The only crate that needs no key, just 15 minutes of nerve
Locked Crates — the green box with a laptop sitting on the lid — are the one top-tier container in Rust you can open without a card, a fuse or a research path.
You press E on the laptop. A 15:00 countdown starts. And the crate is now drawn on every player’s map on the server.
That marker is the whole design. Facepunch did not make the crate hard to open; they made it hard to not be found while it opens. Every team within earshot now knows exactly where you are, and exactly how long you have to stand there.
So the crate is not a looting question. It is a 15-minute defence question — and most players fail it by standing on the crate for the full quarter of an hour.
There is no keycard. There is no fuse. There is a countdown and other people.
How it works
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| How you start it | Look at the laptop on top, press E |
| Keycard / fuse / tool needed | None |
| Hack timer | 15:00, fixed |
| Timer keeps running if you leave | Yes |
| Visible on the map | Yes, to the whole server, from the moment it starts |
| Opens at 0:00 for | Anyone, not just the hacker |
| Rolls | Up to 19 slots |
| Guaranteed | 2 Advanced Blueprint Fragments + 1 Metal Armor Insert |
The loot table
Two Advanced Blueprint Fragments are guaranteed. That matters more than the guns, because a Workbench Level 3 costs 5 Advanced Fragments — so three locked crates unlock the top bench with one to spare.
| Item | Amount | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Blueprint Fragment | 2 | 100% |
| Metal Armor Insert | 1 | 100% |
| Targeting Computer | 1 | 55.3% |
| Metal Chest Plate | 1 | 52.8% |
| Metal Facemask | 1 | 52.8% |
| MLRS Aiming Module | 1 | 50.0% |
| CCTV Camera | 1 | 45.7% |
| High Quality Metal | 15-40 | 41.1% |
| Scrap | 140-160 | 33.3% |
| Assault Rifle | 1 | 31.6% |
| Explosive 5.56 Ammo | up to 30 | — |
| Gears | 5-10 | — |
| LR-300 | 1 | — |
| Auto Turret | 1-3 | — |
| F1 Grenade | 1-4 | — |
| Minigun / Rocket Launcher | 1 | — |
More than half of all crates hold a Metal Facemask. About a third hold an AK.
Where it sits against the rest of Rust’s loot
| Container | Advanced Blueprint Fragments |
|---|---|
| Locked Crate | 2, guaranteed |
| Missile Silo (full keycard set) | 2, guaranteed, no siren |
| Elite Crate | ~1 in 10 |
| Airdrop | None |
| Bradley APC crates | None |
If you want a Workbench 3, three locked crates is the plan — not farming elite crates and hoping.
The Missile Silo is the quiet alternative: same two fragments, no siren, but it demands a green, blue and red card.
The four places locked crates come from
1. CH47 Chinook drop — the free one
The Chinook flies across the map, drops a crate on a parachute at a random monument, and leaves.
- Cycle: roughly every 2 hours (server owners can change it)
- Drops at: Airfield, The Dome, Harbor, Launch Site, Power Plant, Train Yard, Water Treatment Plant
- Never at Outpost or Bandit Camp
- Defenders: none — no siren, no scientists
That last line is what makes it the best locked crate in the game. The only thing standing between you and it is whoever else looked up at the same time.
A bug before the October 2025 Meta Shift update made the Chinook pick the same monument most of the wipe. That is fixed — the pick is now genuinely random, so you cannot camp one monument all week and farm it.
2. Small Oil Rig — 5-6 heavies
Hacking the rig crate sets off sirens, and about a minute later a Chinook puts 5-6 heavy scientists (300 HP each) onto the rig.
The crate needs no card. The rooms on the way up do — a blue card gets you the Small Rig’s hackable-crate room.
3. Large Oil Rig — 10-12 heavies
The big one. Seven levels, 23-27 blue scientists on patrol, and the locked crate sits on Level 6.
Start the hack and a Chinook drops 10-12 heavy scientists on the helipad (sources give 10-12; one solo guide says 11 — treat the wave as “about a dozen”). Each has 300 HP and carries LMGs and SPAS-12s.
You need green (Level 3), blue (Level 4) and red (Level 6) cards for the rooms, and since September 2026 there is a destructible blocker on the red-card route that costs 1 C4 or 5 satchels. The crate itself still needs nothing.
4. Cargo Ship — three crates, three timers
The ship spawns locked crates one at a time, up to 3 per run, and every one is a fresh 15-minute hack.
- The ship stays on the map 45-50 minutes from spawn
- It sounds its horn ~1 minute before it leaves
- Since it docks at the Harbor, plenty of players simply walk on
Do the arithmetic before you start the third hack: if the ship has been sailing 35 minutes when you press E, you will be waiting out 15 minutes of timer in the middle of the ocean.
5. Ghost Ships (February 2026)
The Naval Update added Ghost Ship wrecks in the Deep Sea, and they hold locked crates too — guarded by scientists on deck with patrol boats nearby. Same crowd as the rigs.
How to actually hold the 15 minutes
Do not stand on the crate. This is the mistake, and nearly everyone makes it the first time.
The crate is marked on every map. Everyone who comes for it runs straight at the marker. If you are standing on it, you are standing on the one spot every incoming player is aiming at — and you have told them you are there for another quarter of an hour.
Start the hack, then move 30-60 m to cover with a line of sight to the crate. The timer keeps running whether you are there or not. You need to see it, not touch it.
The three things that lose you the crate
- Camping it. See above. You get one life and they get a map marker.
- Pushing it during the timer. The crate stays sealed until 0:00. Standing next to it before then buys you nothing and costs you position.
- Under-gearing the wait. Fifteen minutes in the open is a long time. Armour, meds, and more ammo than you think. On Launch Site and Military Tunnels, bring Hazmat or Anti-Rad Tea — the crate hack does not turn the radiation off.
What to bring
- A rifle with range. Most attacks on a crate hack come from outside 100 m.
- A sniper if you have one — an L96 or bolt action for the approachers.
- Meds and a second weapon for when they get close.
- On the rigs: enough to kill a dozen 300 HP heavies, which is a very different ammo budget from killing three other players.
The final 60 seconds
Everyone who was going to come has arrived by then, and they all know the timer is about to expire. That is when the rush happens.
Eat before the timer ends, not after. Max-health tea or a bear pie beforehand — you will get pushed at 0:00 and you want the health pool already full.
When it hits zero: fragments and the insert first, then the guns. The Advanced Fragments are the reason you came and they are two slots. Guns are replaceable; a Workbench 3 is not.
If four players show up
Retreat and ambush whoever wins.
The crate unlocks for anyone at 0:00 — including you, if you are still alive nearby. Holding a 1v4 against the crate is hopeless; holding the exit from the crate is not. Let them start the looting, then shoot the one carrying it.
Related guides
- Rust Oil Rig Guide — the rigs level by level, including the crate
- Rust Cargo Ship Guide — the three-crate run and the 45-minute clock
- Rust Launch Site Guide — Bradley, radiation and the silo alternative
- Rust Military Tunnels Guide — the three-card puzzle
- Rust Monument Loot Tables — every crate compared
- Rust Tech Tree Guide — what those Advanced Fragments buy
- Rust Raiding Guide — what to do with the boom once you have it
- Rust Tips and Tricks — the small things that keep you alive