The Survey Charge is one of the strangest items left in Rust. It looks like a small bomb, it costs gunpowder like a raid tool, and its description still tells you to use it to find resources for mining. Years ago that is exactly what it did: you threw it, read what was in the ground, and dropped your own Mining Quarry on the crater. That part of the game is gone, but the charge is still here.
This survey charge Rust guide covers the craft cost and blueprint, what one charge really costs in sulfur, how to use it, what pops out of the crater, why you cannot place your own quarry or pump jack any more, how it compares with other ways to spend the same gunpowder, and what to do with one if you find it.
What Is the Survey Charge in Rust?
The Survey Charge is a throwable tool. Its in-game description reads “Use this on the terrain to see which resources are available for mining.” You hold it like a grenade, throw it, and after a short fuse it explodes, digs a small crater and throws a few resource items out of the ground.
It was built for an older system. Players used to survey a spot, see what the ground held, and then craft and place their own Mining Quarry or Pump Jack on the crater. Facepunch removed player-placed quarries and pump jacks, and today they only exist as static machines at monuments that anyone can fuel. The charge itself stayed in the game with a working recipe, which is why so many old guides and videos still describe the survey-then-quarry routine.
So in 2026 the Survey Charge is a small, expensive way to dig up a few ores, and not much else. The rest of this page shows the numbers so you can decide for yourself.
Survey Charge Stats
| Stat | Survey Charge |
|---|---|
| Recipe | 30 Gunpowder, 20 Low Grade Fuel, 10 Metal Fragments, 5 Cloth |
| Crafted at | Workbench Level 2 |
| Craft time | 15 seconds (faster at Workbench 3) |
| Blueprint | Not known by default, 120 scrap to research or unlock |
| Fuse | 5 seconds |
| Explosion damage | 20 |
| Explosion radius | About 5 m |
| Resources per crater | 0 to 5 each of sulfur ore, metal ore, metal fragments, stones; 0 to 3 HQM ore |
| Recycle (monument recycler, 60%) | 18 Gunpowder, 12 Low Grade Fuel, 6 Metal Fragments, 3 Cloth |
| Recycle (safe zone recycler, 40%) | 12 Gunpowder, 8 Low Grade Fuel, 4 Metal Fragments, 2 Cloth |
| Stack size | 10 |
| Despawn time | 5 minutes on the ground |
| Shortname / Item ID | surveycharge / 1975934948 |
Every other shortname and ID is in our full Rust item IDs list, and our Rust crafting calculator works out the full cost for any number of charges.
How to Craft a Survey Charge in Rust
- Get the blueprint. Research a Survey Charge at a Research Table for 120 scrap, or unlock it from the Workbench Level 2 page of the tech tree for the same price.
- Stand at a Workbench Level 2. Our Workbench Level 2 guide covers the bench cost and what else it unlocks.
- Load the ingredients. 30 gunpowder, 20 low grade fuel, 10 metal fragments and 5 cloth.
- Craft it. Each charge takes 15 seconds, and they stack to 10.
How Much Sulfur Is a Survey Charge?
Gunpowder is made from 30 charcoal and 20 sulfur for 10 gunpowder, and low grade fuel is 3 animal fat and 1 cloth for 4 fuel. Broken down to the things you actually farm, one Survey Charge costs:
| Raw resource | Per charge | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Sulfur | 60 | 30 gunpowder |
| Charcoal | 90 | 30 gunpowder |
| Animal fat | 15 | 20 low grade fuel |
| Cloth | 10 | 5 in the fuel, 5 in the recipe |
| Metal fragments | 10 | Straight into the recipe |
How to Use a Survey Charge
- Put it on your hotbar and equip it. It is held like a grenade.
- Throw it onto natural ground. Open dirt or grass works. Roads, rocks, monuments and building blocks are not terrain, so you will get the bang but no crater.
- Back off for 5 seconds. The blast reaches about 5 m and does 20 damage, so do not stand on it naked.
- Pick up what pops out. A crater opens and a few resource items fly out of the ground around it. They despawn like any dropped item, so grab them straight away.
What Does a Survey Charge Give You?
Each crater throws out a random mix. The type and amount match what a quarry on that spot would have produced, which is why it was once used to scout quarry sites:
- Sulfur ore: 0 to 5
- Metal ore: 0 to 5
- Metal fragments: 0 to 5
- Stones: 0 to 5
- High quality metal ore: 0 to 3
Put that next to normal farming and the problem is obvious. A single stone node gives up to 1,000 stones with a pickaxe (see our stones guide), and one metal node gives hundreds of metal ore plus some HQM. Even a perfect survey crater with 5 sulfur ore gives back less than a tenth of the 60 sulfur you spent.
