The Sulfur Quarry is the closest thing Rust has to a raid printer. It has no keycard puzzle, no scientists and no radiation, yet it quietly drops a thousand sulfur ore for every unit of diesel you feed it. Sulfur is the single most important resource in the raiding economy, because every rocket, every satchel and every stick of C4 traces back to it, and this one roadside monument turns fuel into that ammunition while you stand there and guard the hopper.
The catch is the same as its two sibling quarries: nobody owns it. You cannot lock it, you cannot base on top of it, and the machine is loud enough to announce to the whole area that a stack of explosives is being mined. That is what makes the Sulfur Quarry Rust experience less about mining and more about who is willing to hold the ground when the ore lands.
This guide covers all of it: exactly how much sulfur the quarry gives per diesel, how to run it, how to smelt and cook the ore into gunpowder and explosives, how it stacks up against the HQM Quarry, the Stone Quarry and the Giant Excavator, why you can no longer place your own quarry, and how groups take and hold it. Every number here is cross checked against RustHelp, Corrosion Hour, RustClash and the Facepunch wiki.
- What It Is
- Sulfur Quarry Stats
- How to Use It
- Sulfur Per Diesel
- Smelting the Ore
- Sulfur and Raiding
- Sulfur vs HQM vs Stone
- You Cannot Place One
- Taking Control
- Quarry vs Excavator
- Is It Worth It?
- Pro Tips
- FAQ
What Is the Sulfur Quarry in Rust?
The Sulfur Quarry is one of three static mining quarries baked into every Rust map. Each one is a small, unremarkable dug pit sitting beside a road with a mechanical mining rig planted in it. There is the Sulfur Quarry, the HQM Quarry and the Stone Quarry, and each is hard coded to produce only its named resource. The Sulfur Quarry produces Sulfur Ore, full stop. You cannot switch it to metal or stone.
Think of it exactly like a pump jack, but for sulfur instead of crude oil. You feed it diesel, flip it on, walk away, and come back to a hopper full of ore. It is world furniture, not equipment. It has no owner, no lock and no building privilege, the same way a small oil refinery or a recycler at a monument belongs to whoever is standing at it.
What makes the Sulfur Quarry matter is what sulfur becomes. Sulfur is the backbone of every explosive in the game. It smelts into raw Sulfur, that sulfur cooks into Gun Powder, and gun powder is the core of rockets, satchels, C4, grenades and explosive ammo. A running Sulfur Quarry is not really farming a resource, it is farming raids, which is exactly why it is one of the two quarries anybody actually fights over.
Sulfur Quarry Rust Stats
| Stat | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monument type | Small roadside quarry | One of three, static on every map |
| Runs on | Diesel Fuel | Changed from low grade in Dec 2022 |
| Output per 1 diesel | 1,000 Sulfur Ore | The headline number |
| Burn time | ~2 min 5 sec | About 29 diesel an hour at full tilt |
| Output form | Sulfur Ore | Smelts 1 to 1 into Sulfur |
| Fuel slot and hopper | Public | No lock, no code, no privilege |
| Radiation | None | No hazmat needed |
| Safe zone | No | Full PvP, expect company |
| Scientists | None | No NPCs guarding it |
| Recycler on site | None | Bring loot home to recycle |
| No-build area | 15,393 m² | You cannot base on top of it |
| Can you destroy it | No | Part of the map, not a raid target |
How to Use the Sulfur Quarry in Rust
Running the Sulfur Quarry is about as simple as Rust monuments get. There is no puzzle, no hazmat requirement and no keycard. The only thing you need to bring is Diesel Fuel and, ideally, a plan for smelting and cooking the ore afterwards.
- Find the quarry. The Sulfur Quarry is a fixed roadside monument. On the in game map it is a small quarry icon, and on the ground it is a shallow dug pit with the mining rig in the middle. It never moves for the wipe.
- Load diesel fuel. Hold E on the engine and drop Diesel Fuel into the fuel slot. One diesel runs a single cycle of about two minutes. Twenty diesel is a full stack and roughly 42 minutes of run time.
