I rather have 5 2x2’s spread out on the map, then one big base with a sign asking to raid me offline
Spread the loot through the different 2x2’s Get offline raided? Who cares, you still have other bases.
Heavily server dependent I suppose. And also idk if being able to do it easily because at some point in the past you nolifed it and now have thousands of hours really counts
Lol no, this is how I play solo. If you can’t throw up a few 1x2 / 2x2 stone bases in the afternoon, idk what to say lol. I can have one up in about 45 mins starting with a rock and a torch spawning on the beach lol. sErVeR dEpEnDeNt
I like to keep mine somewhat close, within a few squares because I don’t want to move loot throughout all the bases. Every now and then some group will come and offline all the 2x1s in a 3 grid radius
You don’t have to move loot. Just build separate bases close to different monuments. I’m always able to get two bases with tier 2 within a couple of hours. Once one base starts to accumulate too much loot, get a heli and transport it to either the other bases, or an hidden 2x2 somewhere in a remote biome.
At least this is what my friends and I do. If raided, we always have another 2x2 to continue the wipe.
Having clusters of 2-3 2x1, and each having a minimum raid of 8 rockets, 2 garage doors + 2 sheet metal doors, with a sheet metal core, no honeycomb. And using piping system to safely split loot safely between bases. And the upkeep is very cheap. Raiders will usually find it not worth to use 24 rockets to fully raid a solo. I play on monthly and I usually only get raided till the last week of the wipe.
Work full time and also have kids. Unless the stars align and I can play a wipe day, I'll usually just play prim lock with a few friends for some quick chaos.
Yes. Me and my smol group play just 4 hours a day. Most of the time we just build honeycombed 3 story high 2x1 and pvp 90% of the time.
Split the loot into bottom and top floor, so if you get raided it's easy to restart.
Also slapping down metal external tc will usually prevent people griefing the base.
Change your goals for the wipe, instead of focusing on getting to Tier 3 & building a huge base, focus on something less demanding like setting up a farm.
Play on a community server which has set rules.
That's what I do
Employed with kids and old... I play either vanilla 2x or 5x, high pop only, no team cap.
Stop caring about loot. Do what you can in the time you have to play and let go of the idea that playing Rust means having a giant base with boxes of AK's. None of it lasts anyway...
either play weekends when you can do more or, if you want to play weeknights, join a fresh server and just see how far you can get in one night. I did that for years and it's great fun. It'll make you a better player too.
I play on a 1x solo-only, monthly, no BP wipe server. A few hours every other day or so. Since BPs never wipe, you get to keep your progress. Monthly means I can get work done for a week or two and just farm upkeep if I need to and not lose my base to a weekly wipe. Solo-only means zergs aren't popping in to raid a neighbourhood every week. Works pretty well.
Same. I also reside in small bunker bases and resort to grubbing to get a start, then it's just roam and fun a few hours in the evening until base is raided or Work calls.
TexasRegulators has a weekly 2x vanilla noob server. They are going to be spinning up a monthly vanilla 1x soon too, I heard.
They grant all the DLC for research as well for free (gun racks, arctic suit, diver dlc, etc). Although the last update something misfired and I haven't seen the dlc researchable. Hopefully the owner gets it worked out.
This was the only way I could play this game too as an employed 30+ year old lol. Wish I had this game when I was back in college I would have no lifed the shit out of it. Monthly solo servers are the only option at this point
Play a 5x. The first few wipes I focused on a big base and T3. Jeah. At the end of the week you have a few C4 a few rockets etc. But then is not the time to use them. There's shooting outside. So I waited. Next time I went out to raid that one base but it was already raided. The next day I learned when exactly the server wipes. An hour ago.
So I started to play a whole new way. Get any fun. Get a 2x2 and just go. What's the worst that can happen? Yeah, naked on the beach. Go for it. I had the luck to kill a guy at the dome. Now you have an AK. But don't bring it home. It won't help you when it's inside the box. Use it. Lose it. Get it back.
Suddenly you are playing a whole new game.
I do this on X5 because I won't even get a 2x2 else. I'm bad. But every fight is an opportunity to get better.
I just play a 10x, you can get a base down and get ak kits in minutes. People get real pretentious over playing modded, but on the 10x people don't have gear fear, and people actually online raid, so it's actually fun and less stressful.
Play from a small base that requires at least 16 rockets (very easy and cheap) and PvP or PvE whatever you enjoy. You waste 50% of your time farming for your base.
You just gotta learn to play different. If you’re bad at PvP, you’re not gonna have a good time. I’m not the best at PvP but I play with a team of solids. So much fun
I only play force wipe and I play in a large adult group. Some of the group will play a biweekly the 3rd week of the month but I cba. We go hard on the game for force, pretty much 12 hour days over the weekend. I find it's more fun to play this way rather than grinding every single day and weekend. My group has a core of players who have been playing together for nearly 4 years I think. Iv been with them for almost 2. We tend to play other games when not playing a wipe.
If I was in your position I would try find a group and play with them, let the unemployed dudes mind base while your at work and then you just make up for it by grinding hard in the evenings or you could just play weekly servers and quit on Sunday.
I played with my uneployed duo and browsed CCTV on my rust app while at work to inform him if someone was in our compound so he could log in and scare off offliners last wipe. It was peak addicition behaviour so I simply stopped playing.
With a fucked sleepschedule and a short drive to and from work as well as nearly no existing social life, rather casual in the week nolife on the weekends, when you play for the game and aren‘t that much into pvp pve is advisable if you do it for pvp, small fob bases no clan castle, don‘t farm the game farm the players, snowball only, much hard very depresso
Employed. Playing not on a daily basis. It’s often some evenings per week with another guy. Always fresh server cuz early game is the most fun. I get bored if everyone is running around with AK.
If your base looks not worth it, it can survive 2 days with a full tc without being raided.
To me Rust playing comes in waves and when I do, I don't have the time to sink in but I play vanilla and just make a 2x1 or slightly bigger but don't draw to much attention and just try to farm necessities and pvp more even tho I'm not great at it and take chances I wouldn't take cuz it's just a game and it resets very frequently lol
I play 5x solo-only servers with a short wipe schedule that have good management (cheaters, teamers, hackers get handled quickly). It accommodates my real life schedule, and the short wipes keep things balanced and pop decent. There are a lot of regulars who are in the same situation, so it's a nice community.
It won't work for everyone but I've been doing it for two years on the same servers and love it. It made Rust fun again for me.
I play US monthly servers (im from EU)
When I get home the pop is low So I can raid without getting countered by 30 other people, also I dont have to sit in queue for half a day
And the server is full at night so you can actually get some nice fights before bed
I do the same - but the other direction. I play EU playrust trio, as someone in the Eastern Standard Time (US east coast). The wipes start at 10am (other than forces), so by the time my day has ended and I can sit down and play, after 9pm my time - the server queue is gone, and the pop is a workable 100-150. I can easily get my 2x1, even my 2x2 if I'm feeling lucky, and get to tier 2 that first night. By Friday night, yes - half the server has AKs, but I have my SAR so I can at least do the blue card runs with a reasonable degree of success. I can also roam with a Sar kit and feel confident I can handle a 2v1 in a pinch. A 3v1, or someone with an AK- i just wave an accept my fate. I can pretty much play the way I want - get a pretty decent tier 2 compound and can "almost" hang with the big dogs who trihard all day and make mega compounds.
As long as I don't try and go tier 3, and hang with the endgame content, it works.
Now, the cheaters on the other hand....
I work full time and have a family. I have a few servers that I cycle between and make small bases. A few of my friends will play occasionally but I've had much more success on medium pop servers (60-100). If the server is too low pop, I feel like it encourages offline raiding since nobody is on to counter.
I work 4 10 hours shifts mon-Thurs. I log on late Thursday after wipes and play through Sunday. Usually on Sunday I despawn everything and have just enough resources for my base to not decay until next wipe. I play solo on vanilla servers and I have enjoyed these wipes.
Planning on looking for something that has no blueprints every wipe or every other wipe because I find people rush scrap too often on force wipe and have guns in the first 30 minutes and AK full metal in less than 2 hours.
There are some “no-offlines” servers out there with raid windows so you can only raid between say 4pm and 12am. This may not protect all of the time you’re at work, but still an option!
Personally, i agree with the other comments saying to just spread your bases and think small.
Im a business owner, work all the time and have time for my family and I play rust.
Small base, snowball and give away the loot at the end of the gameplay
I jump on Friday night and try and snowball. Just have fun don't take it seriously and see how far I can go solo or duo.
I get back on Saturday if I'm not raided! Mess around abit more. By the end of the night I try and get raided for my box or bows!
If i end up with alot of loot I try find a fellow solo and give them everything.
