Build Zones

When you place a TC it creates a no build zone. The zone is based on the foundations attached to the same foundation your TC is placed on. The more you build out from that foundation, the larger the zone becomes. Players not authorised on your TC cannot build, upgrade, or place deployables within it.

This stops neighbours encroaching and stops raiders placing twig foundations mid-raid to build towers against your walls. External TCs on separate foundations extend your claimed area beyond the main base.

Monuments have their own permanent no-build zones that cannot be overridden. The radius varies by monument size. Check before choosing a build spot.

Decay

Every building piece slowly loses health once the TC runs out of resources. Different tiers decay at different rates. Stock the TC before logging off or the base will not survive a long offline session.

Open the TC and check the upkeep tab. It shows exactly how many resources are consumed per 24 hours and how long current stock will last. Upkeep scales with piece count: every foundation, wall, floor, door frame and ceiling adds to the daily cost. This is the main reason to keep early bases compact.

Use rusthelp.com to calculate exact upkeep for your base layout before you commit to building it.

Hard Side and Soft Side

Every wall has two faces. Both faces take the same damage from explosives and tools. The difference is the soft side is vulnerable to soft-siding: a raiding technique where players use specific tools to break open a wall from that face for a fraction of the normal raid cost. It is a form of eco raiding and the reason soft sides must always face inward.

When in doubt, place a wall and walk outside to check which face is visible before upgrading. The soft side always faces whoever placed the wall.

Door Placement

Door swing direction is determined by where the hinges are, not who placed the door. Hinges on the right mean the door swings outward. Hinges on the left mean it swings inward. When placing a door, look at which side the hinge icon appears and choose accordingly.

When a door is open it creates a gap on the hinge side. Someone standing on that side can shoot through the gap without you being able to close it on them. Think about which way each door swings and what it exposes when open.

Double doors: if the centre panel points slightly away from you, the door swings out. If it points slightly inward, it swings in. Check before placing.

Stability

Every building piece has a stability value. A foundation starts at 100%. Each piece placed on top of or extending outward from it loses a percentage. If a piece drops below the threshold it will not place. Aim your building plan at any piece to see its current value.

You can increase stability by reinforcing your structure. Adding wall frames, floors, and additional foundations raises the stability of pieces above and around them. Tall bases need a solid core. A thin stack loses stability quickly as you build upward.

Honeycombing

Honeycombing gets its name from the cellular structure of a honeycomb. It means placing extra foundations and walls around the outside of your base so raiders have to blow through more walls to reach your loot. Without it, getting through your outer wall puts them directly inside. With it, there is another wall behind it.

Triangle foundations are the standard choice. They take up less space than squares for the same raid cost, are more versatile in how they fit around a base, and cost less stone. You place them around the outer walls of your base, add walls on the exposed faces, and leave no door frame. The inside of each honeycomb cell should be completely inaccessible.

Do not honeycomb without a plan. Come up with a base design first and work out where honeycomb fits before you start placing. It is easy to end up with gaps or misaligned cells that defeat the point. Start with the TC room and the most exposed side. Expand from there.

Building Around Terrain

Terrain is part of your base. A large rock removes a potential raiding spot for free. A cliff removes an entire approach. Most experienced players factor terrain in before placing the first foundation. See the building spots guide for recommended locations on this server.

Building against a rock means raiders cannot access that face or build up against it to reach your roof. The tradeoff is you cannot expand in that direction, and terrain can trap you when being chased home.

Uneven ground can leave gaps underneath your base that someone can throw explosives through. Check the underside of your foundations before finishing. Fill any gaps with triangle foundations or walls.

Higher ground gives a longer sightline and forces attackers to approach uphill. It is also more visible from further away, so raiders will find it earlier in the wipe.

What Not to Do

Twig left inside a finished base. Twig decays in an hour and costs nothing to destroy. Any twig frame or floor inside a stone base is a free entrance. Remove all twig before logging off.

Soft side facing out. One misplaced wall on your outer face can be soft-sided for a fraction of the normal raid cost. Walk the outside of your base and check every wall before logging off.

Building too close to a monument. The no-build radius is larger than it looks. Move further out than you think you need to.

Overbuilding upkeep. A large base costs more resources per day than most players can sustain early in a wipe. Build what you can stock, then expand once the resources are there.

No lock on the TC room door. A code lock costs 100 metal fragments. Anyone who gets inside your base without raiding through your walls can walk up to an unlocked TC and wipe your auth list.

Empty sockets in your walls. Every open socket is a stability gap and potentially a shooting angle. Fill every socket with a wall, door frame, or wall frame.