- Turn it on and let it dig. Start the engine and the mining arm begins swinging. It drops 1,000 Sulfur Ore into the output hopper per diesel burned. It is loud, so anyone in the area knows it is running.
- Collect, smelt and cook. Hold E on the output hopper to take the Sulfur Ore, smelt it into Sulfur in a furnace, then cook that sulfur into Gun Powder at a mixing table when you are ready to make explosives.
Sulfur Quarry Rates: How Much Sulfur Per Diesel
This is the number everyone actually searches for. One unit of Diesel Fuel produces 1,000 Sulfur Ore and takes about 2 minutes 5 seconds to burn. That works out to roughly 29 diesel an hour if you keep it topped up, the same burn rate the pump jack and the other quarries share. Sulfur ore smelts one to one, so 1,000 ore becomes 1,000 Sulfur.
| Diesel loaded | Sulfur ore out | Run time | Sulfur after smelting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,000 | ~2 min 5 sec | 1,000 |
| 5 | 5,000 | ~10 min | 5,000 |
| 10 | 10,000 | ~21 min | 10,000 |
| 20 (full stack) | 20,000 | ~42 min | 20,000 |
The yield scales in a straight line. There is no bulk bonus for loading more diesel, so five diesel and twenty diesel earn exactly the same per unit. The only reason to load a full stack is to save yourself trips back and forth, and the only reason not to is that a full stack means 42 minutes of an unlocked hopper filling up with raid materials while you are not looking.
Smelting Sulfur Ore Into Sulfur
The Sulfur Quarry gives you ore, not raw sulfur. Sulfur Ore does nothing on its own. You have to run it through a furnace to turn it into Sulfur, but the good news is this is fast. Per the Facepunch wiki, sulfur ore smelts one to one, at roughly one every 1.7 seconds in a normal furnace. A batch of 1,000 ore cooks in a little under half an hour, and a large furnace or an electric furnace clears it far faster. Compared to HQM ore, which crawls at one every 6.7 seconds, sulfur is a breeze to process.
Because a single furnace has a limited number of smelting slots, the real bottleneck at scale is furnace count, not smelt speed. If you are running a full stack of diesel through the quarry, have a large furnace or a bank of furnaces ready at home so the 20,000 ore does not sit around as dead weight, or worse, sit in an unlocked hopper waiting to be stolen.
What Sulfur Is For: The Raiding Economy
Here is why the Sulfur Quarry is worth caring about. Sulfur is the raiding currency of Rust. Every explosive you use to break into a base is, at its core, sulfur. The chain is always the same: Sulfur Ore → Sulfur → Gun Powder → explosives. Gun Powder is 20 sulfur plus 30 charcoal for a batch of 10 at a workbench, or 10 sulfur plus 10 charcoal at a mixing table, and every rocket, satchel and C4 is built on top of it.
Put the quarry’s output next to real raid costs and the value snaps into focus. These are the sulfur costs of the main explosives, all matching the Rust raid calculator:
| Explosive | Sulfur each | From 1 diesel (1,000) | From a full stack (20,000) |
|---|---|---|---|
| C4 | 2,200 | ~0.45 | ~9 |
| Rocket | 1,400 | ~0.7 | ~14 |
| Satchel Charge | 480 | ~2 | ~41 |
| Explosive 5.56 | 25 | 40 | 800 |
| Gun Powder | 2 | 500 | 10,000 |
So a single diesel is roughly half a C4 of raw sulfur, and a full stack is close to nine C4 or fourteen rockets, mined without swinging a pickaxe at a single node. That is enough to open most bases on a wipe. Sulfur also needs charcoal to become gunpowder, and explosives need extra parts like metal fragments, low grade fuel and tech trash, so treat these numbers as the sulfur half of the bill, not the whole recipe. But sulfur is the expensive half, and the quarry hands it to you in bulk.
