11/30 - Our component system guide is now live! Please go there to see updated information on the component system.

11/1 - Going live this Thursday, the component system stands to be one of the biggest shifts to gameplay Rust has ever seen. Completely redefining player progression, components change everything.

This article is aimed at giving you an overview of the new system, providing distinctions to help come update time. The system is not yet complete and there are many changes still to come, so I’ll be updating this post as new commits come out. Let’s get into it...

* In the interest of this not turning into a cluster fuck, I've moved change notes to the bottom of this post.

Component System Overview

For the first time in recent Rust history, all items are able to be crafted by anyone from the get go. There is no more learning blueprints; no more unlocking items with XP. In fact, there are no more levels, XP, or blueprints at all. Everyone can craft anything, at any time, provided they have the required components.

This brings some interesting new dynamics. Nothing at all carries over between map wipes - every wipe brings a complete fresh start on every server. It also means you have to do more than just farm resources to prosper. You now need to actively go to places where loot spawns (monuments, dungeons, power sub stations, etc.) in order to get any high tier loot.

Not everything requires components, thankfully. Many early to mid game items still have the same crafting recipes you’re used to: Metal tools, sleeping bags, code locks, low tier clothing, large boxes, hunting bows, etc.

Here is a list of all major components along with their rarity, where to find them, and what crafting recipes use them (quantity required is in parenthesis next to each item).

Gears

A prerequisite to any secure base, quarry, or crossbow, gears are one of the core components - and in very short supply at the moment.

Rarity
Uncommon

Found in
Barrels and Crates

Stacks to
20

Used for
Crossbow (1)
Armored Door (5)
Armored Double Door (5)
Ladder Hatch (3)
External Wooden Gate (5)
External Stone Gate (10)
Mining Quarry (15)
Reactive Target (1)
Snap Trap / Mines (1)

Metal Blade

Used mainly for melee weapons and salvaged tools - both of which have been buffed - blades are a welcomed addition to any loot crate.

Rarity
Common

Found in
Barrels

Stacks to
20

Used for
Metal Barricade (3)
Salvaged Axe (2)
Salvaged Icepick (2)
Salvaged Sword (1)
Long Sword (4)

Metal Pipe

Looking for fire power? You'll need pipes - and a lot of them. It’ll take stacks of this uncommon component to complete your Rust armory.

Rarity
Uncommon

Found in
Barrels and Crates

Stacks to
20

Used for
Water Pipe Shotgun (1)
Double Barrel Shotgun (2)
Salvaged Tools (1)
Revolver (1)
Pump Shotgun (5)
Bolt (5)
Semi Auto Pistol (1)
Semi Auto Rifle (3)
Rocket Launcher (10)
Rockets (1)
Flame Thrower (5)

Metal Spring

Speaking of firepower, you won't have much till you have the springs to back it up. Required by every high tier weapon in the game, springs are bound to be one of the most sought after components.

Rarity
Uncommon

Found in
Barrels and Crates

Stacks to
20

Used for
LR-300 (2)
AK (4)
Bolt (2)
MP5 (1)
Custom SMG (2)
Thompson (2)
Semi Auto Pistol (1)
Semi Auto Rifle (1)
Pump Shotgun (2)
F1 Grenade (1)

Rope

A necessity for a variety of things from armor to ladders, rope will always find a good use.

Rarity
Common

Found in
Barrels

Stacks to
50

Used for
Crossbow (5)
Wood Armor (1)
Bone Armor (3)
Satchel Charges (2)
Ladder (5)
Wooden Barricades (1)
Survival Fish Trap (1)

Sewing Kit

Don’t expect to be doing any expeditions to the snow biome without using several of these, sewing kits are a requirement for all high-tier clothing and armor - oh, and beds.

Rarity
Common

Found in
Barrels and Crates

Stacks to
20

Used for
Bed (2)
T-Shirts (1)
Leather Gloves (1)
Jackets (2)
Boots (1)
All Helmets (1)
Road Sign Armor (2)
Metal Armor (6-8)

Road Signs

One of the lesser used components, road signs are good for two things at the moment. 

