Rust is a multiplayer survival game where you start with nothing on a hostile island and must gather resources, build a base, craft weapons, and survive against both the environment and other players. The game is unforgiving by design — other players can raid your base, steal your loot, and kill you on sight. Wipe cycles (usually weekly or biweekly) reset the server, giving everyone a fresh start.
When you first spawn on a beach, pick up rocks and wood by hitting small stones and trees with your rock tool. Craft a stone hatchet and stone pickaxe as soon as possible — they gather resources much faster than the starting rock. Your immediate goals are collecting enough wood and stone to build a small starter base with a tool cupboard (TC), a lock on the door, and a sleeping bag for respawning.
Base building is crucial to survival. Place a tool cupboard inside your base and authorize yourself — this prevents other players from building near your base. Upgrade walls from twig to wood, then stone as soon as you can. Twig and wood walls are easily destroyed. Always use a key lock or code lock on your doors, and build an airlock (two doors with a small gap between them) so raiders can't rush inside when you open your door.
The crafting system uses a workbench tier progression. Workbench Level 1 lets you craft basic weapons and tools, Level 2 unlocks mid-tier gear like semi-automatic weapons and road sign armor, and Level 3 enables the best weapons and explosives. Learn blueprints by finding items in the world and researching them at a research table. Once learned, blueprints persist across wipes on most servers. Monuments — abandoned structures around the map — contain valuable loot crates and recyclers for breaking down components.