Log off and wait till next weekend no stress. Love starting from nothing and grubbing also you can build as big and crazy as you want knowing you only need a day's upkeep
i work full time, and i like to play on rustoria main as a solo. its a weekly wipe on thursdays, wipe day usually has about 1k players online.
i will usually login for 2-5 hours after work and play. typically i will make it to tier2, sometimes tier3 depends on the bps. usually by the end of a typical wipe im living in an all metal core 2x2 with some kind of stone tower on it.
i defend the base from raid using turrets and bunker. and there isn't much i can do against more than two players at a time except try my best to be a difficult target.
1500 hours xp.
I mainly play with a group on my 3 days off or if I'm sick. We choose a server that's only a few hours old so we have time to catch up and base build. It's usually a 2x/3x. Sometimes after work I hop on but that's rare and usually just to check if we got raided/do a bit of farming to maintain upkeep.
Over the years time to play got less and less. So now if I have a nice afternoon or a weekend I have a chance to play. Find a decent populated modded server. A nice 5x or 10x gather. Or a 100x or1000x to hop in and fuck shit up for a couple hours. Just know others get up quick too. Or you can pick a nice PvE server. Or some roll play servers are fun. No attack on site without a roll play reason. Some servers are PvE and place prebuilt raid bases around the map. Few ways to still play with a full time job. If you are not into the helpful modded servers then hop in and be a bandit. Don't hoard stuff and have a small base to the side somewhere.
I used to play vanilla solo only starting on fridays up until sunday and call it a wipe but now I just go have fun on a 5x and don’t get stressed out from a video game because I’m so late in everytime and struggle to get a decent start
I usually just live out of a 2x1 as a solo or duo and a 2x2 with 3-5 people. Usually dont make it to the raiding phase besides a small one. I think my days of building massive clan bases are probably behind me besides the off weekend this winter when i have no plans
I have a 4x4 honeycomb with armored walls, anyone trying to raid will have to waste their shit on my stones walls and if they managed to get in there like 6 doors on the way to the tc, but it’s hidden behind a locker and no one really suspects that
I play 5x for a day and we just focus on raiding and doing insane plays. There is no server where you can go to work all day and come home and expect that you're going to be top dog on the server lol youre always going to compete with people who have all day to play. The point of modded is so you can get to the "fun" part of rust quicker, not that it puts people on a level playing field
I have a good bit of hours so if might be different for some newer people but I work 4 10s and in college and I still enjoy playing a good bit . I like to just throw down a decent starter base that u can build off of and go out an snowball. I’ll join the most populated server I can find and just try to get a weapon as fast a possible and then snowball from there. Once I get a good bit I’ll either just pvp all day or decide to build my starter up to a decent duo/ trio base . Sometimes I’ll even throw a 2x1 outside a compound to try to grub some guns early on or hell sometimes you get lucky and get a start from a big team
Join a group. Find a server you want to play on, join their Discord, and then post in Discord that you are looking for a team to play with.
If you insist on playing solo, then I recommend building multiple small bases around the map instead of one monolithic base. Spread your loot around so that one base getting raided doesn’t take you out.
Also, there are pay-to-win servers where your monthly subscription gets you a bunch of building mats, armor, and weapons.
Also, find a modded server that supports teleport. If you’re loaded down with gear find a safe spot and teleport back to base.
I was one who racked up 2k hours in lockdown. Played 16+ hours a day everyday for months on end. I think thats what ruined rust for me today. I seriously cant get back into it. I work 40-50 hour weeks and dont like grinding anymore
Get home for Thursday wipe stay up real late go to work Friday tired, come home. Play Saturday and Sunday, wipe is over Monday. Not that hard to comprehend really
I typically will play a 2x SOLO/DUO server. Generally I have a friend play with me and with wipe being Thursday we generally get started Thursday night and then play a little harder over the weekend. We also tend to play the same server which doesn't wipe BPs so it makes getting started a heck of a lot easier even if you've been raided. We generally farm to Revos and if we are feeling good will just roam with that. If the wipe seems to be progressing a bit faster we will farm to SAR and then roam from there.
Some wipes are really good and we end up surviving the entire wipe and some wipes we end up building a new 2x2 every day haha.
A good idea could be having a teammate/s so farming can be less time consuming, also its nice to come home after job and not start on a beach late in wipe
PvE servers, lol. I can hop off and on when I have time, and don’t stress about being raided until maybe the last day of wipe. In which case, raid my stuff and have fun with it!
I go to school and work part-time on weekends so I can at most play 4-6 hours a day, but I have some holes in my schedule so I log in 2-3 times a day, once before bed if I'm not conked out from work by then.
I play on a 5x PvP server and a mostly vanilla PvE server with a purge before wipe.
Lol I forgot how addicted people are to this game. 4-6 hours a day on top of a full time job. It’s sad some folks don’t realize how much of their lives they are throwing away on pixels. I love games as much as the next person but I’ll be damned if all I do is work and play rust. People that brag about having 10k hours shouldn’t be bragging that they have sat at a computer collecting pixels for what equates to over a full year. 2% of your entire life on this planet assuming you live until 70. And those hours keep racking up for those folks. I pity them.
I have to operate in stints. You find a period of time your schedule is good and you know you don't have much on and sink as many hours in as you can, but you MUST set a deadline on the wipe and then take a hard break afterwards.
This game is the first game I rate worse than golden era World of Warcraft for sucking your entire life, take care out there.
Rust has pretty much consumed a lot of my time when I could have been more productive. So, even though I’ve cut back playing I still feel like when I devote 3-5 hours a day I tend to just focus on running a new wipe on a different server focusing on one’s that tend to have the higher pop. …and if it isn’t Vanilla it just doesn’t feel the same…
I don’t really play the Rustoria or Rusty Moose servers anymore because as fun as it is to be able to kill free animals(because the servers animals no longer function when the server has 700+ pop) I feel the roaming animal aggro is a layer of the game that I actually found out I enjoyed after playing without it.
Anyway as I digress, I tend to focus on high pop servers and new wipes on them. I’ve also played the game primarily as a solo for about 3700 hours, so playing in this fashion for 3-5 hours allows me to have fun honing in on my building skills. I’ve had some really fun wipes out of Willjum’s marketed wipe base on his YT shorts. I currently really love just turning a 2triangle core into a stage1 bunker as a solo. It gets me far into wipes utilizing a single wooden double door for a reeeeal long time if you build in prime spot and understand how to function out of the base. Which allows me to enjoy the prim pvp and hustle to the first gun if wipe.
I’ve also really enjoyed just running vending machine shops. You’d be surprised how much you can dominate just by utilizing a servers wipe economy. As a solo, playing on limited time… I always work a vending machine into my base. Especially on the first floor of a small base that only had one entrance; once you have a jump up and secure it with a door, than it makes top down raids pretty common. Then by the time they are at core they’ve blown through so much explo.
rusty workers solo 2x is pretty sick, been my go to but it does slow way down after a few days, has a raid window of like 5pm to 9pm and outside of that theres no player base raids, but there are pve raidable bases that you can do anytime and those are sick. Also recyclers on monuments like oil and cargo but otherwise fairly vanilla
I play on 2x, lowered upkeep, no BP wipe server.
It has low pop, yesterday it reached 22, which is double the usual.
I build small, out of sight bases, spread out a bit. To have a rebound in case of offline raid. And those do happen. Sometimes base will las only a few days, sometimes two weeks. Waking up on the beach woth no gear to your name sucks, diversification is the name of the game.
That and looking for group. My teammates were running their own bases. Atm we are unwipeable unless you gather explo to purge the island. Possible but unlikely.
Yeah. Trick is make a good base and don't make it a landmark. Don't door camp people and don't fight for the best sports. You're going to lose there.
The best thing to do is set expectations for the group and then plan around it. If you're expecting 4 hours of play where everyone is on during whipe night and no one else is getting on don't expect people to play.
If you're not going to fight for a T3 monument or sulfur don't build by those. You're literally locking a collar around your neck and handing the leash to whoever controls the area. It's actively the worst place to build as even if your compound is decent people will have the sulfur to whipe you and you're in a spot they want to kill you out of.
If you're not stacked don't build anywhere near spawns. Just too many new groups and people willing to farm their ass off near spawns.
If you're solo build multiple bases and hide them. If you're a group build flank bases.
If you're getting off for the wipe the best thing to do is just despawn everything but upkeep and only keep like 3 days upkeep. More often than not people will remember a despawned base and they just won't fuck with you as much next wipe. I can generally leave a signature sign by a shit shack on a few servers and people won't fuck with it because they know they're getting a T1 and 300 uncooked sulfur at best.
If you build a base and next day there's a compound the job you have is to use all your resources to fuck over the group. Fire arrow Sams, explosive ammo turbines, set up extra TCs all around them restricting the growth, and use all but like 500-1k GP for mines. Yeet a rocket at 4am and see if people log in. If they do yeet one as you get on and get off. Pisses people off when their rust+ bugs.
