Rust Vehicles Guide: Horses, Cars, Boats & Helis

Rust has come a long way from running everywhere on foot. This guide covers every way to get around — horses, modular cars, boats, the minicopter and scrap heli, and the submarine — what each costs, what fuel it burns, and what it’s best for. There’s a quick-compare table up top, then the detail on each.

Rust vehicles compared

Horses

The cheapest mount and the best early-wipe transport. Buy a horse from a stable or tame a wild one, and you have fast, fuel-free land travel that draws little attention. Keep it fed (it eats while hitched, and higher-quality food boosts stamina and health) and it stays healthy. Horses let you farm wood, stone and metal across several grid squares quickly, and double as a fast getaway before you can afford vehicles.

Modular cars

Build a modular car at a vehicle lift from a chassis plus modules — cockpit, storage, flatbed, passenger seats and an engine. The engine needs engine parts of decent quality to hit full performance, and the car runs on low grade fuel. The chassis size sets how many module slots you get:

Cars are the mid-game land workhorse — they carry loot and crew and survive a lot of punishment — but you need a vehicle lift to repair and reconfigure them, so most tribes build one at base.

Boats & water

The rowboat and the faster RHIB get you to Oil Rig and around the coast; the submarine opens underwater loot crates and allows stealthy approaches. All run on low grade fuel. A boat is essential for water monuments — see the Oil Rig guide for the run that pays for everything else.

Air: minicopter & scrap heli

The minicopter is the iconic two-seat flyer for fast travel and raids; the scrap transport helicopter carries a full crew and loot for big operations. Both run on low grade fuel — the minicopter burns roughly 30 low grade per minute (1,800/hour), so fuel logistics matter on long flights. Buy them from Air Wolf at Bandit Camp (750 and 1,250 scrap) or unlock the blueprints to craft your own. They’re game-changers for monument runs and raiding, provided you can protect them from being shot down or stolen off the pad.

Frequently asked questions

How much scrap is a minicopter in Rust?

750 scrap from the Air Wolf vendor at Bandit Camp. The scrap transport helicopter is 1,250 scrap from the same shop. You can also unlock and craft both via their blueprints if you’d rather spend resources than scrap.

What fuel do Rust vehicles use?

Almost all of them — cars, boats, the submarine, the minicopter and scrap heli — run on low grade fuel, which you make from animal fat and cloth in a small oil refinery. The horse is the exception: it eats food instead of fuel.

What’s the best vehicle for early wipe?

The horse — no fuel, easy to find, low profile, and it lets you gather across several grid squares fast. Once you’ve got scrap and engine parts, a small or medium modular car becomes the mid-game workhorse, and a minicopter is the late-wipe upgrade.

How many module slots does a modular car have?

It depends on the chassis: small has 2 slots, medium 3, and large 4. You mix engine, cockpit, storage, flatbed and passenger modules to suit the job — a 2-slot scrap runner or a 4-slot crew-and-loot hauler.

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