What grade is it built in?
Counts are kept per grade. Switch grades to add a mixed build. Compare grades
How many stone pieces?
A quick pick fills this grade and clears the rest. Change any number after.
Any doors, windows or other fittings?
Doors, hatches, grills, shop fronts, window fittings and elevators pay upkeep too, at the same rate as your blocks. They are not blocks, so they never change the bracket. Optional.
10.3% of build cost per 24 h for 16 blocks.
Upkeep Rates by Block Count
Every block pays a share of its own build cost once per 24-hour period, counted in order, so a large base pays more per block. The same rate applies to every piece, whatever its grade. A stocked cupboard stops decay; without upkeep, fully sheltered pieces decay at 10% speed. Groups pay more: the first 4 players on the cupboard are free, each of the next 6 adds 2%, and each after that 4%, up to 3× the bill. Counted players are everyone authorized on the cupboard, anyone removed from it in the last 24 hours, and every user of a code lock on the base's doors once more than 2 players use that lock. The calculator shows the bill for 4 or fewer counted players.
How Rust Upkeep Works
Upkeep is the cost your Tool Cupboard takes from its inventory to keep the base standing. Every building piece adds to it based on its grade. If the TC runs out of materials, the base starts to decay. Upkeep keeps abandoned bases from filling the map, and the cost grows with base size.
Upkeep Rates by Material
Each block pays a share of its own build material once a day. The share is the same for every grade; what changes is the build cost it applies to. A single wood foundation (200 wood) costs 20 wood a day; 100 of them cost 3,200 wood a day, not 2,000, because the later blocks sit in dearer brackets. Twig is not free: one twig wall costs 5 wood a day, and each block costs more as the base grows. Doors, hatches and window fittings pay the same share of their own cost on top. They are not blocks, so they never change the bracket. In a 1-block base a wooden door adds 30 wood a day and an armored door 2 HQM; in a 100-block base the armored door costs 3.2 HQM a day.
Decay Rates and Timers
When the TC runs out or is destroyed, each grade decays on its own timer: Twig 1 h, Wood 3 h, Stone 5 h, Sheet Metal 8 h, and Armored 12 h. A piece at 0 HP is destroyed, and foundations decaying first can bring upper floors down. Full list on Decay Times.
Tips for Reducing Upkeep
- Build most of the base in stone; keep metal and armored for the TC and loot rooms.
- Keep the base compact and honeycomb only where it matters.
- Stock 2 to 3 days of materials before going offline.
- Place external TCs so your compound walls are covered and do not decay. Compare build and upkeep costs by grade in base design.
Rust Tool Cupboard Upkeep Period and Tax
A cupboard bills every 1440 minutes (24 hours) at 10% for a small base, the calculator's first bracket. Loose stone walls next to a cupboard are not billed; upkeep covers the building the cupboard owns. Those loose walls still decay, because no cupboard pays for them.
Methodology
Tested in game on our own server: the cupboard's 1440-minute period, the 10% small-base tax and the bill for 1, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 400 blocks of each grade. The bills matched the brackets to the last unit. Tested on the current version of Rust.