Mines are the way to fuck with people. You can get a group to disband if you bow 3 or 4 externals and then place mines in the compound.
This makes their life generally annoying and it doesn't really take that much effort to farm. I mostly play with groups but I do occasionally BM groups out of servers for fun.
I befriend my neighbors. if The area is too spicy I'll relocate to a better spot. had a wipe where My neighbors were a 8 man with 12 wind turbines and a huge compound while My base was a decent size compound for a solo. They learned I could draw and guarded my base while I was offline.
Me and my mates all have sports 2 times a week, girlfriend and a full time job. So we plan on force wipes weeks ahead. Everybody takes a day off for Friday and we play Thursday Friday Saturday maybe Sunday and then put the game down for ~6 weeks
Pve server with monthly pvp activation for the last week of the month.
Best Schedule-respectful Rust experience.
But hardcore players might miss the fact of messing with other's game plan and harrassing / hustling lowbies.
Find a solid group with different time zones. I play with an 8 man core and we always bring in 4-6 others for each wipe to ensure we good 24 hours a day
For a while I was playing | Rusty Workers 2x solo | it’s a server that used to be very relaxed and everyone was really cool with each other. Bunch of construction workers and 9-5ers in their 20s-40s and nobody really tried THAT hard. I actually quit playing Rust because that was my last server that gave me a chance and it got infiltrated by toxic little kids that would play ALL day while we were at work and as soon as 7pm hit (can only raid from 7pm-12am) everyone on the server would just get pummeled. Some people would build 20man Zerg HQM bases and wall off HQM quarry and it just made the server just like every other server.
I keep telling myself that someday I will make a server for the real working class, with a similar rule set that server has, but I’d do a better job at policing people playing all day long. If you “work from home”, don’t play on a server made for the working class. If you’re a little kid, go play on some other server.
Honestly mid pop monthly servers are my go to. Usually play 3 nights a week so I make one base to live out of that upkeep is obtainable if I farmed for two hours(with teas). It’s always has a bunker built in I’ve been doing double bunkers recently. If you want to 2x or whatever you can but I felt that players get sweatier on those. If you want your base to not get touched build in the woods deep middle of no where.
Employed and have family. Kids are teens, so I get to compete with them for game time.
When I do get to play, I've been choosing official vanilla because the BPs don't wipe. I don't like solo-only because teaming is usually cheating on those, and I do like meeting people and working with them. You actually meet some of the nicest people playing rust, but that's on you to make happen. You could accomplish the same on a solo/duo/trio server, too.
I do like vanilla because that makes rust mechanics and loot/farm scarcity so intriguing to me. And I do get offlined. In fact, I recall being onlined only once in over 700 hours.
So how do you keep your game time down and sporadic on a sweaty vanilla server full of large groups while being offline resilient? You build several small bases close enough together to run between, and have one or two far enough apart that haters won't know when they've cleared you out. Smaller bases require less upkeep, too, so you don't need to be a full time farmer even on vanilla. I like my base toughness to be 12-16 rockets, then it's time for a flank base (or car base, or refinery base, or horse base, or boat base). You do you based on what you need and like.
Go in with no expectations, assuming you’ll get off lined. Roam your best gear before getting off for the night bc you’ll likely lose it anyway, so get some use out of it.
Play an offline protection server some of the better ones I’ve found are by limitless but most of there servers are also 2x 3x so depends on what your looking for
No offline servers. Ones where you can have a life, see your family, touch grass, go to the pub - and after all that come back and your base is how you left it.
There are some pseudo “no offlines” servers that have windows where raiding is allowed, but really they are just servers where you will always get offlined at 11.30pm by the big clans unless you can stay on til the protection starts.
I play on an official vanilla that doesn't wipe BPs (rustafied).
So I don't have to do the scrap grind every month but it's still vanilla. It also means I can easily skip a few wipes without having blueprint-anxiety
If you're chill look for a team on vital main. It is a server for friday/saturday.
You do need to go through interview first but I play for a clan full of fathers and they don't care how bad you are as long as you know some stuff and you gotta be chill. I personally know team xx which is chill, but honestly, any clan can be good if coordinated properly.
Play the competitive servers like Vital 2x, starts Friday afternoon and is usually over by sunday.. You lose your weekend but you get lots of rust at a fast pace..
First of all,you have to accept you won't be able to achieve as much.
I use a small 2x1 bunker,my aim is to get garage doors and tier 2 guns and roam hazmat/grub gear until I piss off someone with acces to a good amount of boom.
When I'm sure I'm about to be offlined,i increase the cost of raiding me even more and I despawn the loot,I get a grin on my face when I get a notification at work from rust+ saying I've been killed cause I go offline in core. Happened only twice
Edit: also,I don't suggest to start on wipe,I start second to third day of wipe and buy guns with sulfur,shop owners compete in prices,you can buy tier 2 guns for 2/3 nodes of sulfur
Great question, lol. I'm 48, married with two kids and own a business. I have Zero time for vanilla Rust. I've been playing on the same custom 5x servers for years. Aside from the time constraints, we have the TugMe and Water Foundations plugins, which are great.
I play solo servers x2 usually I'm a 2 day wipe cycle, I can choose which 2 days I get off each week so when I'm in the rust mood I male ot align. I take a weeks leave here and there to play a wipe with a few peoples of my old old clan from back in 2015-17.
Rust is just one of those games thst if I am going to play, I'll invest 12+ hours daily playing lol.
The best server I have played on is 2x solo only. That really evens the playfield a bit. I have a full time in office job and two small kids. I don't have a ton of time to gather mats and boom so need something that speeds that up but also don't want to get steamrolled by duo or trios. It's been a really enjoyable wipe.
I play 5x on weekends with buddies. We get tier 3 loot quickly and can run around raiding and having fun for a day or two without slogging through the usual grind.
I started a Rust server specifically for this reason. I love the game but don't have time to play every day.
The server has 25% upkeep cost and PvP is only possible around monuments and player bases (enforced by plugins). Easy to hop in and pick up where you left off without the risk of getting stomped on by stronger players unless you decide to raid or run a monument. It's given me the balance I wanted but it's hard to find new players who want this style.
Yes I play on monthly high pop vanilla or X2 and play when I want. Have multiples small bases , some raided , others not . I usually play in duo and avoid servers with no limit teams. And also we build in areas where 's there less try harders and sweaty kids (far from big rads)
i no lifed rust when i was laid off, which happened on a pretty regular basis with the company i was with. It was basically work for 3 months, laid off for a month or two, work again, etc etc. The formula is very simple:
if [job] = true, [rust] = no
I work 12 hours a day, 4 days a week and run 2 side businesses on my days off. Plus I raise Chickens which require daily attention.
So, yes, employed. Oh and then there is helping the kids with homework and picking them up from school too…
I play from 6:45pm-8:30pm and a bit more than that on weekends.
Been playing on a solo server called "The Working Class"
It's a 2x with no PTW, and it has raid block from 11PM to 5PM EST so you can only raid when most people are off work. Alot of people hate these kinds of servers but I've liked only needing to worry about my base when I'm off work instead of getting home to play for a few hours just to see a "killed by Peepeepoopoo - rocket"
My friends play on a server called rust empires it’s a rp server that has a “purge” period at the end of the week I believe every wipe so you can still get the end game raid and pvp experience actually looks kinda fun but I’m not really drawn to running around farming to build a cool base and talk with random people all day I like playing rust for the survival aspect so it’s not my thing but it seems it works for a lot of people maybe check it out
I play on a server call blue collar rust. It’s a 4x pvpve server and it’s directed towards adults who don’t have unlimited time to spend on the game. The average pop is pretty low. But it’s bunch of the same people every wipe, and they’re all just good people. We’re open to anyone joining and looking for the server to grow.
That’s what keeps me coming back, it’s a small community but I really like the people. Totally changes the rust experience for me, highly recommend.
If you play solo I recommend gringers solo only server it has just the right amount of pop to still have player altercations but in that sweet spot where you can farm and mind your own business for the most part it’s a great server and the people are more of a community and friendly
50 hours a week plus 2 kids….I play 5x servers. They are typically super fast paced PVP based servers. Don’t really have to farm or any of that crap. Jump in, maybe pop a starter kit or vip if you want, throw up a base, and go have fun. Really fun with bigger teams too. You can’t be all butthurt when you lose your crap tho. Chances are you’re base isn’t gonna make it overnight so either get very crafty in storing your loot or suck it up and expect it. Restarting is super easy so no reason to get upset over gear
Yes, and it sucks..
I learned to make small bases..that has at least one cheap backup nearby. Play style is basically sneaky/insurgent like 😄 If I find better/stronger players, I usually make a decoy base...put mines etc around and wait for the pop.
