Your walls can be armored all the way round and the base still falls in a minute if the lid is weak. Roofs are the piece raiders look at first when they fly past in a minicopter, climb a ladder or line up an MLRS, because a lot of players upgrade the walls they can see from the ground and forget the tiles over their heads.
This roofs Rust guide covers the two roof pieces (the roof and the triangle roof), how to place them, what they cost at every tier, health and raid cost, where the soft side is, upkeep and decay, when a flat floor top is the better choice, and how to stop roof raids. For floors, foundations and walls, see our Rust building guide and Rust floors guide.
- Roof Pieces
- How to Place
- Build Cost
- HP and Raid Cost
- Soft Side
- Upkeep and Decay
- Roof vs Flat Top
- Stopping Roof Raids
- Tips
- FAQ
The Two Roof Pieces in Rust
The Building Plan has two roof pieces. Both are sloped tiles that sit on top of your walls, and both come in the same five tiers as every other building block: twig, wood, stone, sheet metal and armored.
- Roof. A sloped square tile that caps one square of your base. This is the one you will use for almost every roof.
- Triangle Roof. The triangle version, for capping triangle foundations and the corners of odd-shaped bases.
Unlike floors, there is no roof frame and nothing goes inside a roof. If you want a way onto the top of your base, that is a job for a floor frame and a ladder hatch, not a roof.
How to Place a Roof in Rust
- Equip the Building Plan and hold the right mouse button to open the building wheel.
- Pick Roof (or Triangle Roof for a triangle).
- Aim at the top edge of a wall. The roof snaps on at the height a floor would sit and slopes up from the wall you aimed at.
- Place roofs facing each other across the base to make a peak, and fill in the rest of the top the same way.
- Switch to the Hammer, look at the roof, hold the right mouse button and pick the tier to upgrade it, as long as you have the resources and building privilege from your tool cupboard.
The easiest way to cap a base is from inside: stand on the top floor, look up at the wall edge and place. Every roof starts as twig with 10 HP, so upgrade it straight away.
Roof Cost per Tier
A roof costs exactly the same as a floor of the same tier. The surprise is the triangle roof: a triangle floor costs half a floor, but a triangle roof costs the full price of a square roof.
| Tier | Roof | Triangle roof | Health |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twig | 25 wood | 25 wood | 10 HP |
| Wood | 100 wood | 100 wood | 250 HP |
| Stone | 150 stone | 150 stone | 500 HP |
| Sheet Metal | 100 metal fragments | 100 metal fragments | 1,000 HP |
| Armored | 13 HQM | 13 HQM | 2,000 HP |
For comparison, a wall is 200 wood, 300 stone, 200 metal fragments or 25 HQM, so a roof is half a wall. Sheet metal roofs are the cheapest serious upgrade for the price: 100 fragments buys a 1,000 HP tile, which is why our sheet metal guide recommends going metal on the top of a base as soon as you can.
Roof HP and Raid Cost
A roof has the same health as a wall of the same tier, and takes exactly the same number of explosives. Square and triangle roofs are identical here.
| Explosive | Wood roof | Stone roof | Sheet metal roof | Armored roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Rockets | 2 | 4 | 8 | 15 |
| Satchel charges | 3 | 10 | 23 | 46 |
| Explosive 5.56 ammo | 49 | 185 | 400 | 799 |
| Beancan grenades | 13 | 46 | 112 | 223 |
| MLRS rockets | 1 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Fire | 1 incendiary rocket or 4 molotovs | Immune | Immune | Immune |
In sulfur, C4 is the cheapest way through stone (2 C4, 4,400 sulfur), sheet metal (4 C4, 8,800) and armored (8 C4, 17,600). A wooden roof is the one tier you can burn: one incendiary rocket (300 sulfur) or four molotovs. Our Rust raid calculator adds up a full route for you.
Roof Soft Side
Every building block in Rust has a hard side and a soft side. Melee tools do far more damage to the soft side, which is how players pickaxe through walls they have no explosives for. On a roof, like a floor, the soft side is underneath, facing into your base.
That works in your favour. Raiders standing on top of your roof are hitting the hard side, so they need explosives, not pickaxes. The soft side only matters to someone who is already inside, for example after they come through a door, a window or a wall, or when a teammate needs to cut a new way up. It is also why you should never stack your base so that an outside area sits under one of your roofs.
| Roof | Pickaxe, top (hard side) | Pickaxe, underneath (soft side) |
|---|---|---|
| Stone | About 1h 45m | About 10m |
| Sheet Metal | About 8h 25m | About 51m |
| Armored | About 16h 50m | About 1h 41m |
Roof Upkeep and Decay
Roofs are charged upkeep by your tool cupboard like every other building block, and they cost the same as a floor. The range below runs from a small base to a large one, because upkeep per block goes up as a base grows.
| Tier | Upkeep per roof, per day | Decay without upkeep |
|---|---|---|
| Twig | 3 to 8 wood | 1 hour |
| Wood | 10 to 33 wood | 3 hours |
| Stone | 15 to 50 stone | 5 hours |
| Sheet Metal | 10 to 33 metal fragments | 8 hours |
| Armored | 1 to 4 HQM | 12 hours |
The decay column is how long a roof takes to rot from full health once the tool cupboard runs dry. Our Rust decay guide covers how upkeep scales with base size.