Can You Still Place a Quarry With a Survey Charge?
No. Player-placed Mining Quarries and Pump Jacks were removed from vanilla Rust. Neither item has a recipe, and you cannot deploy one on a survey crater, even an oil crater. Some modded servers bring them back with plugins, but on official and vanilla community servers the old routine does nothing.
The machines that are left are static and shared by the whole server:
- Sulfur Quarry, Stone Quarry and HQM Quarry monuments, which run on diesel.
- Monument pump jacks for crude oil, which also run on diesel.
- The Giant Excavator, the biggest resource machine on the map.
Is a Survey Charge Worth It?
For almost every player, no. Here is what the same 30 gunpowder buys instead:
| Option | Cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Survey Charge | 30 GP, 20 fuel, 10 frags, 5 cloth | 0 to 5 of each ore, 20 damage blast |
| Handmade Shells | 30 GP, 30 stones | 12 shells for an eoka or waterpipe |
| Beancan Grenade | 60 GP, 20 frags | Half a beancan per survey charge |
| Recycle a found charge | Free if looted | 18 GP, 12 fuel, 6 frags, 3 cloth (60% recycler) |
It is not a raid tool either. 20 damage a blast barely scratches a door or wall, so rockets, satchels and C4 are the only explosives worth the sulfur. If you want an explosive for fighting players at range, look at the HV rocket instead. The only time a Survey Charge makes sense is when you already have one: put it through a recycler and turn it back into gunpowder.
Survey Charge Tips
- Recycle spares. Each one is 18 gunpowder back at a monument recycler, which is 36 sulfur you did not have to farm.
- Do not research it early. 120 scrap is better spent on a gun, armor or the Workbench 2 items you actually use.
- Never farm with it. Swinging a pickaxe at one node beats a whole stack of survey charges.
- Respect the fuse. 5 seconds and about 5 m. It will not kill a geared player, but it will hurt a naked one.
- Check your server. Some modded servers re-enable player quarries. On those, surveying a spot first still matters, so read the server rules before wipe. Our home page shows when the next force wipe is.
Rust Survey Charge FAQ
What does a survey charge do in Rust?
It is a thrown explosive that blasts a small crater in natural ground after a 5 second fuse. The crater throws out 0 to 5 each of sulfur ore, metal ore, metal fragments and stones, and 0 to 3 high quality metal ore. It no longer lets you place your own quarry or pump jack.
How do you craft a survey charge in Rust?
Learn the blueprint for 120 scrap, then craft it at a Workbench Level 2 from 30 gunpowder, 20 low grade fuel, 10 metal fragments and 5 cloth. It takes 15 seconds.
How much sulfur is a survey charge?
60 sulfur, because its 30 gunpowder needs 60 sulfur and 90 charcoal. The 20 low grade fuel adds 15 animal fat and 5 cloth.
Can you still place a quarry with a survey charge?
No. Player-placed Mining Quarries and Pump Jacks were removed from vanilla Rust and have no recipe. Quarries and pump jacks now only exist at monuments, where anyone can fuel them with diesel.
Is the survey charge admin only?
Some older wiki pages say so, because its recipe was pulled together with the quarry in December 2017. The current game item data lists it as craftable at a Workbench Level 2 with a 120 scrap blueprint.
How much damage does a survey charge do?
About 20 damage in a roughly 5 m radius. That is enough to hurt a naked player but far too little to raid doors or walls.
What do you get for recycling a survey charge?
A monument recycler at 60% gives 18 gunpowder, 12 low grade fuel, 6 metal fragments and 3 cloth. A safe zone recycler gives 12 gunpowder, 8 low grade fuel, 4 metal fragments and 2 cloth.
What is the survey charge item ID?
The shortname is surveycharge and the item ID is 1975934948.
Sources and Further Reading
- Recipe, workbench, craft time and blueprint data: Rust game item data (rust-game-icons)
- Crater yields and history: Rust Wiki, Survey Charge
- Damage, radius and fuse: RustClash Wiki, Survey Charge
- Item page: Facepunch Wiki, Survey Charge
- Removal of the quarry and survey charge recipes in 2017: The Cutting Room Floor, Rust