
| Stack size | 1 |
| Despawn time | 20 minutes when dropped |
| Recycles into | 120 metal fragments, 2 empty propane tanks and a 60% chance of 1 gears (80 frags, 1 tank and a 40% chance of gears at safe zone recyclers) |
| Item ID | 528668503 (flameturret) |
How to Get a Flame Turret
There are three easy ways to get one:
- Research it. Put a flame turret in a research table with 30 scrap and you learn the blueprint.
- Tech tree. It is a node on the Workbench Level 1 tree at the same 30 scrap node price. The Rust tech tree guide shows the path to it.
- Buy one. The weapons vending machine at Outpost sells finished flame turrets for about 250 scrap. Prices move with stock, so check the machine on your server.
Flame Turret Fuel
The flame turret runs on low grade fuel, not electricity. Open it, drop low grade into the fuel slot, and it is armed. It holds up to 500 low grade.
It only burns fuel while it is spraying. A turret that sits in a quiet room uses nothing, so a full tank lasts a long time. Players who have tested it put a full 500 at roughly a quarter of an hour of nonstop firing, which is many raids’ worth of short bursts.
How the Flame Turret Works
The flame turret has no authorisation list of its own. Instead it reads building privilege from your tool cupboard. Anyone authorised on the cupboard that covers the turret is safe. Anyone who is not, and walks in front of it, gets burned.
- Authorise everyone on the TC. Teammates who are not on the cupboard get burned like anyone else.
- Place it inside the cupboard range. Placement needs building privilege anyway.
- Fuel it. Low grade in the slot is all it needs.
- Let it work. When a target steps into its short range in front, it turns to face them and sprays flame in bursts of about 5 seconds until they leave or die.
The fire does damage over time and makes it hard for the target to fight back from inside the cone. Its range is short, only a few metres, so it is a close quarters trap. Anyone standing further back can shoot it without being touched.
Where to Place a Flame Turret
The fire does not only hit players. It sets wood on fire too, so where you put a flame turret matters as much as having one.
- Behind a door in an airlock. Raiders who open the door step straight into the flames, and they cannot shoot the turret from range.
- In stone or metal rooms. Sheet metal takes zero fire damage, so the turret cannot hurt your walls.
- Next to a shotgun trap. Both read the cupboard, both need no power, and together they cover a doorway hard.
- Not next to wooden boxes or wood walls. The fire can spread to wood and burn it, including your own wooden doors.
How to Destroy a Flame Turret
The flame turret has only 300 HP. The cheapest answer is to stay out of its short range and shoot it, or throw one explosive.
| Tool | Amount | Sulfur |
|---|---|---|
| High Velocity Rocket | 1 | 200 |
| F1 Grenade | 5 | 300 |
| Satchel Charge | 1 | 480 |
| Beancan Grenade | 7 | 840 |
| Explosive 5.56 | 34 | 850 |
| Rocket | 2 | 2,800 |
| Timed Explosive Charge (C4) | 1 | 2,200 (overkill) |
| Assault Rifle, normal 5.56 | 60 rounds | About 12 seconds of fire |
| Jackhammer | 1 | About 6 seconds |
| Hatchet | 1 | About 32 seconds, inside its range |
Melee is a bad idea unless the turret is out of fuel, since you have to stand in the flames to swing. For the full cost of any raid, use the Rust raid calculator.
Flame Turret vs Other Base Traps
The flame turret is not a replacement for an auto turret. It is a cheap, power free trap for the rooms raiders have to walk through.
| Trap | Bench | Health | Runs on | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flame Turret | WB1 | 300 HP | Low grade fuel | Airlocks, no power |
| Shotgun Trap | WB1 | 300 HP | Handmade shells | Cheap early defence |
| Tesla Coil | WB2 | 250 HP | 1 to 35 rW | Close range kill rooms |
| Auto Turret | WB2 | 1,000 HP | 10 rW plus a gun and ammo | Long range, main defence |
Rust Flame Turret Tips
- Auth your team. Anyone not on the tool cupboard gets burned, friends included.
- Upgrade to metal first. Then the fire only hurts raiders, not your walls.
- Hide it by a door. A turret raiders cannot see from range is a turret they have to walk into.
- Keep it fuelled. It uses nothing while idle, so a full tank is cheap insurance.
- Stack your traps. A flame turret and a shotgun trap on the same doorway need no power between them.
- Do not make it your main defence. The range is short. Use auto turrets for the open areas and flame turrets for the tight spots.
Fire is also the cheapest way into wooden bases. See the molotov guide for what fire does to doors and walls, and the Rust item IDs list for the flame turret spawn name.
Rust Flame Turret FAQ
How much does a flame turret cost in Rust?
A flame turret costs 200 metal fragments, 2 empty propane tanks and 1 gears at a Workbench Level 1. The blueprint costs 30 scrap to research.
Does the flame turret need power in Rust?
No. The flame turret runs on low grade fuel and needs no electricity or wiring. It holds up to 500 low grade.
How long does a flame turret’s fuel last?
It only burns fuel while it is spraying, so it uses nothing while idle. A full 500 low grade gives roughly a quarter of an hour of nonstop firing.
Does a flame turret hurt the owner or teammates?
Not if they are authorised on the tool cupboard that covers the turret. It ignores anyone with building privilege there and burns everyone else, so make sure every teammate is on the cupboard.
How much HP does a flame turret have?
A flame turret has 300 HP. One satchel charge, one high velocity rocket, 5 F1 grenades or 60 normal assault rifle rounds will destroy it.
Can a flame turret burn my own base?
Yes. Its fire can set wood on fire, including wood walls, wooden doors and wooden boxes. Stone and sheet metal do not burn, so put flame turrets in stone or metal rooms.
Where can you buy a flame turret in Rust?
The weapons vending machine at Outpost sells finished flame turrets for about 250 scrap. Researching the blueprint for 30 scrap is much cheaper if you want more than one.
Sources and Further Reading
- Recipe, recycling, despawn and raid numbers: rustlabs item data
- Facepunch Rust Wiki, Flame Turret
- Corrosion Hour, Flame Turret
- RustClash Wiki, Flame Turret
- Every item ID: Rust item IDs list