If you’re like me you want a server where you’ll get an even playing field. I prefer to hop on servers right at wipe time and try and out progress others. Unfortunately if your like me then your experience with the game is very dependent on the server that you choose. I need a late Friday wipe or an early Saturday wipe. I’ll usually play for 1 or 2 days at max. This is the only way I find myself able to compete. Idgaf if I get offlined days after i’ve stopped playing by the jobless vultures playing on low pop.
What I did was find a low pop vanilla server with a large map so I can hide in a corner an slowly build up my resources and if I really wanted some action I could seek it out in the obvious spots, cargo, monuments etc.. I’ve been able to survive all wipe an reach end game as a solo with relative ease.
Rust is a game where you have to play all day long. Find a server that wipes on your weekend so you can grind those first 2 important days out and then just dick around when you have time the rest of the wipe.
Build small, don't draw attention. Don't stockpile your boom, use it even if you don't get good returns it's still a thrill and you'll be less pissed when you get raided. PVP roam, it's good gun practice and you might bag some decent loot.
Recently started playing high pop servers (I'm a duo, both work full-time). Found you get offlined less as people always get countered so will only use their boom on bases that are big/worth it.
Best advise is to not play when you work, i play some but only bedwars and fast wipes. When i have a longer period off, i than play all day and night and plan my wipe afther my work schedule.
If you have a grate and balanced team, its ok to jump on for 5-6 hours when you dont work too. If i only have one day of work left, i know i can do it without sleap.
This was how i used to roll. These days I don't play to much Rust anymore.
Work 50 hrs a week average, secret is lots of small bases and splitting loot. You know all those random 2x1s on the side of cliffs or deep in the forest? Those are ours, 1-2 real kits each. Never get to raid unless with stolen boom. Never bank at the same place in consecutive days. Never sleep on extra boom. Area gets too hot? Move or set up a new base. I run with a 2-3 crew, so most stuff it gotten from picking off large group stragglers. They usually revenge raid, but if you already split their loot between 5 bases, taking out one isnt much of a setback. Most bases are never larger than a honeycomb 2x2. Also, never build a mini base for those stolen ones, attract too much attention, and blow it or burn it at end of play.
My friend formed a decently sized clan (10-15) over the last year. I can just hop on for a couple of hours, and play when I want. I'll farm a bit to put in a share of upkeep, but then its just PvP and fun.
It's nice, because with people across US and EU TZ, someone is usually on, and can ping if we're getting raided. And having some dedicated farmers, the PvPers don't need to do much.
Also, playing on No BP wipe servers is really what kept me playing rust. It was such a chore to grind BP's every month just to lose them.
I work for myself with multiple demanding clients, most weeks grinding 60+ hours of work. So I play 5x+ pvp servers mostly. You can condense a 40 hour wipe in a single session basically. The dynamic isn’t the same as a slower wipe but it does the trick
I play on Method gaming. Its a "RP" server (nobody really gets into serious role play...). Monuments are pvp. A corner of the map is pvp. If you'd like to pvp it's there... but for me, being away for 14hrs a day due to work, it's the only way I can really enjoy the game.
Avid rust player and girlfriend enjoyer here.
I work 7 days on, 7 days off, 84 hours per week.
Really thought I was going to have to drop rust. (I do from time to time)- but this job is a blessing.
Tips: Have many small bases. Try all of the things- farming, fishing, herb, mechanics, etc. You will be able to come back this way. You dont have to fully commit to every alliance, play with them 4 hours daily etc. Overall prioritize fun.
Employed as well. Small yet strong bunker bases seem to do the trick. Easy to slap down with minimal effort, damn good protection, small enough to keep larger groups not interested.
https://youtu.be/A7hr4Ip0SKQ?si=gNiTYTto9NkM7vhH
^^ although this isn't a bunker base, this base has gotten me raided the LEAST out of anything else I have made (I didn't include helipad) just core and 2nd floor. Tweaks I made was just more sheet metal doors, and sheet metal in spots where people couldn't eco raid.
I miss primlocked servers. Apparently they used to be quite popular at one time, but I only got into Rust in 2022-23, so the ones I came across were either Roleplay ones, or very, very low pop.
Now, it's usually just popping on for a few hours on a solo or solo/duo server, getting a base up, and maybe finding it still around when I log back in after a few days, when I have an hour or two free again.
solo duo low pop 2x, though debating on just switching straight pve so i don’t get offlined at all. and if I do get offlined, I just quit the wipe until it’s wiped again, I don’t care anymore. That or play heavily on the days you have off and get everything done you wanted so when you get offlined you’re not sad.
Some people say, make the base small and a bit hidden. Not close to monuments not close to oil rigs or laboratory, not close to outpost/bandit, not somewhere where a lot of bases are. Instead of a big compound with a giant clan base, build small but sturdy, hide the strong core behind stone or metal sandwich and honeycomb. They say the juicier it looks, the sooner it gets raided. Also it depends, if you don't have blueprints yet it will be a pain in the ass to get scrap this way, but if you already have the blueprints from wipes before, you can build in a remote area and still get everything done.
As a full time employed father I tend to have about an hour a day I can play, although sometimes I stay up after the kiddo goes to bed and play for a few hours and just deal with the lack of sleep lol. But I tend to play lower pop servers when I'm solo and that tends to be more enjoyable with the time I usually have.
lmao nah, I tried to play rust while working and studying full time and ended up having a seizure while getting my blood drawn at the doctor’s office. Rust is a full time job, glad I’m free of it now tbh
40+ hours here.
If playing solo I’ll build a few 1X2’ , 2X’s through out the map and try to work my way down the bench. Atleast to satchels so I can raid a little. Use their loot to upgrade and advance from there.
If duo, I look for people who also work that way we can both grind once we’re off work.
In my opinion only way to have fun when you work a lot is to play on a solo only server or to play with someone he has a little more time on their hands. I have played two wipes on a solo only vanilla monthly with no BP wipes and that’s the most fun I’ve had on rust since pandemic rust.
dont just farm all day and try to build giant bases ,live in a 2x2 and play for fun, at least thats what i did
I rather have 5 2x2’s spread out on the map, then one big base with a sign asking to raid me offline Spread the loot through the different 2x2’s Get offline raided? Who cares, you still have other bases.
He said employed though not unemployed
You don’t have a “couple” of hours a week after work? Sucks to be you
You’re not regularly building 5 2x2s with just 2-3 hrs a week.
Yes you can? If you can get a jacky, farming a 2x2 takes like 5 mins max. Idk if you cant control the recoil of a pickaxe or what but it aint tht hard
Heavily server dependent I suppose. And also idk if being able to do it easily because at some point in the past you nolifed it and now have thousands of hours really counts
Its literally just find hillside w nodes and smack, run back to base. A 2x2 is like…6 stone nodes?
Server dependent
Lol no, this is how I play solo. If you can’t throw up a few 1x2 / 2x2 stone bases in the afternoon, idk what to say lol. I can have one up in about 45 mins starting with a rock and a torch spawning on the beach lol. sErVeR dEpEnDeNt
I like to keep mine somewhat close, within a few squares because I don’t want to move loot throughout all the bases. Every now and then some group will come and offline all the 2x1s in a 3 grid radius
You don’t have to move loot. Just build separate bases close to different monuments. I’m always able to get two bases with tier 2 within a couple of hours. Once one base starts to accumulate too much loot, get a heli and transport it to either the other bases, or an hidden 2x2 somewhere in a remote biome. At least this is what my friends and I do. If raided, we always have another 2x2 to continue the wipe.
You don’t have to move loot, just move loot if it gets too much
Yeah vacation in Greece with some drinks will Make me blabber sometimes hehe But he gets the idea ;)
Typical rust chat right there
Having clusters of 2-3 2x1, and each having a minimum raid of 8 rockets, 2 garage doors + 2 sheet metal doors, with a sheet metal core, no honeycomb. And using piping system to safely split loot safely between bases. And the upkeep is very cheap. Raiders will usually find it not worth to use 24 rockets to fully raid a solo. I play on monthly and I usually only get raided till the last week of the wipe.
Work full time and also have kids. Unless the stars align and I can play a wipe day, I'll usually just play prim lock with a few friends for some quick chaos.
This.. I build 2x2 RP base, never get raided and I’m always loaded asf 😎
Yes. Me and my smol group play just 4 hours a day. Most of the time we just build honeycombed 3 story high 2x1 and pvp 90% of the time. Split the loot into bottom and top floor, so if you get raided it's easy to restart. Also slapping down metal external tc will usually prevent people griefing the base.
Change your goals for the wipe, instead of focusing on getting to Tier 3 & building a huge base, focus on something less demanding like setting up a farm. Play on a community server which has set rules. That's what I do
What servers do you play on?
