Why is My Base Decaying in Rust [Rust Tool Cupboard Guide]

Let's talk about the Tool Cupboard in Rust and everything you need to know about it. Understanding the Tool Cabinet as a beginner can be confusing, to fully understand it let's clarify a few things that might confuse you.

So what is a Tool Cupboard? Well, Tool Cupboard is also known as a TC. It is the heart of your base, whoever has access to the TC has access to the building. If they don't have access they can't build anywhere within the radius of your base. If the raiders get to your TC they can build whatever they wish on it. So make sure you keep your TC safe.

What Does Building Decaying Mean in Rust

As soon as you get authorization from your Tool Cupboard you will notice there's a big red box at the bottom right of your screen that says "building decaying". This means that your entire base is in a few hours starting to break down and lose HP.

All you need to do to avoid this is open the Tool Cupboard and place enough materials it needs into the available slot.

Also note that you can put Ore, Animal Fat, Cloth, and other resources in here as well for safekeeping. Once when you put the correct resources into your Tool Cupboard it will tell you how many hours your base has until your walls are destroyed in Rust. Make sure you set a good upkeep time before logging out of the game.

Decaying depends on the material type of your base. Here is the time it takes for every material to decay. There is one thing to keep in mind about decay it always starts from the outer layer of the structure.

WALL TYPE	UPKEEP	DECAY TIME
Twig Wall	Wood 5-17	1 hour
Wooden Wall	Wood 20-67	3 hours
Stone Wall	Stone 30-100	5 hours
Metal Wall	Metal 20-67	8 hours
Armored Wall	HQ 3-8	12 hours

Be aware that there are a few things people can build on your base even without access to the TC. Raiders or other unwanted guests can place Twig Floor and also Ladder. Other than those two things nobody can change or alter the design of your base without your permission from TC.

One final thing that many people don't understand is that you can actually lock your TC. Locking your Tool Cupboard can be a life-saver. And it only costs 100 wood or 100 metal fragments.

If your TC is locked you will have extra time to react and defend your best base location in Rust.

How Tool Cupboards Work in Rust

TC is undeniably the most important deployable in the whole game but some people may not understand how the TCs really works in Rust. Therefore leaving some exploitable flaws in their builds. This Rust guide will explain everything there is to know about TC and show some ways to take advantage of its benefits.

Building Privilege is one of the two things that TC provides to your build. Basically, when you place down a TC it provides an area of Building Privilege around the structure it's placed in. Within that area, only players who have authorized the TC by pressing "E" on it are able to build, upgrade, place and pick up wires, and deployables.

Except for Ladder and Twig Floor. As described, everyone can build those even without building privilege so what building privilege does is that it prevents other players from griefing your base by walling off your doors for example, or picking up your deployable. Building privilege also prevents high walls from decaying. The Flame Turret and Shotgun Trap don't have a way to authorize them it will shoot anyone who doesn't have building privilege within that area. The radius of the TC is 25 meters of the base, about as much as 9 pieces of foundation. Building Privilege takes the shape of the base and grows outwards.

If the structures you build are not connected with each other, they do not fall under the influence of the TC and the building privilege area does not extend. Moreover, the part that is not connected starts to decay.

In this case, the 2 foundations on the left side will not decay, while on the other side the non-connected foundation will decay. Even though it is in TC's area.

There are several ways to use the tricks of Building Privilage to your advantage.

Tool Cupboard Tips and Tricks

Now that you are done explaining how it works. Let's move to some tips and tricks.

• You can stack the Building Privilege area that TCs affect. To do this, you must put the other TC as soon as the range of the first TC ends (After 9 Foundations). What this means is that there will be an area where building privilege is going to be provided by both TCs.

This way if one of the TCs gets destroyed the other one will keep providing building privileges to that area.

• You can make a Multi-TC base by building External TCs. To be able to achieve this, you have to place a new TC 9 foundations away. Afterward, come back from the TC to the base as shown in the image without linking them.

• You can use Glass Windows, as doors to reinforce your base or TCs since you can pick them up with a Hammer if you have Building Privilege. But if someone gets to your TC they can also pick them up so keep your TC the safest while using this.

External TCs are really useful. Even if you are raided in Rust your Workbench, doors and many other deployable items will not be stolen by raiders thanks to your external TCs. Thus, even if you are raided, you can easily recover and start the game again and prepare for revenge plans. Thanks to the best weapons and items you previously hid in a secret place of your base or gathered in your backup base.

We also have guides on the best Rust server hosting sites, top websites where you can sell and buy Rust skins, and our picks for the best VPN services for Rust, which you might want to check out.