03 — Electricity

Last updated: May 18, 2026

Electricity in Rust is real engineering. It has sources, storage, transmission, logic, and loads, just like a real grid. The whole system runs on rW (Rust watts) and you have to budget rW the same way you'd budget current in an actual circuit. This file covers every component, every gotcha, and the wiring rules that prevent your turret from dying at 3am.

The four-stage power chain

Every electrical setup follows this flow:

Source → Storage → Logic → Output

• Source: produces power (solar panel, wind turbine, small generator, large generator)
• Storage: batteries that smooth out variable sources and provide power when sources are off
• Logic: switches, timers, gates, splitters, branches — the stuff that makes the system do something
• Output: the actual device drawing power (lights, turrets, doors, traps)

Bypassing the storage stage works for stable always-on sources (a generator running on low-grade), but solar and wind need batteries or your lights flicker out at sundown.

Power sources

Solar panel

Cost: 75 HQM, 1 tech trash. Workbench 2. Output: 0–20 rW depending on sun angle. Day-only. Peaks at noon when angled directly at the sun.

Pro tip: angle matters. A solar panel laid flat outputs ~12 rW peak. Angled toward the south horizon (or whatever direction the noon sun travels in your server's seed) it hits 20 rW peak. Stack 4–6 in a vertical column on a tall pillar for compact rooftop arrays.

Wind turbine

Cost: 100 metal frags, 4 gears, 2 high-quality metal. Workbench 2. Output: 0–150 rW depending on elevation and wind. Wind is server-tick variable.

The killer detail: wind output depends on how high above the local terrain the turbine sits. A turbine on a 1-foundation pillar outputs ~10–30 rW. A turbine on a 5-foundation pillar outputs ~80–120 rW. A turbine perched on a cliff top hits the 150 max.

Common mistake: placing a wind turbine indoors or below your roofline. The placement check only verifies open sky — it doesn't tell you your output is going to be 8 rW because you built it in a valley. Stack pillars.

Small generator (Test generator)

Cost: cannot be crafted, found at monuments. Free output. Output: 100 rW continuous. No fuel.

The free monument-decor generator. It exists for testing. You can pick it up and bring it home with a hammer.

Small generator (the real one)

Cost: not directly craftable outside server admin. Most servers spawn this through electrical research crates. Output: 30 rW continuous while fueled. Fuel: low-grade fuel, 1 LG per ~5–10 minutes.

A reliable always-on 30 rW source if you have a fuel supply. Most solos skip this in favor of solar+wind+batteries.

Large rechargeable battery

Cost: 50 HQM, 1 tech trash, 1 sheet metal. Workbench 2. Storage: 24,000 rWm (rust-watt-minutes). Max output: 100 rW.

This is the workhorse battery. Charges from solar/wind during the day, discharges through the night. A single large battery can run two auto-turrets and a lighting circuit for 4–6 hours of darkness.

Medium rechargeable battery

Cost: 25 HQM, 1 tech trash. Workbench 2. Storage: 900 rWm. Max output: 50 rW.

Worthwhile if you only have 50 rW worth of loads. Cheaper to build than large but stores 27x less. Most builds skip mediums entirely.

Small rechargeable battery

Cost: 10 HQM, 1 tech trash. Workbench 1. Storage: 150 rWm. Max output: 10 rW.

For very small circuits. A single small battery runs a 5 rW ceiling light for ~30 minutes. Use these in cheap auto-turret pods where you'd rather lose a $10 battery than a $50 battery if the pod gets blown.

Battery efficiency

All batteries lose ~20% energy through the charge-discharge cycle. So 100 rW going in becomes 80 rW available. Plan source output accordingly: if you want 50 rW available at night, you need 60+ rW of source running during the day.

Storage devices

Batteries are the only true energy storage. There's also the electrical branch and electrical splitter, which are routing/distribution, not storage.

Logic and routing components

Wire tool

Costs nothing. Always in your inventory. Used to connect components. Wire limit: 30 meters per run. A single wire run can have up to 16 pinned waypoints (right-click while pulling wire) before the 30m budget runs out.

If you need longer runs, you have to break them up with a component that re-emits power — electrical branches work for this.

Electrical branch

Cost: 1 HQM. Workbench 2. Function: splits a power source into a "branch out" line (set rW amount) and a "main out" line (everything else). Doesn't waste power.

Always prefer Branch over Splitter when you only need to peel off a fixed amount of power to one load. Set the branch amount to the device's draw (e.g., 5 rW for a ceiling light) and the rest passes through to other loads.

Electrical splitter

Cost: 1 HQM, 1 wire. Workbench 2. Function: divides input power into 3 equal-third outputs. Wastes power. A splitter fed 30 rW outputs 10/10/10 — but if a downstream load only draws 5, the other 5 from that output is gone, not returned to the system.