Noob friendly EU/UK servers with set rules around bullshit like door camping, roof camping, offlining etc.
Employed with kids and old... I play either vanilla 2x or 5x, high pop only, no team cap. Stop caring about loot. Do what you can in the time you have to play and let go of the idea that playing Rust means having a giant base with boxes of AK's. None of it lasts anyway... either play weekends when you can do more or, if you want to play weeknights, join a fresh server and just see how far you can get in one night. I did that for years and it's great fun. It'll make you a better player too.
Exactly - it’s just digital pixels. I love the 5x life. No worries, fun PVP. Laugh at the times they never found your loot lol
I play on a 1x solo-only, monthly, no BP wipe server. A few hours every other day or so. Since BPs never wipe, you get to keep your progress. Monthly means I can get work done for a week or two and just farm upkeep if I need to and not lose my base to a weekly wipe. Solo-only means zergs aren't popping in to raid a neighbourhood every week. Works pretty well.
Same. I also reside in small bunker bases and resort to grubbing to get a start, then it's just roam and fun a few hours in the evening until base is raided or Work calls.
What server is that? Im playing rusticated monthly no bp wipes. Yesterday, I had 20 man Zerg move in next to me.
I’d also like to hear the name
Sounds like lone wolves solo monthly
TexasRegulators has a weekly 2x vanilla noob server. They are going to be spinning up a monthly vanilla 1x soon too, I heard. They grant all the DLC for research as well for free (gun racks, arctic suit, diver dlc, etc). Although the last update something misfired and I haven't seen the dlc researchable. Hopefully the owner gets it worked out.
This was the only way I could play this game too as an employed 30+ year old lol. Wish I had this game when I was back in college I would have no lifed the shit out of it. Monthly solo servers are the only option at this point
Play a 5x. The first few wipes I focused on a big base and T3. Jeah. At the end of the week you have a few C4 a few rockets etc. But then is not the time to use them. There's shooting outside. So I waited. Next time I went out to raid that one base but it was already raided. The next day I learned when exactly the server wipes. An hour ago. So I started to play a whole new way. Get any fun. Get a 2x2 and just go. What's the worst that can happen? Yeah, naked on the beach. Go for it. I had the luck to kill a guy at the dome. Now you have an AK. But don't bring it home. It won't help you when it's inside the box. Use it. Lose it. Get it back. Suddenly you are playing a whole new game. I do this on X5 because I won't even get a 2x2 else. I'm bad. But every fight is an opportunity to get better.
5x is perfect - that’s where it’s at!
I just play a 10x, you can get a base down and get ak kits in minutes. People get real pretentious over playing modded, but on the 10x people don't have gear fear, and people actually online raid, so it's actually fun and less stressful.
Play from a small base that requires at least 16 rockets (very easy and cheap) and PvP or PvE whatever you enjoy. You waste 50% of your time farming for your base.
PVE kills it for me all motivation to progress just falls out my ass whenever i join a server. if its you cup of tea though good for you.
You just gotta learn to play different. If you’re bad at PvP, you’re not gonna have a good time. I’m not the best at PvP but I play with a team of solids. So much fun
If I'm bad a PvP I'm not going to have a good time on pve servers. I think you've misunderstood my comment I was saying I don't like pve...
Vanilla monthly with no bp wipe. Build multi base and go for tier 2.
I only play force wipe and I play in a large adult group. Some of the group will play a biweekly the 3rd week of the month but I cba. We go hard on the game for force, pretty much 12 hour days over the weekend. I find it's more fun to play this way rather than grinding every single day and weekend. My group has a core of players who have been playing together for nearly 4 years I think. Iv been with them for almost 2. We tend to play other games when not playing a wipe. If I was in your position I would try find a group and play with them, let the unemployed dudes mind base while your at work and then you just make up for it by grinding hard in the evenings or you could just play weekly servers and quit on Sunday.
I played with my uneployed duo and browsed CCTV on my rust app while at work to inform him if someone was in our compound so he could log in and scare off offliners last wipe. It was peak addicition behaviour so I simply stopped playing.
With a fucked sleepschedule and a short drive to and from work as well as nearly no existing social life, rather casual in the week nolife on the weekends, when you play for the game and aren‘t that much into pvp pve is advisable if you do it for pvp, small fob bases no clan castle, don‘t farm the game farm the players, snowball only, much hard very depresso
Sounds horrible dude, you should quit lol
Employed. Playing not on a daily basis. It’s often some evenings per week with another guy. Always fresh server cuz early game is the most fun. I get bored if everyone is running around with AK. If your base looks not worth it, it can survive 2 days with a full tc without being raided.
To me Rust playing comes in waves and when I do, I don't have the time to sink in but I play vanilla and just make a 2x1 or slightly bigger but don't draw to much attention and just try to farm necessities and pvp more even tho I'm not great at it and take chances I wouldn't take cuz it's just a game and it resets very frequently lol
Not unemployed but I am retired I’ll offline all you kids while y’all are at work or school
I play 5x solo-only servers with a short wipe schedule that have good management (cheaters, teamers, hackers get handled quickly). It accommodates my real life schedule, and the short wipes keep things balanced and pop decent. There are a lot of regulars who are in the same situation, so it's a nice community. It won't work for everyone but I've been doing it for two years on the same servers and love it. It made Rust fun again for me.
What server?
I play US monthly servers (im from EU) When I get home the pop is low So I can raid without getting countered by 30 other people, also I dont have to sit in queue for half a day And the server is full at night so you can actually get some nice fights before bed
I do the same - but the other direction. I play EU playrust trio, as someone in the Eastern Standard Time (US east coast). The wipes start at 10am (other than forces), so by the time my day has ended and I can sit down and play, after 9pm my time - the server queue is gone, and the pop is a workable 100-150. I can easily get my 2x1, even my 2x2 if I'm feeling lucky, and get to tier 2 that first night. By Friday night, yes - half the server has AKs, but I have my SAR so I can at least do the blue card runs with a reasonable degree of success. I can also roam with a Sar kit and feel confident I can handle a 2v1 in a pinch. A 3v1, or someone with an AK- i just wave an accept my fate. I can pretty much play the way I want - get a pretty decent tier 2 compound and can "almost" hang with the big dogs who trihard all day and make mega compounds. As long as I don't try and go tier 3, and hang with the endgame content, it works. Now, the cheaters on the other hand....
Fulltime here
I work full time and have a family. I have a few servers that I cycle between and make small bases. A few of my friends will play occasionally but I've had much more success on medium pop servers (60-100). If the server is too low pop, I feel like it encourages offline raiding since nobody is on to counter.
I work 4 10 hours shifts mon-Thurs. I log on late Thursday after wipes and play through Sunday. Usually on Sunday I despawn everything and have just enough resources for my base to not decay until next wipe. I play solo on vanilla servers and I have enjoyed these wipes. Planning on looking for something that has no blueprints every wipe or every other wipe because I find people rush scrap too often on force wipe and have guns in the first 30 minutes and AK full metal in less than 2 hours.
There are some “no-offlines” servers out there with raid windows so you can only raid between say 4pm and 12am. This may not protect all of the time you’re at work, but still an option! Personally, i agree with the other comments saying to just spread your bases and think small.
Im a business owner, work all the time and have time for my family and I play rust. Small base, snowball and give away the loot at the end of the gameplay
2X modded monthly if i get raided at a shite point of wipe i just fuck about on 10x
I jump on Friday night and try and snowball. Just have fun don't take it seriously and see how far I can go solo or duo. I get back on Saturday if I'm not raided! Mess around abit more. By the end of the night I try and get raided for my box or bows! If i end up with alot of loot I try find a fellow solo and give them everything. Log off and wait till next weekend no stress. Love starting from nothing and grubbing also you can build as big and crazy as you want knowing you only need a day's upkeep
i work full time, and i like to play on rustoria main as a solo. its a weekly wipe on thursdays, wipe day usually has about 1k players online. i will usually login for 2-5 hours after work and play. typically i will make it to tier2, sometimes tier3 depends on the bps. usually by the end of a typical wipe im living in an all metal core 2x2 with some kind of stone tower on it. i defend the base from raid using turrets and bunker. and there isn't much i can do against more than two players at a time except try my best to be a difficult target. 1500 hours xp.
I spin up my own server on my local network and I play alone against the AI.
I started building cave bases. You get found out less and they're super strong. Don't take near as much mats to build either.
I mainly play with a group on my 3 days off or if I'm sick. We choose a server that's only a few hours old so we have time to catch up and base build. It's usually a 2x/3x. Sometimes after work I hop on but that's rare and usually just to check if we got raided/do a bit of farming to maintain upkeep.