Sulfur Quarry vs HQM Quarry vs Stone Quarry
All three quarries look identical and work identically. They are static, they run on diesel, they burn one unit in about two minutes, and their fuel and output slots are public. The only thing that changes is what comes out of the hopper.
| Quarry | Fuel | Output per 1 diesel | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sulfur QuarryRaiding | Diesel Fuel | 1,000 Sulfur Ore | Gunpowder, rockets, C4 |
| HQM Quarry | Diesel Fuel | 50 HQM Ore | Armor, turrets, workbenches |
| Stone Quarry | Diesel Fuel | 5,000 Stone + 1,000 Metal Ore | Base building bulk |
The Sulfur Quarry and the HQM Quarry are the two that groups actually fight over, for opposite reasons. Sulfur comes out in huge numbers because it is a bulk resource that gets burned by the thousand every raid. HQM ore comes out in tiny numbers because High Quality Metal is worth far more per unit and is the rarest thing to farm by hand. The Stone Quarry is mostly a curiosity, since almost nobody struggles for stone, though the 1,000 metal ore it also drops is a minor bonus.
If your wipe plan is offense, the Sulfur Quarry is your machine. If it is defense and building, the HQM Quarry is the prize. Many groups run both across a wipe: sulfur before a raid night, HQM when it is time to upgrade to armored walls and auto turrets.
Can You Place Your Own Quarry in Rust?
No. This is the single most common misconception about quarries, so it is worth being blunt: you cannot craft, research or place your own Mining Quarry on a vanilla Rust server. The only quarries in the game are the three static ones on the map.
It was not always this way. Years ago you could throw a Survey Charge, read how much of each resource a patch of ground held, and then place your own Mining Quarry or pump jack right on the crater. Facepunch removed that entire flow. The deployable Mining Quarry lost its recipe, and both machines were rebuilt as fixed monuments for everyone to share.
How to Take Control of the Sulfur Quarry
Because the Sulfur Quarry cannot be locked, “controlling” it does not mean owning it. It means occupying it. You do not put a code lock on the hopper, you put a body next to it. This is the part of Sulfur Quarry Rust play that separates the groups who actually get the sulfur from the ones who keep feeding diesel to strangers.
The tactics that matter:
- Presence is ownership. Whoever stands on the hopper when the ore drops collects it, even if a rival paid for the diesel. Never leave a running quarry unattended on a busy server.
- Wall it or watch it. The no build zone stops you basing directly on the quarry, but organised clans cage the surrounding ground with high external walls and auto turrets so only they can reach the output. It is a big commitment, and it paints a target on you.
- It is loud, and the loot is explosives. A running quarry can be heard across the area, and other players know a sulfur run means raid materials. Assume someone heard it and is on the way.
- Bring the diesel and a furnace plan. No diesel means no dig. Ideally haul the ore straight home to smelt and cook before someone taxes the hopper.
- Load small when solo. Five diesel is ten minutes. You can guard that. Twenty diesel unattended is a gift, and here the gift is a pile of rockets for whoever wanders past.
Sulfur Quarry vs Giant Excavator
Both machines run on diesel and both can hand you sulfur, so players constantly ask which one to run. They are not really competitors, they are two different scales of the same idea, with very different risk.
| Source | Sulfur ore / diesel | Location | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sulfur Quarry | 1,000 | Small roadside quarry | Fixed to sulfur, quiet-ish, no NPCs |
| Giant Excavator | ~2,000 | Central desert monument | Loud, guarded by scientists, heavily fought |
The Giant Excavator digs sulfur faster and lets you choose which resource to run, which on paper makes it the better machine. In practice it is a single, central, unmissable monument guarded by scientists that the strongest group on the server usually treats as theirs. Exact excavator rates vary by source, but it is comfortably the higher output option. The Sulfur Quarry is the low key alternative: less per minute, but roadside, no radiation, no NPCs, and far less likely to get you third partied. If you already control the excavator, use it. If you are a duo or trio who wants sulfur without a war, the quarry is your machine.
Is the Sulfur Quarry Worth It?