Use only when you need symmetric power to 3 identical loads. Otherwise, chain branches.

Memory cell

Cost: 1 HQM, 1 wire. Workbench 2. Function: a flip-flop. Holds state. SET input turns it on, RESET turns it off. Output stays in current state until toggled.

The building block of "press button to turn light on, press again to turn off" patterns and "door stays open after triggered" patterns. Combined with switches, lets you build keypad-feel input.

RAND switch

Cost: 1 HQM. Workbench 2. Function: randomly outputs to one of 4 outputs each time power passes through.

Used for traps (raider triggers a beam, RAND picks which trap fires) and decoy lights.

Counter

Cost: 2 HQM, 1 wire. Workbench 2. Function: counts pulses. Outputs when count reaches a target. Also acts as a display.

Useful for "ring 5 times then alarm" or "auto-turret has fired 30 times, refill ammo" alerts.

Timer

Cost: 1 HQM, 1 wire. Workbench 2. Function: passes power for a set duration (1–60 seconds) after triggered.

Use case: pressure plate triggers → timer 5 sec → siren. Or: button press → timer 30 sec → garage door closes automatically.

XOR / AND / OR switches

Each: 1 HQM, 1 wire. Workbench 2. Function: standard logic gates. Two inputs, one output.

• AND: output is on only when both inputs are on
• OR: output is on when either input is on
• XOR: output is on when exactly one input is on (not both, not neither)

Use AND for "two keypresses required to open door." Use OR for "any one of three switches turns on the light." XOR is rarer — useful for "this switch OR that switch but not both."

Blocker

Cost: 1 HQM. Workbench 2. Function: passes power only when a separate "blocking" input is OFF. Inverts.

Wire your switch into the blocker input. When the switch is on, power is blocked from the main line. Effectively a NOT gate.

Smart switch / smart alarm

Smart switch cost: 75 scrap. Workbench 2. Pairs with the Rust+ companion app. Smart alarm cost: 75 scrap. Workbench 2. Sends a notification to your phone via Rust+.

Smart components let you toggle stuff (or get pinged) when you're not in-game. Smart alarm wired to a door sensor = phone notification when someone opens your front door. Smart switch wired to your auto-turret circuit = remote arm/disarm.

Pro tip: Rust+ also lets you see TC and turret status remotely. Use it. The Rust+ pairing key is in the inventory tab of the game.

Outputs / loads

Auto turret

Cost: 1 targeting computer, 1 SMG body, 6 HQM, 5 rifle bodies. Workbench 3. Power required: minimum 10 rW just to power on. With 11+ rW, the logic outputs (Has Target, Low Ammo, No Ammo) activate. Loaded weapon: any SMG, rifle, or pistol. MP5 or HMG-tier weapons recommended.

Common mistake: powering at exactly 10 rW. You get the turret but not its alerts. Always feed 11+ rW.

The turret has a defined cone of fire. Aim it at the entry path. Multiple turrets at crossing angles cover a base entrance.

Pro tip: put turrets in armored window frames so they have line of sight but cover. A turret in an embrasure-style frame survives several rocket impacts before dying.

SAM site

Cost: 5 HQM, 1 tech trash, 1 sheet metal. Workbench 3. Power: 25 rW. Ammo: SAM ammo. Targets minicopters, scrap helicopters, and the patrol helicopter.

For clan compound airspace denial. Solo bases don't need a SAM unless they're being heli-griefed.

Heater (ceiling)

Cost: 50 metal frags. Workbench 1. Power: 2 rW. Effect: keeps a room above freezing for biome temperature mechanics. Mostly cosmetic past early-game.

Electric furnace

Cost: 100 metal frags, 4 gears, 1 high-quality metal. Workbench 2. Power: 60 rW continuous while smelting. Effect: smelts at the rate of a small furnace but takes any ore, won't burn wood (it just sits in the slot), and can't be turned off by a sprinkler. Big upgrade from coal furnaces because it doesn't need fuel — it needs electricity.

Pro tip: electric furnaces in a small dedicated furnace room work well with a large solar+battery rig. Plug one furnace into a battery output (60 rW) and let it smelt overnight without you watching it.

Ceiling light

Cost: 25 metal frags. Workbench 1. Power: 1–5 rW depending on brightness/configuration. The default is 1 rW.

Basic lighting. Daisy-chain ceiling lights via branches to save wire runs.

Search light

Cost: 1 HQM, 1 wire. Workbench 2. Power: 10 rW. Effect: spotlight you can rotate manually. Good for base perimeter at night.

Siren light

Cost: 1 HQM. Workbench 2. Power: 2 rW. Effect: spinning red strobe. Cosmetic but useful as alarm visual.