A roof also protects what is under it. Anything with a roof or floor tile above it counts as inside for decay. A minicopter lasts 8 hours outside but 48 hours under a roof, a wooden door goes from 3 hours to 30, and a RHIB under cover stops decaying altogether. You do not need walls for this, just a tile overhead.
Sloped Roof vs Flat Floor Top
A roof and a floor cost the same per tile, so you can cap a base either way. The choice comes down to what you want to do on top of it.
- Sloped roof: fine for starter bases, farm huts, boat and vehicle garages, and anything that only needs to be covered. It also makes it harder for players to stand and fight on top of your base.
- Flat floor top: the better choice for a main base you plan to defend. It gives you a level surface for a SAM site, an auto turret or solar panels, and you can ring it with half walls to shoot from.
Plenty of bases mix both: a flat, walled rooftop over the core with SAMs on it, and sloped roofs over the outer rooms and garages.
How to Stop Roof Raids
Roof raids are popular because they skip your thick outer walls and drop straight into the top of the base. Here is every common way in from above, and the answer to it.
- Minicopter drop. A raider lands on top and places C4. A SAM site on a flat rooftop shoots down anything that flies close, and it will not fire below its own height, so the top of the base is where it belongs.
- Ladder climb. Ladders go up any wall face. An auto turret on the roof covers the edges. High external walls keep raiders further out, but build them a gap away from the base so they are not a free climb onto your roof.
- Rockets into the roof. If the roof is a lower tier than the walls, it is the cheapest way in. Upgrade the roof to the same tier as your walls.
- MLRS barrage. MLRS rockets land from above and open roofs from range. SAM sites can shoot the barrage down, and an armored roof needs all 12 rockets on one tile.
- C4 straight down. Put an extra layer of floors (honeycomb) between the roof and your loot so one breach does not land in your loot room.
- An open roof hatch. Close and lock any hatch that leads onto the roof, and keep your tool cupboard and best loot low and deep in the base, never directly under the roof.
Roof Tips
- Never leave a roof twig. A twig roof has 10 HP. Anyone with a rock can open it.
- Match your walls. The roof is only as strong as its tier. A stone roof on a metal base is the weak spot.
- Go sheet metal early. At 100 fragments a tile, a metal roof is cheap compared to the 4 C4 it takes to break.
- Honeycomb the top. One extra floor layer under the roof doubles what a top-down raid costs.
- Go flat if you want defences. SAMs, turrets and solar panels want a flat floor to sit on.
- Roof your vehicles. A tile overhead is worth 40 extra hours to a parked minicopter.
Planning a big upgrade? Every roof you build goes when the map resets, so check the force wipe countdown before you sink a wipe’s worth of HQM into armored roofs.
Rust Roofs FAQ
How much does a roof cost in Rust?
A roof costs the same as a floor: 25 wood as twig, 100 wood, 150 stone, 100 metal fragments or 13 high quality metal. That is half the cost of a wall of the same tier.
Is a triangle roof cheaper than a roof in Rust?
No. Unlike triangle floors, a triangle roof costs the same as a square roof at every tier: 25 wood, 100 wood, 150 stone, 100 metal fragments or 13 HQM. It also has the same health and upkeep.
How much HP does a roof have in Rust?
The same as a wall of the same tier: 10 HP twig, 250 HP wood, 500 HP stone, 1,000 HP sheet metal and 2,000 HP armored.
How many C4 does it take to break a roof in Rust?
One C4 for a wooden roof, 2 for stone, 4 for sheet metal and 8 for armored. In rockets that is 2, 4, 8 and 15. Triangle roofs take the same amount.
Where is the soft side of a roof in Rust?
Underneath, facing into your base. Raiders standing on top hit the hard side and need explosives. From below, a stone roof can be picked through in about 10 minutes.
How do you place a roof in Rust?
Equip the Building Plan, hold the right mouse button, pick Roof or Triangle Roof and aim at the top edge of a wall. Then switch to the Hammer, hold the right mouse button on the roof and pick a tier to upgrade it.
Should I use a roof or a flat floor on top of my base?
Both cost the same per tile. Use a flat floor top on a main base you want to defend, because it holds SAM sites, auto turrets and solar panels and you can wall it with half walls. Sloped roofs are fine for starter bases, farm huts and garages.
Does a roof stop vehicle decay in Rust?
Yes. Any roof or floor tile overhead counts as inside. A minicopter lasts 8 hours outside and 48 hours under a roof, and you do not need walls around it.
Sources
- Roof health, decay, upkeep and per-tool raid numbers: rustlabs building data, cross-checked with RustClash, Stone Roof and RustClash, Armored Roof
- Triangle roof cost: RustHelp, Stone Roof Triangle and RustHelp, Metal Roof Triangle
- Sheet metal roof: RustHelp, Metal Roof