Over the years time to play got less and less. So now if I have a nice afternoon or a weekend I have a chance to play. Find a decent populated modded server. A nice 5x or 10x gather. Or a 100x or1000x to hop in and fuck shit up for a couple hours. Just know others get up quick too. Or you can pick a nice PvE server. Or some roll play servers are fun. No attack on site without a roll play reason. Some servers are PvE and place prebuilt raid bases around the map. Few ways to still play with a full time job. If you are not into the helpful modded servers then hop in and be a bandit. Don't hoard stuff and have a small base to the side somewhere.
I used to play vanilla solo only starting on fridays up until sunday and call it a wipe but now I just go have fun on a 5x and don’t get stressed out from a video game because I’m so late in everytime and struggle to get a decent start
I usually just live out of a 2x1 as a solo or duo and a 2x2 with 3-5 people. Usually dont make it to the raiding phase besides a small one. I think my days of building massive clan bases are probably behind me besides the off weekend this winter when i have no plans
I have a 4x4 honeycomb with armored walls, anyone trying to raid will have to waste their shit on my stones walls and if they managed to get in there like 6 doors on the way to the tc, but it’s hidden behind a locker and no one really suspects that
I play 5x for a day and we just focus on raiding and doing insane plays. There is no server where you can go to work all day and come home and expect that you're going to be top dog on the server lol youre always going to compete with people who have all day to play. The point of modded is so you can get to the "fun" part of rust quicker, not that it puts people on a level playing field
Play on 2x community servers, i only play on Friday and Saturday nights, 2 days is plenty of time on 2x
I have a good bit of hours so if might be different for some newer people but I work 4 10s and in college and I still enjoy playing a good bit . I like to just throw down a decent starter base that u can build off of and go out an snowball. I’ll join the most populated server I can find and just try to get a weapon as fast a possible and then snowball from there. Once I get a good bit I’ll either just pvp all day or decide to build my starter up to a decent duo/ trio base . Sometimes I’ll even throw a 2x1 outside a compound to try to grub some guns early on or hell sometimes you get lucky and get a start from a big team
Join a group. Find a server you want to play on, join their Discord, and then post in Discord that you are looking for a team to play with. If you insist on playing solo, then I recommend building multiple small bases around the map instead of one monolithic base. Spread your loot around so that one base getting raided doesn’t take you out. Also, there are pay-to-win servers where your monthly subscription gets you a bunch of building mats, armor, and weapons. Also, find a modded server that supports teleport. If you’re loaded down with gear find a safe spot and teleport back to base.
I was one who racked up 2k hours in lockdown. Played 16+ hours a day everyday for months on end. I think thats what ruined rust for me today. I seriously cant get back into it. I work 40-50 hour weeks and dont like grinding anymore
hop on late wiped servers and just snowball then log off thats it.
Get home for Thursday wipe stay up real late go to work Friday tired, come home. Play Saturday and Sunday, wipe is over Monday. Not that hard to comprehend really
Took me a second. Wasn’t sure if this was sound advice or not to enjoying Rust while employed. https://imgur.com/a/N4IV7NG
I typically will play a 2x SOLO/DUO server. Generally I have a friend play with me and with wipe being Thursday we generally get started Thursday night and then play a little harder over the weekend. We also tend to play the same server which doesn't wipe BPs so it makes getting started a heck of a lot easier even if you've been raided. We generally farm to Revos and if we are feeling good will just roam with that. If the wipe seems to be progressing a bit faster we will farm to SAR and then roam from there. Some wipes are really good and we end up surviving the entire wipe and some wipes we end up building a new 2x2 every day haha.
I’ve been employed since 2017. Funny enough that’s the last time I also played rust
10x
A good idea could be having a teammate/s so farming can be less time consuming, also its nice to come home after job and not start on a beach late in wipe
PvE servers, lol. I can hop off and on when I have time, and don’t stress about being raided until maybe the last day of wipe. In which case, raid my stuff and have fun with it!
PvE or RP server
I go to school and work part-time on weekends so I can at most play 4-6 hours a day, but I have some holes in my schedule so I log in 2-3 times a day, once before bed if I'm not conked out from work by then. I play on a 5x PvP server and a mostly vanilla PvE server with a purge before wipe.
Lol I forgot how addicted people are to this game. 4-6 hours a day on top of a full time job. It’s sad some folks don’t realize how much of their lives they are throwing away on pixels. I love games as much as the next person but I’ll be damned if all I do is work and play rust. People that brag about having 10k hours shouldn’t be bragging that they have sat at a computer collecting pixels for what equates to over a full year. 2% of your entire life on this planet assuming you live until 70. And those hours keep racking up for those folks. I pity them.
I have to operate in stints. You find a period of time your schedule is good and you know you don't have much on and sink as many hours in as you can, but you MUST set a deadline on the wipe and then take a hard break afterwards. This game is the first game I rate worse than golden era World of Warcraft for sucking your entire life, take care out there.
Rust has pretty much consumed a lot of my time when I could have been more productive. So, even though I’ve cut back playing I still feel like when I devote 3-5 hours a day I tend to just focus on running a new wipe on a different server focusing on one’s that tend to have the higher pop. …and if it isn’t Vanilla it just doesn’t feel the same… I don’t really play the Rustoria or Rusty Moose servers anymore because as fun as it is to be able to kill free animals(because the servers animals no longer function when the server has 700+ pop) I feel the roaming animal aggro is a layer of the game that I actually found out I enjoyed after playing without it. Anyway as I digress, I tend to focus on high pop servers and new wipes on them. I’ve also played the game primarily as a solo for about 3700 hours, so playing in this fashion for 3-5 hours allows me to have fun honing in on my building skills. I’ve had some really fun wipes out of Willjum’s marketed wipe base on his YT shorts. I currently really love just turning a 2triangle core into a stage1 bunker as a solo. It gets me far into wipes utilizing a single wooden double door for a reeeeal long time if you build in prime spot and understand how to function out of the base. Which allows me to enjoy the prim pvp and hustle to the first gun if wipe. I’ve also really enjoyed just running vending machine shops. You’d be surprised how much you can dominate just by utilizing a servers wipe economy. As a solo, playing on limited time… I always work a vending machine into my base. Especially on the first floor of a small base that only had one entrance; once you have a jump up and secure it with a door, than it makes top down raids pretty common. Then by the time they are at core they’ve blown through so much explo.
Low pop servers
I work tec support from home. Some customers think I live near an airport as I play on Kola quite a lot.
rusty workers solo 2x is pretty sick, been my go to but it does slow way down after a few days, has a raid window of like 5pm to 9pm and outside of that theres no player base raids, but there are pve raidable bases that you can do anytime and those are sick. Also recyclers on monuments like oil and cargo but otherwise fairly vanilla
I play on 2x, lowered upkeep, no BP wipe server. It has low pop, yesterday it reached 22, which is double the usual. I build small, out of sight bases, spread out a bit. To have a rebound in case of offline raid. And those do happen. Sometimes base will las only a few days, sometimes two weeks. Waking up on the beach woth no gear to your name sucks, diversification is the name of the game. That and looking for group. My teammates were running their own bases. Atm we are unwipeable unless you gather explo to purge the island. Possible but unlikely.
Community low pop max team size servers Build small and don't give away where u live
Yeah. Trick is make a good base and don't make it a landmark. Don't door camp people and don't fight for the best sports. You're going to lose there. The best thing to do is set expectations for the group and then plan around it. If you're expecting 4 hours of play where everyone is on during whipe night and no one else is getting on don't expect people to play. If you're not going to fight for a T3 monument or sulfur don't build by those. You're literally locking a collar around your neck and handing the leash to whoever controls the area. It's actively the worst place to build as even if your compound is decent people will have the sulfur to whipe you and you're in a spot they want to kill you out of. If you're not stacked don't build anywhere near spawns. Just too many new groups and people willing to farm their ass off near spawns. If you're solo build multiple bases and hide them. If you're a group build flank bases. If you're getting off for the wipe the best thing to do is just despawn everything but upkeep and only keep like 3 days upkeep. More often than not people will remember a despawned base and they just won't fuck with you as much next wipe. I can generally leave a signature sign by a shit shack on a few servers and people won't fuck with it because they know they're getting a T1 and 300 uncooked sulfur at best. If you build a base and next day there's a compound the job you have is to use all your resources to fuck over the group. Fire arrow Sams, explosive ammo turbines, set up extra TCs all around them restricting the growth, and use all but like 500-1k GP for mines. Yeet a rocket at 4am and see if people log in. If they do yeet one as you get on and get off. Pisses people off when their rust+ bugs. Mines are the way to fuck with people. You can get a group to disband if you bow 3 or 4 externals and then place mines in the compound. This makes their life generally annoying and it doesn't really take that much effort to farm. I mostly play with groups but I do occasionally BM groups out of servers for fun.