Rarity
Uncommon

Found in
Barrels and Crates

Stacks to
20

Used for
Road Sign Armor (1)
Salvaged Cleaver (1)

SMG / Rifle Body

A key piece of several firearms, rifle and smg bodies are found rarely in weapon crates.

Rarity
Rare

Found in
Crates

Stacks to
10

Used for
SMG
Bolt
AK
LR-300

Tarp

Although not very relevant yet, the tarp could quickly become more valuable as hazmat suits  become craftable again - no sign on when that’ll be though.

Rarity
Common

Found in
Barrels

Stacks to
20

Used for
Water Catchers (1-2)
Water Barrel (1)

Tech Trash

On of the most prized components - a key to raiding and some attachments - tech trash is rarely found in weapon crates.

Rarity
Rare

Found in
Crates

Stacks to
50

Used for
C4 (3)
Holosight (2)
Laser sight (1)

Empty Propane Tank

A key ingredient for the flamethrower, and also used in water purification (but seriously, who does that anyway?), propane tanks are likely to be found more often than needed.

Rarity
Common

Found in
Barrels

Stacks to
5

Used for
Water Purifier (1)
Flamethrower (2)

More loot!

In the interest of making components more accessible, Helk has added procedural junk piles around the map, so you no longer need to follow a road or go to a dungeon/monument just to get loot. These piles spawn randomly throughout the map, reset every 20 minutes, and have either a couple barrels, a wood crate, or both.

11/3 Edit - A commit just came out which causes more loot to spawn as more people are in the server... nice!

Loot drop shifts

As you can imagine, the loot that spawns around the map has completely shifted. Along with all the additional components, loot around the map no longer spawns completed items like weapons or tools (airdrops still do though, meaning they are extra valuable). Instead, you’ll be seeing a bunch of components and wood, along with the usual resources and junk. One big plus: you should no longer find empty barrels (although that still needs a bit of work).

11/2 @ 5:40pm EST Edit: The team is also working on loot scaling, which would have more loot spawn if the server is more popular. This is not in yet, and will be a stretch to have live before the update, but we'll keep you posted on the status.

Introducing: The Recycler

A new deployed tool is in the mix, the recycler takes items or components and returns a percentage of the materials back (depending on condition of the item). Recyclers cannot be crafted at the moment, you can only find them in dungeons and monuments around the map.

Research and Repair

RIP Research benches - there are no blueprints which need to be learned. The repair bench remains in play though, as items still lose condition over time. Good news: repairs only require raw materials - no components are necessary to repair an item.

Changelog

11/2 @ 11:30pm EST - Added 'stacks to' amounts for each component.

11/2 @ 6:00pm EST - Added section on procedural junk piles.

11/2 @ 4:20pm EST - The newest staging build is out and our servers are back up! Go opt your client into the staging branch if you'd like to test.

11/2 @ 2:50pm EST - With one day before launch, the team has merged prerelease into main. We're still waiting on a successful build to go through in order to test on staging, I'll keep you posted when that goes live.

Several more balance changes have come down the pike today, here's a summary:

• Added barrel spawns to airfield
• Decreased HQM from crates (increases chance of everything else)
• Lower chance of oil in junk piles
• Removed spring requirement from beartrap/landmine/reactive target
• Started work on radiation

11/1 @ 11:20pm EST - The latest prerelease server build succeeded - servers are back up!

11/1 @ 8:58pm EST - The latest server build on prerelease failed after the client update was pushed, meaning people who updated to the latest client will not be able to join servers. We're waiting on the server to build again to get servers back up, that should be complete shortly...

11/1 @ 8:50pm EST - Helk has pushed a bunch of changes to the component system. Updated the post below, here are the highlights:

• Added procedural junkpiles that spawn in fields - more loot!
• Removed ammo spawns from loot crates - more components!
• Hazmat is uncraftable (for the time being)
• Roadsign armor jacket now require roadsigns
• CCTV camera/targeting computer now recycle into techparts/hqm
• Recyclers fixed and added to more places
• Components max stacksize increase