The Molotov Cocktail is the cheapest raid tool in Rust. It is a glass bottle of low grade fuel that smashes on impact and leaves a pool of fire behind. Against anything made of wood that fire is brutal, and it costs you zero sulfur.
Against stone and metal it does nothing at all. Knowing exactly where that line sits is what makes molotovs so good. This molotov Rust guide covers the craft cost, where the fuel comes from, what fire can and cannot burn, how many molotovs every common target takes, and how to use them or stop them.
- What It Is
- Stats
- Craft a Molotov
- Getting the Fuel
- What Burns
- Raid Chart
- Molotov vs Others
- How to Throw
- Tips and Counters
- FAQ
What Is a Molotov in Rust?
The game describes it as “a glass bottle filled with low grade fuel. Smashes and spreads fire when it lands, incredibly high damage to wood and players but ineffective against stronger materials.” You throw it like a grenade. When it breaks it sets the area on fire, and that fire keeps burning anything flammable it touches for around 20 seconds.
That makes it two things at once. In a fight it is area denial: players standing in the flames take heavy damage, so a molotov through a doorway or onto a roof clears people out. In a raid it is a free key to anything wooden, because fire damage ignores the armor that makes explosives so expensive on wood.
Molotov Cocktail Stats
| Stat | Molotov Cocktail |
|---|---|
| Craft cost | 50 Low Grade Fuel, 10 Cloth |
| Workbench | Workbench 2 |
| Craft time | 10 s, 5 s at a Workbench 3 |
| Research | 30 scrap at a Research Table, or the Workbench 2 tech tree |
| Sulfur cost | None |
| Damage type | Fire (heat), on impact and from the burning ground |
| Burns | Twig, wood, wooden doors and most deployables |
| Immune | Stone, sheet metal and armored building blocks and doors |
| Stack size | 3 (was 5 before September 3, 2026) |
| Despawn time | 20 minutes on the ground |
| Recycles into | 30 Low Grade Fuel, 6 Cloth (20 and 4 in a safe zone recycler) |
| Shortname / Item ID | grenade.molotov / 1556365900 |
The item ID is also in our Rust item IDs list if you need it for admin commands.
How to Craft a Molotov in Rust
The molotov is not a default blueprint. Put one in a Research Table with 30 scrap, or unlock it on the Workbench 2 page of the tech tree. Then craft it at a Workbench 2 from:
- 50 Low Grade Fuel, the part that actually burns.
- 10 Cloth, the rag in the bottle.
Each one takes 10 seconds, or 5 seconds at a Workbench 3. They stack to 3 since the Breach and Clear update on September 3, 2026, so a raid set of ten molotovs takes four inventory slots.
Where to Get the Low Grade Fuel
Fifty low grade fuel per bottle adds up fast, so it pays to know where it comes from:
- Craft it from 3 Animal Fat and 1 Cloth, which makes 4 low grade with no workbench. One molotov needs about 38 fat and 13 extra cloth this way. A bear or a boar gives a lot of fat.
- Refine crude oil in a Small Oil Refinery, where 1 Crude Oil becomes 3 Low Grade Fuel. That is about 17 crude per molotov.
- Loot it from red oil barrels along roads and at monuments, which drop crude oil and low grade.
What Can a Molotov Burn?
This is the rule that decides every molotov raid: only twig and wood take fire damage. Stone, sheet metal and armored walls, floors and doors take none from molotovs, incendiary rockets, fire arrows or flamethrowers. Our wood wall guide and sheet metal guide cover the building side of that in detail.
Deployables are different. Most of them burn regardless of how they look, including the tool cupboard, boxes, sleeping bags, furnaces, workbenches, turrets and SAM sites. That is why a molotov is still useful against a stone base once you are inside it.