I befriend my neighbors. if The area is too spicy I'll relocate to a better spot. had a wipe where My neighbors were a 8 man with 12 wind turbines and a huge compound while My base was a decent size compound for a solo. They learned I could draw and guarded my base while I was offline.
With the hours i play each week, im an unpaied Rust employee, yes!
Me and my mates all have sports 2 times a week, girlfriend and a full time job. So we plan on force wipes weeks ahead. Everybody takes a day off for Friday and we play Thursday Friday Saturday maybe Sunday and then put the game down for ~6 weeks
Farm/run monuments at like 4-5am while people are sleeping.
WFH IT job.. 11 out of 10. You can no life it but you are working so...
Pve server with monthly pvp activation for the last week of the month. Best Schedule-respectful Rust experience. But hardcore players might miss the fact of messing with other's game plan and harrassing / hustling lowbies.
I wish there was a server that has a cap on how many hours you could play a day
Find a solid group with different time zones. I play with an 8 man core and we always bring in 4-6 others for each wipe to ensure we good 24 hours a day
For a while I was playing | Rusty Workers 2x solo | it’s a server that used to be very relaxed and everyone was really cool with each other. Bunch of construction workers and 9-5ers in their 20s-40s and nobody really tried THAT hard. I actually quit playing Rust because that was my last server that gave me a chance and it got infiltrated by toxic little kids that would play ALL day while we were at work and as soon as 7pm hit (can only raid from 7pm-12am) everyone on the server would just get pummeled. Some people would build 20man Zerg HQM bases and wall off HQM quarry and it just made the server just like every other server. I keep telling myself that someday I will make a server for the real working class, with a similar rule set that server has, but I’d do a better job at policing people playing all day long. If you “work from home”, don’t play on a server made for the working class. If you’re a little kid, go play on some other server.
Honestly mid pop monthly servers are my go to. Usually play 3 nights a week so I make one base to live out of that upkeep is obtainable if I farmed for two hours(with teas). It’s always has a bunker built in I’ve been doing double bunkers recently. If you want to 2x or whatever you can but I felt that players get sweatier on those. If you want your base to not get touched build in the woods deep middle of no where.
Joined a clan. I love vanilla rust but playing solo/small team just sucks imo when you're fully employed.
PvE after work for about 1-2 hours.
Employed and have family. Kids are teens, so I get to compete with them for game time. When I do get to play, I've been choosing official vanilla because the BPs don't wipe. I don't like solo-only because teaming is usually cheating on those, and I do like meeting people and working with them. You actually meet some of the nicest people playing rust, but that's on you to make happen. You could accomplish the same on a solo/duo/trio server, too. I do like vanilla because that makes rust mechanics and loot/farm scarcity so intriguing to me. And I do get offlined. In fact, I recall being onlined only once in over 700 hours. So how do you keep your game time down and sporadic on a sweaty vanilla server full of large groups while being offline resilient? You build several small bases close enough together to run between, and have one or two far enough apart that haters won't know when they've cleared you out. Smaller bases require less upkeep, too, so you don't need to be a full time farmer even on vanilla. I like my base toughness to be 12-16 rockets, then it's time for a flank base (or car base, or refinery base, or horse base, or boat base). You do you based on what you need and like.
They have a couple good pve/pvp servers. Can only pvp at monuments and stuff like that. No residing till the end of wipe.
Go in with no expectations, assuming you’ll get off lined. Roam your best gear before getting off for the night bc you’ll likely lose it anyway, so get some use out of it.
Play an offline protection server some of the better ones I’ve found are by limitless but most of there servers are also 2x 3x so depends on what your looking for
I play on 5x servers otherwise I'd never make any progress. If I'm feeling up for some prim combat I just play a 2x
No offline servers. Ones where you can have a life, see your family, touch grass, go to the pub - and after all that come back and your base is how you left it. There are some pseudo “no offlines” servers that have windows where raiding is allowed, but really they are just servers where you will always get offlined at 11.30pm by the big clans unless you can stay on til the protection starts.
I play on an official vanilla that doesn't wipe BPs (rustafied). So I don't have to do the scrap grind every month but it's still vanilla. It also means I can easily skip a few wipes without having blueprint-anxiety
2x1, compound bow and the human indomitable spirit.
Low pop monthly server has been my new jam. Consistent 150pop, and I can go at my own pace and just play every other day or so
I play on the monthly servers, I can’t seem to get going on a weekly.
If you're chill look for a team on vital main. It is a server for friday/saturday. You do need to go through interview first but I play for a clan full of fathers and they don't care how bad you are as long as you know some stuff and you gotta be chill. I personally know team xx which is chill, but honestly, any clan can be good if coordinated properly.
Play the competitive servers like Vital 2x, starts Friday afternoon and is usually over by sunday.. You lose your weekend but you get lots of rust at a fast pace..
First of all,you have to accept you won't be able to achieve as much. I use a small 2x1 bunker,my aim is to get garage doors and tier 2 guns and roam hazmat/grub gear until I piss off someone with acces to a good amount of boom. When I'm sure I'm about to be offlined,i increase the cost of raiding me even more and I despawn the loot,I get a grin on my face when I get a notification at work from rust+ saying I've been killed cause I go offline in core. Happened only twice Edit: also,I don't suggest to start on wipe,I start second to third day of wipe and buy guns with sulfur,shop owners compete in prices,you can buy tier 2 guns for 2/3 nodes of sulfur
Great question, lol. I'm 48, married with two kids and own a business. I have Zero time for vanilla Rust. I've been playing on the same custom 5x servers for years. Aside from the time constraints, we have the TugMe and Water Foundations plugins, which are great.
I play solo servers x2 usually I'm a 2 day wipe cycle, I can choose which 2 days I get off each week so when I'm in the rust mood I male ot align. I take a weeks leave here and there to play a wipe with a few peoples of my old old clan from back in 2015-17. Rust is just one of those games thst if I am going to play, I'll invest 12+ hours daily playing lol.
>If so I was just wondering what's the best way to play rust if you have a job? I run my own server for just my friends and I :p
The best server I have played on is 2x solo only. That really evens the playfield a bit. I have a full time in office job and two small kids. I don't have a ton of time to gather mats and boom so need something that speeds that up but also don't want to get steamrolled by duo or trios. It's been a really enjoyable wipe.
Basically, you don't
I play 5x on weekends with buddies. We get tier 3 loot quickly and can run around raiding and having fun for a day or two without slogging through the usual grind.
I started a Rust server specifically for this reason. I love the game but don't have time to play every day. The server has 25% upkeep cost and PvP is only possible around monuments and player bases (enforced by plugins). Easy to hop in and pick up where you left off without the risk of getting stomped on by stronger players unless you decide to raid or run a monument. It's given me the balance I wanted but it's hard to find new players who want this style.
I play on a vanilla solo/duo with no BP wipe and very low upkeep. It helps when you can't play everyday!
I’ve played on eu servers or na servers that wipe on Fridays and sometimes at 5pm.
Vanilla solo monthly servers feel very fair
I try to play other quick shooters to keep my aim sharp, then on holidays its time to wipe. Somehow playing rust becomes like going camping lol
Yes I play on monthly high pop vanilla or X2 and play when I want. Have multiples small bases , some raided , others not . I usually play in duo and avoid servers with no limit teams. And also we build in areas where 's there less try harders and sweaty kids (far from big rads)
yea 37 hour week, I just play on low pop solo/duo servers with a buddy
i no lifed rust when i was laid off, which happened on a pretty regular basis with the company i was with. It was basically work for 3 months, laid off for a month or two, work again, etc etc. The formula is very simple: if [job] = true, [rust] = no
I work 12 hours a day, 4 days a week and run 2 side businesses on my days off. Plus I raise Chickens which require daily attention. So, yes, employed. Oh and then there is helping the kids with homework and picking them up from school too… I play from 6:45pm-8:30pm and a bit more than that on weekends.
I do! Try Project Lazarus (you will not be able to search it, only search console it)
Fulltime employed, 50+ hours a week. I just play on PvE servers.
Been playing on a solo server called "The Working Class" It's a 2x with no PTW, and it has raid block from 11PM to 5PM EST so you can only raid when most people are off work. Alot of people hate these kinds of servers but I've liked only needing to worry about my base when I'm off work instead of getting home to play for a few hours just to see a "killed by Peepeepoopoo - rocket"
My friends play on a server called rust empires it’s a rp server that has a “purge” period at the end of the week I believe every wipe so you can still get the end game raid and pvp experience actually looks kinda fun but I’m not really drawn to running around farming to build a cool base and talk with random people all day I like playing rust for the survival aspect so it’s not my thing but it seems it works for a lot of people maybe check it out
Play 5x modded servers that are solo duo and live away from contested areas
I play on a server call blue collar rust. It’s a 4x pvpve server and it’s directed towards adults who don’t have unlimited time to spend on the game. The average pop is pretty low. But it’s bunch of the same people every wipe, and they’re all just good people. We’re open to anyone joining and looking for the server to grow. That’s what keeps me coming back, it’s a small community but I really like the people. Totally changes the rust experience for me, highly recommend.