Telephone

Cost: 25 metal frags, 1 tech trash. Workbench 1. Power: 1 rW. Effect: in-game phones can call other phones. Add a phone in your bunker, another at the front door — get a call when someone presses the button.

Mixing table, fluid combiner, fluid switch and pump

Used for water systems and crafting tea. Detailed in 05_Horticulture.md (water section) and 10_Cheatsheets.md.

Tesla coil

Cost: 5 HQM, 5 metal blade. Workbench 3. Power: variable, 5 rW per tier of damage. Effect: zaps anyone in contact. Mounted on walls/floors. Damage scales with rW supplied (up to 35 rW for max damage).

Use in narrow corridors. A tesla coil in a bunker corridor with a pressure plate trigger is the meanest defense in the game per scrap spent.

Pressure plate

Cost: 1 HQM. Workbench 2. Power: 1 rW. Effect: outputs power when stepped on.

The trigger for almost every base trap.

Laser detector

Cost: 1 HQM, 1 wire. Workbench 2. Power: 5 rW. Effect: outputs power when the beam is broken.

Cleaner than a pressure plate because it triggers on entry, not on standing. Pair with a timer.

Door controller

Cost: 1 HQM, 1 wire. Workbench 2. Power: 1 rW. Effect: an electronic interface for a door. Open/close via power signal.

Wire a door controller to a button, switch, or RAND for remote door control. Combined with timers, makes an airlock.

Power math: planning a circuit

Pick your loads, sum the rW, oversize source by 20% for battery loss, oversize battery storage for the longest "no-source" interval.

Example: solo base with 1 auto-turret (10 rW), 4 ceiling lights (5 rW), 1 heater (2 rW), 1 SAM (25 rW for clan bases only — skip for solo). Solo total: 17 rW continuous load.

Source: 1 solar panel (peak 20 rW, average ~12 rW over a day cycle, 0 at night) + 1 wind turbine on a tall pillar (~80 rW average if elevated). Combined daytime input: ~92 rW average.

Storage: 1 large battery (24,000 rWm capacity). At 17 rW continuous load, 24,000 rWm lasts 24,000/17 = ~1,400 minutes = ~23 hours. Plenty of buffer for nights and bad-wind days.

The system is over-engineered for a solo. That's fine — you only build it once.

Wiring rules and gotchas

• 30 meter limit per wire run. Use branches as relays for longer distances.
• 16 pinned waypoints per run. Plan your runs to be roughly straight; zigzagging burns through pin count.
• No tunneling through walls. Wire passes through wall pieces but not through foundation pieces. Frames are wire-passable.
• No carrier through ladders or hatches. Plan wire paths around vertical travel.
• Branch settings need to be exact. Set the branch to the device's actual draw, not a guess. A branch set to 5 rW serving a 10 rW load delivers 5 rW and the load underdraws (auto-turrets at 5 rW are off).
• Power direction matters. Wire always flows source-to-load. Some components have input/output sides (the splitter has 1 input, 3 outputs; the AND has 2 inputs, 1 output) — visually distinguished by socket type.
• Use rustrician.io to plan circuits before building. It's a free browser-based circuit simulator with the full Rust component library and accurate rW math.

Common circuit recipes (cross-reference)

Detailed wiring diagrams for these live in 06_Automation_Circuits.md:

• Solo auto-turret pod (1 turret, 1 small battery, 1 solar, 1 wind)
• Front door light on motion (PIR pressure plate → timer → ceiling light)
• Base alarm (door open → smart alarm → phone notification)
• Trap corridor (laser detector → RAND → 4 shotgun traps)
• Auto-lock door at night (light sensor + door controller)

Troubleshooting

• Turret won't power on: check that input is 10+ rW. Branches set too low cause this.
• Lights flicker at sunset: solar drops to 0 instantly. Add a battery between source and load.
• Wire won't connect: you're hitting the 30m or 16-pin limit. Check by looking at the wire color (red = invalid).
• Branch is "wasting" power: branches don't waste, splitters do. If you're using a splitter and only need one output, switch to a branch.
• Component shows "no power" despite wire: ensure input/output direction is correct. Re-wire from source side.

Pro tips for a solo electrical build

• Mount your solar+wind on the roof of the main base, in a sealed armored pillbox so they're not destroyable by ladder access. Wire down through a foundation frame into the core.
• Keep your battery indoors. Batteries die to small-arms fire if exposed.
• Use one large battery as the central output node. Source feeds it, all loads draw from it. Cleaner wiring and simpler to debug.
• Label your switches on the wall (write on a sign next to each switch). Six months later you won't remember which switch is the turret arm.
• Rust+ pair the smart switch for your turret. Logging in to find your base under raid and arming the turret from your phone is one of the best feelings in the game.