How Many Molotovs? Raid Chart
| Target | Molotovs | Low grade | About |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twig wall, floor or foundation | 1 | 50 | 18 s |
| Tool Cupboard | 1 | 50 | 18 s |
| Sleeping Bag, Bed, Large Wood Box | 1 | 50 | 18 s |
| Wooden Door or Wood Double Door | 2 | 100 | 19 s |
| SAM Site, Furnace, Workbench 1 | 2 | 100 | 19 s |
| Wooden Wall, Floor, Doorway or Window | 4 | 200 | 21 s |
| Wooden Window Bars, Shop Front | 4 | 200 | 21 s |
| Large Furnace, Small Oil Refinery | 5 | 250 | 22 s |
| Wooden High External Wall or Gate | 7 | 350 | 24 s |
| Auto Turret | 7 | 350 | 24 s |
| Minicopter | 11 | 550 | 28 s |
| Workbench 2 | 14 | 700 | 31 s |
| Workbench 3 | 21 | 1,050 | 38 s |
| Stone, Sheet Metal or Armored anything | Immune | – | – |
Times are for all the molotovs thrown together, so the fire burns at once. To price out a full route through walls and doors, use our Rust raid calculator.
Molotov vs Other Raid Tools
| Tool (one wooden door) | Amount | Sulfur |
|---|---|---|
| Molotov Cocktail | 2 | 0 |
| Fire Arrows | 50 | 0 |
| 12 Gauge Incendiary Shells | 16 | 0 |
| Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo | About 18 | About 450 |
| Satchel Charge | 2 | 960 |
| Rocket | 1 | 1,400 |
| C4 | 1 | 2,200 |
For a wooden wall the only cheaper option in sulfur terms is one incendiary rocket (300 sulfur), and molotovs still beat it at zero. Once the wall turns to stone, fire is useless and you switch to explosives.
How to Throw a Molotov
- Put it on your hotbar and select it.
- Aim with the arc in mind. It flies like a grenade, so aim a little above where you want it to land.
- Hit the bottom of the target. The fire sits on the ground, so a molotov at the base of a wooden door or wall keeps burning against it.
- Stay out of the flames. Fire on the ground hurts you as much as it hurts the door.
- Wait it out. The fire burns for around 20 seconds. Throw all the bottles you need together on the same spot so the damage stacks.
Molotov Tips and Counters
- Look for wooden doors. A stone base with a wooden door is a two molotov raid. Burn the door, not the wall.
- Burn the TC, then claim. One molotov kills a tool cupboard. Place your own and the base is yours to strip.
- Clear rooftop SAMs for free. Two molotovs kill an exposed SAM site, so do not waste rockets on them.
- Upgrade before you log off. A wooden starter base falls to four molotovs per wall. Stone ignores fire completely.
- Swap to metal doors. A sheet metal door costs 150 metal fragments and takes zero fire damage, which takes molotovs off the table.
- Keep the TC deep. Put the tool cupboard behind stone and metal, never next to a wooden window or doorway a raider can throw into.
Molotov Rust FAQ
How do you make a molotov in Rust?
Craft it at a Workbench 2 from 50 low grade fuel and 10 cloth. You need the blueprint first, which costs 30 scrap at a Research Table or on the Workbench 2 tech tree.
How many molotovs does it take to break a wooden door?
Two molotovs break a wooden door in about 19 seconds. A wood double door also takes two.
How many molotovs for a wooden wall in Rust?
Four molotovs break a wooden wall in about 21 seconds. Wooden floors, doorways and windows also take four.
Do molotovs damage stone in Rust?
No. Stone, sheet metal and armored building blocks and doors are immune to fire. Molotovs only damage twig, wood and burnable deployables like the tool cupboard, boxes and turrets.
How many molotovs for a tool cupboard?
One molotov destroys a tool cupboard, which has 100 HP. Bring a second in case the first does not land cleanly.
What workbench do you need for a molotov?
A Workbench 2. It takes 10 seconds to craft there and 5 seconds at a Workbench 3.
What is the stack size of molotovs in Rust?
Molotov Cocktails stack to 3 per inventory slot. The Breach and Clear update on September 3, 2026 lowered it from 5.