Teaming up gives you a map marker and nothing else
Joining a team in Rust is instant: look at someone, hold E, done.
What it actually gives you is smaller than most players assume — shared map markers, shared chat, shared sleeping bags, and a green name over their head.
It does not give you access to the base.
Tool Cupboards, auto turrets and code locks are three separate authorization lists, and team membership is on none of them. That is the single most common way a new group loses a kit: someone invites a friend, the friend walks into the base, and the turret kills them.
Making a team
- Press Tab to open your inventory. The team panel is on the left, next to your character.
- Click Create Team. You are the leader of a team of one.
- Look at the player you want and hold E, then pick Invite to Team. You have to be close.
- They accept from their own Tab menu.
The leader can promote another player to leader and kick members; anyone can leave. When the last player leaves, the team is gone.
Do it on the beach on wipe day, before you split up to farm. Map markers are far faster than shouting grid letters in global chat.
Team size
| Setting | Cap |
|---|---|
| Default | 8 |
| Official softcore servers | 4 |
| Community servers | solo / duo / trio / quad as configured |
| Some modded servers | 16+ |
Convar: relationshipmanager.maxteamsize.
Team size is not the same as a group limit. A group limit is a server rule about how many players may roam, raid and base together — and you cannot dodge it by not pressing the invite button. On a max-3 group-limit server, turning up with four friends and no team is still four friends. Breaking a group limit is a common ban reason, so read the rules before you bring a squad.
The new clan system (2 July 2026)
Rust got a real clan system in the Common Ground update on 2 July 2026 — the same patch that added the Apartment Complex and softcore raid windows. Facepunch described clans as “a more advanced version of teams”.
If you are reading a guide that says vanilla Rust has no clan feature, that guide predates July 2026.
Making one
| Step | Detail |
|---|---|
| Get to a Clan Table | Craft for 200 wood + 100 metal fragments at Workbench Level 1 (~30s), or use a free one |
| Free tables | Outpost — in the fenced compound near the recycler and Research Table. Bandit Camp — by the staircase |
| Open it | Hold E on Manage Clan, or press J |
| Set it up | Name it, pick a banner colour and logo |
| Invite | Hold E on a player for about 3 seconds |
| Ranks | Owner creates, renames and deletes ranks, then toggles individual permissions |
What a clan adds
- Up to 100 members (versus a team’s 8)
- Custom ranks with permissions — invite, kick, promote, demote, MOTD, banner, logs, score, player notes
- A dedicated clan chat channel
- Clan map markers
- A banner and logo
- A clan score with an audit log
Clan score
Clans earn score for big plays that feed a server leaderboard. The commonly cited events are roughly +10 for destroying the Bradley APC, +10 for hacking a locked crate and +10 for killing an enemy clan member.
Treat those as a guide — the exact list and values are shown in the Score tab in game and can be tuned by Facepunch.
Teams and clans stack
You can be in a team and a clan at the same time, and most large groups do exactly that: the clan holds the whole community, and smaller teams form inside it for the wipe.
The Clan Table is your clan’s anchor. If it is destroyed you lose the table you manage the clan from, which is why groups place it deep in the core behind airlocks and honeycomb — protect it like a Tool Cupboard.
What a clan does not do
It does not stop friendly fire. Neither system does. Clanmates are marked and visible on the map, and you can still kill them.
The three authorization lists
This is the important part of the page.
| System | What it grants | How a teammate gets it |
|---|---|---|
| Tool Cupboard | Building privilege: place, upgrade, rotate, pick up | Each player walks to the TC and presses E individually |
| Auto Turret | Not being shot by it | Each player presses E on each individual turret |
| Code Lock | Opening the door | Each player types the code once |
You are automatically authorized on a TC you placed yourself. Nobody else is, whatever the team UI says.
Getting everyone on the TC list also stops your shotgun traps and flame turrets from cooking your own group, because those two respect building privilege.
Lock the TC with a code lock, or a raider who gets in can authorize themselves and demolish your base from the inside.
For a step-by-step on the turret side, see the turret gun guide.
What the team UI does share
| Shared | Not shared |
|---|---|
| Map and compass markers | Tool Cupboard authorization |
| Pings | Turret authorization |
| The leader’s map markers | Code locks |
| Team chat | Resources or loot |
| Sleeping bags | Friendly fire protection |
| Nametags and health on the HUD | |
| A warning when you aim at a teammate |
The aiming warning is the useful one — you get a pop-up when you aim at a teammate. But it is a warning, not a lock.
Respawn points
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sleeping Bag | 30 cloth, unlocked from the start, ~5 minute cooldown per bag |
| Bed | The upgrade, ~2 minute cooldown |
| Respawn point limit | 15 per player (max_sleeping_bags; -1 disables) |
| Bag gifting | Anyone (default) / Team / Disabled |
Because each bag has its own cooldown, place several so one is always off cooldown. Label them so the death-screen map tells you which is home and which covers the monument run.
Turn bag gifting to Team or Disabled unless you want griefers filling your 15 slots with junk bags.
Related guides
- Rust Beginner Guide — if this is your first wipe
- Rust Base Building Guide — TC placement and locks
- Best Gun for an Auto Turret in Rust — the turret authorization list
- Rust Electricity Guide — powering the base
- Rust Best Servers — reading group-limit rules before you join
- Xbox and PS5 in Rust — teaming up on console
- Rust Tips and Tricks — the small things