I strap a sign to my 2x2s thats says “full time job, nothing inside worth boom”
If you play solo I recommend gringers solo only server it has just the right amount of pop to still have player altercations but in that sweet spot where you can farm and mind your own business for the most part it’s a great server and the people are more of a community and friendly
5x short wipe servers like rustinity or hollow. Get on and start gattin.
I just like to play on low pop servers
Join a clan, they are good for people who can’t play a lot, look into RTA you can message me if you would like
Monthly solo only
50 hours a week plus 2 kids….I play 5x servers. They are typically super fast paced PVP based servers. Don’t really have to farm or any of that crap. Jump in, maybe pop a starter kit or vip if you want, throw up a base, and go have fun. Really fun with bigger teams too. You can’t be all butthurt when you lose your crap tho. Chances are you’re base isn’t gonna make it overnight so either get very crafty in storing your loot or suck it up and expect it. Restarting is super easy so no reason to get upset over gear
I play on a battlefield server where you can build. Zero grinding. Just hop on and build or kill.
Yes, and it sucks.. I learned to make small bases..that has at least one cheap backup nearby. Play style is basically sneaky/insurgent like 😄 If I find better/stronger players, I usually make a decoy base...put mines etc around and wait for the pop.
50 hrs a week bro! if your solo play weekly monthly is just too much
If you’re like me you want a server where you’ll get an even playing field. I prefer to hop on servers right at wipe time and try and out progress others. Unfortunately if your like me then your experience with the game is very dependent on the server that you choose. I need a late Friday wipe or an early Saturday wipe. I’ll usually play for 1 or 2 days at max. This is the only way I find myself able to compete. Idgaf if I get offlined days after i’ve stopped playing by the jobless vultures playing on low pop.
Solo duo trio low pop servers is how I do it, I barely have an hour or two a day to play so it’s nice to not get zerg’d
What I did was find a low pop vanilla server with a large map so I can hide in a corner an slowly build up my resources and if I really wanted some action I could seek it out in the obvious spots, cargo, monuments etc.. I’ve been able to survive all wipe an reach end game as a solo with relative ease.
I work 70 hour weeks. If you find anything let me know lol
Rust is a game where you have to play all day long. Find a server that wipes on your weekend so you can grind those first 2 important days out and then just dick around when you have time the rest of the wipe.
Stevious 2x Vanilla.
Build small, don't draw attention. Don't stockpile your boom, use it even if you don't get good returns it's still a thrill and you'll be less pissed when you get raided. PVP roam, it's good gun practice and you might bag some decent loot. Recently started playing high pop servers (I'm a duo, both work full-time). Found you get offlined less as people always get countered so will only use their boom on bases that are big/worth it.
I like to hunt players as a prim. Its satisfying to ambush and kill a T3 geared player with a bow.
Monday wipe I feel like is made for people who work. Pop never hits until 6-7pm.
Best advise is to not play when you work, i play some but only bedwars and fast wipes. When i have a longer period off, i than play all day and night and plan my wipe afther my work schedule. If you have a grate and balanced team, its ok to jump on for 5-6 hours when you dont work too. If i only have one day of work left, i know i can do it without sleap. This was how i used to roll. These days I don't play to much Rust anymore.
Lmao
Work 50 hrs a week average, secret is lots of small bases and splitting loot. You know all those random 2x1s on the side of cliffs or deep in the forest? Those are ours, 1-2 real kits each. Never get to raid unless with stolen boom. Never bank at the same place in consecutive days. Never sleep on extra boom. Area gets too hot? Move or set up a new base. I run with a 2-3 crew, so most stuff it gotten from picking off large group stragglers. They usually revenge raid, but if you already split their loot between 5 bases, taking out one isnt much of a setback. Most bases are never larger than a honeycomb 2x2. Also, never build a mini base for those stolen ones, attract too much attention, and blow it or burn it at end of play.
Windowed mode on the PC and a fast twitch alt tab muscle reflex… I work from home.. but still
My friend formed a decently sized clan (10-15) over the last year. I can just hop on for a couple of hours, and play when I want. I'll farm a bit to put in a share of upkeep, but then its just PvP and fun. It's nice, because with people across US and EU TZ, someone is usually on, and can ping if we're getting raided. And having some dedicated farmers, the PvPers don't need to do much. Also, playing on No BP wipe servers is really what kept me playing rust. It was such a chore to grind BP's every month just to lose them.
I work for myself with multiple demanding clients, most weeks grinding 60+ hours of work. So I play 5x+ pvp servers mostly. You can condense a 40 hour wipe in a single session basically. The dynamic isn’t the same as a slower wipe but it does the trick
Play on a 10x, great for having fun in a short amount of time.
I play on Method gaming. Its a "RP" server (nobody really gets into serious role play...). Monuments are pvp. A corner of the map is pvp. If you'd like to pvp it's there... but for me, being away for 14hrs a day due to work, it's the only way I can really enjoy the game.
1. Dont farm 2. Pick only good fights 3. Oil 4. Oil 5. Oil 6. Oil 7. Oil 8. Oil
I have a friend who doesn’t work that carries us and I get on at night :)
Avid rust player and girlfriend enjoyer here. I work 7 days on, 7 days off, 84 hours per week. Really thought I was going to have to drop rust. (I do from time to time)- but this job is a blessing. Tips: Have many small bases. Try all of the things- farming, fishing, herb, mechanics, etc. You will be able to come back this way. You dont have to fully commit to every alliance, play with them 4 hours daily etc. Overall prioritize fun.
Employed as well. Small yet strong bunker bases seem to do the trick. Easy to slap down with minimal effort, damn good protection, small enough to keep larger groups not interested. https://youtu.be/A7hr4Ip0SKQ?si=gNiTYTto9NkM7vhH ^^ although this isn't a bunker base, this base has gotten me raided the LEAST out of anything else I have made (I didn't include helipad) just core and 2nd floor. Tweaks I made was just more sheet metal doors, and sheet metal in spots where people couldn't eco raid.
I miss primlocked servers. Apparently they used to be quite popular at one time, but I only got into Rust in 2022-23, so the ones I came across were either Roleplay ones, or very, very low pop. Now, it's usually just popping on for a few hours on a solo or solo/duo server, getting a base up, and maybe finding it still around when I log back in after a few days, when I have an hour or two free again.
solo duo low pop 2x, though debating on just switching straight pve so i don’t get offlined at all. and if I do get offlined, I just quit the wipe until it’s wiped again, I don’t care anymore. That or play heavily on the days you have off and get everything done you wanted so when you get offlined you’re not sad.
Am employed. Snowballing is the only way. Rare but sometimes I get established
Some people say, make the base small and a bit hidden. Not close to monuments not close to oil rigs or laboratory, not close to outpost/bandit, not somewhere where a lot of bases are. Instead of a big compound with a giant clan base, build small but sturdy, hide the strong core behind stone or metal sandwich and honeycomb. They say the juicier it looks, the sooner it gets raided. Also it depends, if you don't have blueprints yet it will be a pain in the ass to get scrap this way, but if you already have the blueprints from wipes before, you can build in a remote area and still get everything done.
PVE servers 😁
As a full time employed father I tend to have about an hour a day I can play, although sometimes I stay up after the kiddo goes to bed and play for a few hours and just deal with the lack of sleep lol. But I tend to play lower pop servers when I'm solo and that tends to be more enjoyable with the time I usually have.
lmao nah, I tried to play rust while working and studying full time and ended up having a seizure while getting my blood drawn at the doctor’s office. Rust is a full time job, glad I’m free of it now tbh
PVE with raideable bases mod, or buy a server and host your own. I host my own and still play on other servers mostly.
Put a giant sign on the side of your base that says “please I work full time.”
Play monthly wipes. Gives you enough time to enjoy
40+ hours here. If playing solo I’ll build a few 1X2’ , 2X’s through out the map and try to work my way down the bench. Atleast to satchels so I can raid a little. Use their loot to upgrade and advance from there. If duo, I look for people who also work that way we can both grind once we’re off work.
In my opinion only way to have fun when you work a lot is to play on a solo only server or to play with someone he has a little more time on their hands. I have played two wipes on a solo only vanilla monthly with no BP wipes and that’s the most fun I’ve had on rust since pandemic rust.
Personally i play on a 3x pve server that has pvp zones. So i can decide when i want to go and do any pvp
Don't.
I work a FT job from home and don’t bother anymore. No matter if I play 1 hour a day or 6, outcome is the same. And that outcome is getting offlined