Every Rust monument, organised by keycard tier — safe zones, green-card puzzles, blue-card puzzles and red-card puzzles. Fuses, scientists, radiation, recyclers and workbench access for each. Click any monument for the full guide.
Non-hostile monuments where players cannot deal damage to each other. Vending machines, recyclers, workbenches and gambling — your hub for trading, repairs and recycling without PvP risk.
Safe-zone hub for vending machines, recyclers, and a T1/T2 workbench.
Safe-zone gambling, scrap-buying, the AirWolf shop and a T1/T2 workbench.
Entry-level puzzle monuments. A single green keycard and one fuse opens the loot room. Low or no scientist presence, low radiation, and component / mid-tier loot perfect for early wipe.
Iconic green-card monument. Spiral exterior climb to apex crates plus an interior puzzle room.
Green-card harbour. 1 recycler, oil refinery, and a Blue Keycard as the puzzle reward.
Bigger harbour. Green to enter, Blue Keycard as the puzzle reward, oil refinery on the pier.
Compact green-card monument. Quick puzzle, Blue Keycard reward, early-wipe favourite.
Green-card hilltop monument. Basic loot + Blue Keycard reward + research table on-site.
Mid-game puzzle monuments. Most need a green card → blue card progression and one fuse. Loot tier rises sharply (military crates, elite crates, components, scrap) — the meat of the monument economy.
Two-card blue puzzle with patrolling scientists, hangar loot and a T1 workbench.
Blue-only puzzle (no green needed) — sprawling layout, heavy loot, no scientists.
Two-card blue puzzle with multi-storey loot tower and dense crate spawns.
Sprawling industrial monument — green→blue progression, four cooling towers.
Endgame puzzle monuments. Multi-card progression, scientist NPCs, high radiation, often multiple fuses. Top-tier rewards (elite crates, blueprints, weapons) and the focal points of every late-wipe meta.
Three-card red puzzle with the densest scientist roster in the game (~29 NPCs).
Largest monument in the game — green→red puzzle, 9 scientists, the Patrol Tank.
Snow-biome red-card monument with locked science vault and patrol heli spawns.
Five-level underground bunker. Red card opens the elevator. 26+ scientists.
Click any column header to sort. Tier organises monuments by puzzle difficulty and is the most useful default sort.
| Monument | Tier | Cards | Fuses | Scientists | Radiation | Recycler | Workbench |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🛒 Outpost | Safe Zone | None — safe zone | 0 | 0 hostile (auto-turrets enforce no-PvP) | None | Yes (×2) | Tier 1 + Tier 2 |
| 🎰 Bandit Camp | Safe Zone | None — safe zone | 0 | 0 hostile (auto-turrets enforce no-PvP) | None | Yes | Tier 1 + Tier 2 |
| 🟢 The Dome | Green | 1× Green (puzzle uses Green) | 1 | 0 | Low | Yes (×1) | None |
| ⚓ Small Harbor | Green | 1× Green (puzzle uses Green; reward is a Blue Keycard) | 1 | 0 (when Cargo Ship not docked) | None | Yes (×1) | None |
| 🚢 Large Harbor | Green | 1× Green (puzzle uses Green; reward is a Blue Keycard) | 1 | 0 (when Cargo Ship not docked) | None | Yes (×1) | None |
| 🚧 Sewer Branch | Green | 1× Green (puzzle uses Green; reward is a Blue Keycard) | 1 | 0 | Low | Yes (×1) | None |
| 📡 Satellite Dish | Green | 1× Green (puzzle uses Green; reward is a Blue Keycard) | 1 | 0 | Low (basic clothing protection sufficient) | Yes (×1) | None |
| ✈️ Airfield | Blue | 1× Green + 1× Blue | 2 | 5-7 (patrolling) | Medium | Yes | Tier 1 |
| 💧 Water Treatment Plant | Blue | 1× Blue | 1 | 0 | None | Yes (×2) | Tier 1 |
| 🚂 Trainyard | Blue | 1× Green + 1× Blue | 1 | 0 | Low | Yes | Tier 1 |
| ⚡ Power Plant | Blue | 1× Green + 1× Blue | 1 | 0 | None | Yes | Tier 1 |