Honest answer: yes for raiders, as long as you can hold the hopper. The Sulfur Quarry is not the fastest sulfur per minute in the game, and it is completely public. What it is, is a steady, almost AFK way to turn looted diesel directly into raid ammunition.
It is worth it when you have looted diesel to spare and a raid planned. A thousand sulfur ore every couple of minutes with zero tool wear and zero risk to your character is a steady trickle, and a full stack of diesel is roughly nine C4 of sulfur by the time the furnaces are done. For a group that already controls the area, that is close to free explosives.
It is not worth it when you are exposed. It is slow per minute, it is loud, and the hopper is open to anyone. A single roamer can undo an hour of digging by holding E while you are off getting more diesel. And if the quarry is contested, hand mining sulfur nodes with Ore Tea is often the safer way to stock up.
Sulfur Quarry Pro Tips
The gap between a full hopper and a robbed one is where most Sulfur Quarry Rust runs actually get decided. A few habits that keep the sulfur in your pocket:
- Scout before you commit. If the arm is already swinging when you arrive, someone else’s diesel is in there and someone else is coming back for it. Take the output and accept the fight, or leave and come back later.
- Match the load to your presence. Solo, load five diesel and babysit it. In a group, one person loads a full stack while the rest hold the ground.
- Line up your furnaces first. There is no furnace at the quarry, and 20,000 raw ore is dead weight until it is smelted. Have a large furnace or a bank of furnaces ready at home before you dig.
- Stack diesel from two monuments. The best diesel sources are Power Plant and Water Treatment. Loot their spawns on the way and the quarry run costs you nothing but the drive.
- Do not sink C4 into it. The quarry cannot be destroyed or picked up, so there is nothing to raid. Save your explosives for bases, which is what the sulfur is for anyway.
- Know the other monuments. The quarries are the quiet cousins of the bigger Rust monuments. If the Sulfur Quarry is contested, the Giant Excavator or a sulfur node run with tea is your fallback.
Your sulfur stockpile does not survive the wipe. Every last unit of sulfur, gunpowder and every rocket you build goes in the bin on force wipe day, along with the blueprints on most servers. Know exactly how long you have to spend it on raids.
See the wipe countdownSulfur Quarry Rust FAQ
How much sulfur do you get from the Sulfur Quarry in Rust?
How much sulfur is 1 diesel at the Sulfur Quarry?
How do you use the Sulfur Quarry in Rust?
What fuel does the Sulfur Quarry use?
Why can’t I put fuel into the Sulfur Quarry?
How long does 1 diesel take at the Sulfur Quarry?
Do you need to smelt Sulfur Quarry ore?
How much C4 is a full stack of diesel at the Sulfur Quarry?
Can you place your own quarry in Rust?
Can you lock or own the Sulfur Quarry?
Does the Sulfur Quarry have a recycler?
Sulfur Quarry vs HQM Quarry vs Stone Quarry, what is the difference?
Is the Sulfur Quarry or the Giant Excavator better for sulfur?
Is the Sulfur Quarry worth it in Rust?
Can you destroy or raid the Sulfur Quarry?
Sources
- RustHelp: Sulfur Quarry monument for the 1,000 sulfur ore per diesel yield, burn time, no build area and monument profile.
- RustHelp: HQM Quarry and Stone Quarry for the sibling quarry yields.
- Facepunch wiki: Sulfur Ore for the 1 to 1 smelt ratio and furnace smelt time.
- Facepunch wiki: Gun Powder for the sulfur and charcoal recipe.
- RustClash: Mining Quarry for the item data and diesel consumption.
- Corrosion Hour: How to Find Sulfur in RUST for the sulfur farming and excavator comparison.
- Corrosion Hour: Quarry and Pump Jack Reference Guide for the static monument confirmation and operation.
- Rustafied: Quality of Life update, 1 December 2022 for the move from low grade fuel to diesel.
- Facepunch Devblog 70, the devblog that originally added the quarry on 23 July 2015.
