Rust: How Keycards Work and Where to Find Them

Here's everything on how keycards work and where to find them in Rust.

Keycards in Rust follow a strict progression chain. Getting the best loot requires a Red Keycard, which requires a Blue Keycard, which in turn requires a Green Keycard to obtain in the first place.

The easiest way to grab a card is buying one in a safe zone, though only the Blue Keycard is purchasable this way, and its price fluctuates with demand. Fishing offers another route - cutting open a Catfish, Orange Roughy, Salmon, or Small Shark has roughly a 20% chance of yielding a blue card.

Green Keycards can also be found on scientist bodies with around a 25% chance, whether from roaming scientists on roads, military tunnel scientists, or outpost scientists.

Card Durability

Each keycard has a limited number of uses before breaking. Green Keycards last four swipes, Blue Keycards also last four, and Red Keycards only last two. Once a card runs out, it disappears completely and cannot be repaired at a repair bench.

Excess cards can be sold at Bandit Camp for scrap, though listing blue and red cards on a personal vending machine tends to earn far more, since other players are often willing to pay well to skip the puzzle entirely.

Green Keycard Monuments (No Puzzle Required)

Several monuments have a green card sitting out in the open with no fuse or puzzle needed, and no radiation to worry about either. Abandoned Cabins has one on the second floor of the yellow two-story building.

Lighthouse keeps its card in a room on the right after reaching the top floor, though this location sees heavy competition due to its proximity to spawn.

Supermarket and Gas Station both have a card sitting on a table inside a side room, accessible from either the front or a back entrance. Junkyard hides its card inside a container on the bridge in the middle of the monument, while Ferry Terminal places its card directly across from the outdoor recycler.

Beyond these tier-one options, green cards can also be found in Underwater Labs inside an open locker, and on both the Small and Large Oil Rig behind blue card doors near the top of each rig.

Blue Keycard Monuments

Most blue card monuments require radiation protection along with a fuse and a green card to complete the puzzle. Large Harbour has no radiation, and involves powering a container near the recycler before using a green card on a second container inside a nearby hangar.

Small Harbour follows a similar layout without radiation - power a building near the subway entrance, then use a green card upstairs to access the blue card sitting on a table with some loot boxes.

Satellite Dish requires at least 10% radiation protection. Power a container on one side of the monument, then cross to the opposite side and swipe a green card to reach the blue card and two crates inside. Sewer Branch also needs around 10% protection, and rewards the effort with strong loot alongside two recyclers, one of which sits safely underground.

Red Keycard Monuments

Red card monuments generally require a blue card, sometimes a green card as well, and one or two fuses depending on the location.

Water Treatment is the most accessible red card monument, with radiation limited to the card room itself. Power the central building's gate, then use a blue card at a separate building nearby to reach the red card and its surrounding crates.

Airfield demands a hazmat suit, two fuses, a green card, and a blue card, along with weapons to deal with scientists guarding the path. Train Yard requires dealing with four scientists spread across the monument and takes considerably longer to complete than most other red card runs.

Power Plant avoids scientists entirely but involves a long puzzle chain across multiple buildings and switches before reaching the blue card room and, eventually, the red card above it.

Arctic Base stands apart from the rest - heavily guarded by hostile NPCs, but only requiring a blue card with no fuses needed at all. Opening the correct red container in the middle of the base reveals the red card directly.

What Red Keycards Unlock

Once a red card is secured, it grants access to tier-three monuments including Launch Site, Military Tunnels, Underwater Labs, and both Oil Rigs in Rust - each guarding some of the strongest loot available in the game.

Also, check out our other guides below :

• Rust: How to Complete the Launch Site Puzzle
• Rust: How to Generate and Store Electricity
• Rust: How to Build and Defend a Base
• Rust: How to Run the Dome Monument
• Rust: How to Fish Without Breaking Your Line
• Rust: Every Way to Get Cloth
• Rust: How to Destroy Turrets While Raiding
• Rust Beginner's Guide: Tips and Tricks for New Players
• Rust: How to Get and Use Blueprint Fragments
• Rust: How to Get Tarp
• Rust: How to Get the Chinook Locked Crate
• Rust: How to Complete the Water Treatment Plant Puzzle
• Rust: How to Get Blueprints Fast
• Rust: How to See at Night
• Rust: How to Complete the Power Plant Puzzle