Rust explosives crafting calculator
Type in what you want to craft. You get the raw resources to farm, every intermediate component and the order to craft them in, rounded the same way the game rounds.
What the calculator does
Rust crafts explosives in layers. A rocket is not made from sulfur; it is made from gunpowder, Explosives and metal pipes, and those Explosives are themselves made from gunpowder, sulfur, metal fragments and low grade fuel. By the time you reach the ore, a single rocket has turned into 1,400 sulfur, a pile of charcoal, some frags and a bit of fuel. Doing that by hand for a 20-rocket raid is where mistakes happen.
Enter the finished items you want and the calculator walks the recipe tree down to raw resources. The "Raw sulfur" number is what you need to pull out of the ground (or out of a furnace, if you farm ore), and the table under it lists charcoal, metal fragments, low grade fuel, cloth, tech trash, metal pipes and rope. The craft order is bottom-up: gunpowder first, then Explosives or beancans, then the finished item, which is also the order the workbench needs them in.
Why the totals are slightly higher than the per-item cost
Gunpowder is crafted ten at a time from 20 sulfur and 30 charcoal, and explosive 5.56 ammo comes in pairs. The game will not make seven gunpowder, so the calculator rounds every craft up to a full batch and shows the spare in brackets. For big raids the rounding is noise; for a single satchel it can be a noticeable chunk of the bill. If the spare bothers you, add one more of whatever you are crafting and the leftover often disappears.
Where the resources come from
Sulfur comes from sulfur nodes, the quarries and the Giant Excavator, and it has to be smelted before it is any use. The furnace calculator tells you how long that takes and how much wood it burns, and the charcoal that drops out of that wood is the same charcoal you need for gunpowder, so plan both together. Metal fragments come from metal ore the same way, or from recycling, which the recycler calculator covers.
Low grade fuel is the odd one out. You need it for Explosives (three per unit), and it comes from animal fat plus cloth, from crude oil in a small oil refinery, or from barrels and crates around the roads. Tech trash for C4 is loot only: elite crates, military crates and the components you recycle from them.
If you already have the raid planned in the raid calculator, use its "Crafting list" button and the explosives arrive here pre-filled.
Recipes behind the numbers
| Item | Ingredients |
|---|---|
| Timed Explosive Charge | 20 Explosives, 5 Cloth, 2 Tech Trash |
| Rocket | 150 Gun Powder, 10 Explosives, 2 Metal Pipe |
| Satchel Charge | 4 Beancan Grenade, 1 Small Stash, 1 Rope |
| Explosive 5.56 Ammo ×2 | 20 Gun Powder, 10 Sulfur, 10 Metal Fragments |
| Beancan Grenade | 60 Gun Powder, 20 Metal Fragments |
| Explosives | 50 Gun Powder, 3 Low Grade Fuel, 10 Sulfur, 10 Metal Fragments |
| Gun Powder ×10 | 20 Sulfur, 30 Charcoal |
| Small Stash | 10 Cloth |
Numbers checked against Rust Labs on , current for the Livestock update.
Frequently asked questions
How do you craft C4 in Rust?
A Timed Explosive Charge takes 20 Explosives, 5 Cloth and 2 Tech Trash. Each Explosive is 50 Gun Powder, 3 Low Grade Fuel, 10 Sulfur and 10 Metal Fragments, and every 10 Gun Powder is 20 Sulfur and 30 Charcoal. Crafted from scratch that adds up to 2,200 sulfur per charge.
How much gunpowder is in a rocket?
A rocket uses 150 Gun Powder directly and 10 Explosives, which hold another 500 Gun Powder between them, so 650 in total. Add 2 Metal Pipes and the extra sulfur and frags inside the Explosives and you are at 1,400 sulfur per rocket.
How much charcoal do I need?
Every 10 Gun Powder takes 30 Charcoal, so charcoal is 1.5 times your gunpowder count. The calculator lists the exact figure. Charcoal comes from wood burnt in a furnace or campfire, with about three charcoal for every four wood on average, so the furnace run that smelts your sulfur usually makes most of it.
What is the cheapest explosive to craft?
Per unit, a Beancan Grenade at 60 Gun Powder and 20 Metal Fragments, then a Satchel Charge at 480 sulfur. Per point of damage it is a different question, which is what the raid calculator answers.
Why does the craft order list gunpowder first?
Because the workbench needs the components to exist before it will craft the item that uses them. The list runs bottom-up: gunpowder, then Explosives or beancans, then the C4, rocket or satchel.
Related guides
- Gameplay How to Farm Sulfur in Rust: Nodes, Quarry and Excavator How to farm sulfur in Rust for a weekend raid: what a node pays, which tool to bring, Sulfur Quarry and Excavator diesel math, and when to smelt.
- Gameplay Rust Raid Costs Explained: Sulfur per Explosive and Target What a raid costs in Rust in 2026: sulfur per C4, rocket, satchel and explosive round, which is cheapest on each wall and door, and a worked raid budget.