| 🪖 Military Tunnels | Red | 1× Green + 1× Blue + 1× Red | 2 | ~29 armed scientists patrolling corridors | 11+ at entrance, 26+ in deeper sections (full hazmat strongly recommended) | Yes (×1, on the outside area) | None on-site |
| 🚀 Launch Site | Red | 1× Green + 1× Red | 2 | 9 + Patrol Tank | Very high (full hazmat required) | Yes (×2) | Tier 1 + Tier 2 |
| ❄️ Arctic Research Base | Red | 1× Green + 1× Blue + 1× Red | 1 | 6-8 (patrolling) | High (hazmat required) | Yes | Tier 2 |
| ☢️ Nuclear Missile Silo | Red | 1× Red | 1 (elevator) | 26+ (4 patrol blue + 22+ heavy underground) | 25-50+ (full hazmat required) | No | None |
Rust currently has 15 puzzle and safe-zone monuments documented on this site, plus a dozen smaller non-puzzle monuments and event-based locations. The 15 covered include 2 safe zones (Outpost, Bandit Camp), 5 Tier 1 green-card monuments, 4 Tier 2 blue-card monuments, and 4 Tier 3 red-card monuments.
Outpost is the safest (a no-PvP safe zone). The easiest puzzle for solos is Sewer Branch (single green card, no scientists, low radiation), followed by The Dome and Small Harbor. Water Treatment Plant is the easiest Tier 2 because it has no scientist defenders.
Nuclear Missile Silo and Launch Site are the toughest. Missile Silo has 26+ heavy NVGM scientists across 5 underground floors with very high radiation; Launch Site has 9 scientists, the Patrol Tank random event, and the highest radiation in the game. Military Tunnels is the third in the difficulty bracket.
Keycards come in three colours (green, blue, red) representing tier. Most Tier 2 puzzles need green + blue; most Tier 3 need green + blue + red. The cards spawn in puzzle loot (each monument's puzzle drops the next-tier card) and from barrels/crates around the map. Cards are consumed on use.
Recyclers convert components back into raw materials (scrap, metal fragments). Workbenches let you craft items requiring T1, T2 or T3 access. Many monuments have both — Outpost, Bandit Camp, Military Tunnels and Launch Site all have T1 + T2 workbenches plus recyclers.
Rust monuments are categorised by the highest-tier keycard required to complete their main puzzle. Tier 0 covers the two safe-zone hubs (Outpost, Bandit Camp) where players cannot deal damage — your main destinations for recycling, workbench access, and gambling at Bandit. Tier 1 Green covers single-card puzzle monuments — fast, low-risk runs perfect for early wipe. Tier 2 Blue introduces multi-card progression and the first scientist NPCs (at Airfield specifically). Tier 3 Red is the endgame — heavy combat, mandatory hazmat, and the highest-tier loot.
The progression isn't strict — you can attempt any monument as soon as you have the cards and fuses. Most wipe-day routes start with Sewer Branch or Small Harbor for an easy Green-card start, then escalate through Blue-tier monuments as keycard supply allows, with Tier 3 attempts after the first force-wipe day for groups with full kits.
New player: Outpost (safe zone, learn the economy) → Sewer Branch (smallest puzzle, learn the keycard pattern) → The Dome (best green-card EV).
Experienced solo: Green-card route (Dome + Sewer Branch + Satellite Dish) → Water Treatment (no-scientist Tier 2) → Airfield (first scientist combat).
Late-wipe group: Launch Site for the apex loot run, Military Tunnels for the T2 workbench access, Nuclear Missile Silo for the hardest single-monument PvE in the game.
The Raid Calculator covers explosive cost vs target HP — useful when you've cleared a monument and want to know what your loot can pop. The Wipe Schedule gives the live countdown to the next force wipe — most monument runs are wipe-day priorities, so know when to be online. For fresh-wipe loadouts, the farming cheat sheet covers the resource flow that funds your monument approach kit.