Rust Boat Building: Parts, Costs and How It Works
What a modular boat costs, block by block and part by part, and why a wooden hull needs protecting.
Since the Naval Update in February 2026, Rust has let you build your own boats instead of only buying a Rowboat or RHIB. A modular boat is built piece by piece from hull, floor and wall blocks, then fitted with a Steering Wheel, engines or sails, an Anchor and, if you want a fight, Cannons. Our Naval Update explainer covers the launch. This guide covers what a boat actually costs and how much punishment one can take.
Costs and health below come from the wiki's building and item data, and the fuel, drift and decay figures from our vehicle data.
What You Need to Start
Two items get you building:
- Boat Building Station, 200 Wood and 1 Tarp. In its own words it "creates a stable workspace on the water to build or edit your floating wooden refuge".
- Boat Building Plan, 20 Wood. Its description says you use it to craft boats, with more options on right-click once it's equipped.
Both sit on the Workbench Level 1 tech tree, along with the Steering Wheel, Sail, Anchor, Plank, Small Ramp, Cannon and Cannonball. The Small Boat Engine is a Workbench Level 2 unlock.
Hull and Deck Costs
Every boat block is built from Wood and Low Grade Fuel:
| Block | HP | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Boat Hull | 75 | 300 Wood, 15 Low Grade Fuel |
| Boat Hull Triangle | 25 | 150 Wood, 8 Low Grade Fuel |
| Boat Floor / Floor Frame | 50 | 150 Wood, 8 Low Grade Fuel |
| Boat Floor Triangle / Triangle Frame | 25 | 75 Wood, 4 Low Grade Fuel |
| Boat Wall | 50 | 300 Wood, 15 Low Grade Fuel |
| Boat Wall Doorway / Window | 50 | 210 Wood, 11 Low Grade Fuel |
| Boat Wall Low / Low Barrier / Low Cannon | 25 | 150 Wood, 8 Low Grade Fuel |
| Boat Stair | 50 | 300 Wood, 15 Low Grade Fuel |
For a sense of scale, six Boat Hull blocks alone come to 1,800 Wood and 90 Low Grade Fuel. Fuel is the hidden cost here: every block eats some, before you put a drop in an engine. Our building data also lists no upkeep cost for boat blocks.
Parts That Make It a Boat
| Part | Cost | HP | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steering Wheel | 100 Wood | 300 | A lockable wheel to steer the boat |
| Small Boat Engine | 50 Low Grade Fuel, 5 High Quality Metal, 2 Gears | 300 | More engines means more speed |
| Sail | 150 Wood, 1 Tarp | 300 | Slow but effective; more sails, more speed |
| Anchor | 250 Wood | 300 | Stops the boat drifting |
| Plank | 100 Wood | 300 | A crude boarding plank |
| Small Ramp | 250 Wood, 2 Rope | 300 | Unfolds for boarding enemy vessels |
| Cannon | 200 Metal Fragments, 100 Wood | 1,000 | Mountable gun with high damage and questionable accuracy |
Cannonballs cost 50 Metal Fragments and 15 Gun Powder per craft, and each craft makes two. The Cannon is by far the toughest part at 1,000 HP, more than ten times a Boat Hull block.
Engines or Sails?
The item descriptions are blunt about the trade-off. More Small Boat Engines mean more speed, and the engine is "not good for the environment". It costs Low Grade Fuel, High Quality Metal and Gears to build, and fuel to run. The Sail is slow but effective, costs only Wood and a Tarp, and also scales with numbers. For a fishing or looting platform that mostly sits still, a sail or two plus an Anchor is cheap and simple. For anything that needs to get away fast, or chase, you want engines.
On fuel, our vehicle data gives a modular boat a 500-unit Low Grade Fuel tank and a draw of 24 per minute, which empties a full tank in about 21 minutes. Bring spare fuel on longer trips.
Drift, Decay and Parking
Two numbers from our vehicle data are worth knowing before you log off:
- Drift: a boat left by the shore starts drifting after a two-hour delay, at about one metre per second. That's what the Anchor is for.
- Decay: a modular boat waits 24 hours before decay starts, then decays fully over 12 hours.
Use it regularly, anchor it when you leave it, and don't count on a boat you haven't touched in a day still being there.
How Tough Is a Boat?
Not very. In the wiki's raid calculator, which has a Boat grade, every boat block falls to a single Rocket, Timed Explosive Charge or Satchel Charge. Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo needs only 5 rounds for the 25 HP blocks, 9 for walls and floors, and 14 for a full Boat Hull. Cannonballs take one or two per block. Compare that with the 185 explosive rounds a Stone Wall needs.
That fragility is the real cost of a boat base. It is quick and cheap to build and quick and cheap to sink. Keep valuables you can't afford to lose on land, and treat the boat as transport and a fighting platform rather than a vault.
Build or Buy?
If you only need to cross water, buying is simpler. Our vendor data lists the Boat Vendor selling a Rowboat for 125 Scrap, an RHIB for 300, a Solo Submarine for 200 and a Duo Submarine for 300, each with 50 starting fuel. A modular boat makes sense when you want something a vendor won't sell: a floating base, a cannon platform or a custom layout. The wiki's building pages list every boat block, and our older guide to boats and water travel covers the bought boats.
What do you need to build a boat in Rust?
A Boat Building Station (200 Wood, 1 Tarp) to work from, a Boat Building Plan (20 Wood) to place blocks, Wood and Low Grade Fuel for the hull and deck, and a Steering Wheel (100 Wood). Add engines or sails to move it.
How much does a boat hull cost in Rust?
A Boat Hull block costs 300 Wood and 15 Low Grade Fuel and has 75 HP. A Boat Hull Triangle costs 150 Wood and 8 Low Grade Fuel.
Do more engines make a boat faster?
Yes. The Small Boat Engine's description says more engines means more speed, and the Sail's says the same for sails.
How many rockets does it take to sink a boat?
One Rocket breaks any single boat block, as does one C4 or one Satchel Charge. A full Boat Hull takes 14 rounds of explosive ammo.
Do boats decay in Rust?
Yes. Our vehicle data gives modular boats a 24-hour delay before decay starts, then 12 hours to decay fully. Boats left by the shore also start drifting after two hours unless anchored.