Bandit Camp (often shortened to “Bandit”) is a safe zone in Rust where you can trade items for scrap, recycle components, and buy a helicopter. You can also lose scrap at the casino, which has the edge. The camp only protects players the game doesn’t consider hostile.
- Safety
- Guards shoot hostile players. The timer lasts 5 minutes.
- Casino
- Wheel, slots, and poker. There’s no blackjack at the camp.
- Minicopter
- Costs 750 scrap as of October 9, 2026. You can buy it after the Air Wolf pad is repaired.
- Logging out
- Sleeping players in a safe zone are killed after 20 minutes.
- Recycling
- 2 recyclers, 40% efficiency, and an 8-second cycle.
What’s at Bandit Camp in Rust
Bandit Camp in Rust is a settlement with wooden huts, vendors, and armed guards. Since 2020, the entire camp has been a safe zone, just like Outpost. Players come here to trade, buy aircraft, and recycle, even if they have no plans to hit the tables.
- Vendors sell weapons and farming supplies, and some buy items for scrap.
- The casino has a wheel, 3 slot machines, and poker tables.
- The Air Wolf shop sells helicopters. You can also find engine parts and hot air balloon armor nearby.
- The 2 recyclers take components, but return fewer materials than recyclers outside safe zones.
Safe zone rules and the hostile timer
You can’t draw a weapon in a safe zone. If the game doesn’t consider you hostile, you won’t take damage, and animals won’t attack you either. Camp guards shoot hostile players, so check your status before you enter.
Hostility lasts 5 minutes. An icon appears in the corner of the screen, and you can check the remaining time in your inventory. Check it before heading back to the vendors.
- You can’t loot other players. The game warns you if you try.
- Sleeping players in a safe zone are automatically killed after 20 minutes.
- The metal detector won’t find loot here.
- Ore nodes and trees no longer spawn in safe zones.
Don’t log out at the camp. The safe zone won’t stop your sleeping character from being automatically killed after 20 minutes. The game warns you about this when you log out.
How the wheel works in Rust
To play the Big Wheel, take a seat and deposit scrap at the terminal. You can bet on 1, 3, 5, 10, or 20. The wheel spins every 45 seconds.
If the number you picked comes up, you get your bet back plus that number times your bet. For example, betting 10 scrap on 3 returns your 10 scrap and wins you 30 more.
Don’t use the Rust casino to build up resources. Facepunch warns about the casino’s house edge: you might win an individual bet, but you can’t beat the house in the long run. We’d save your scrap for a specific goal, especially if you need it for transport or a particular item.
Slots and poker: how much scrap you need to play
The camp’s casino has 3 slot machines and poker tables. The machine sets the slot bet, which you can adjust with a multiplier. For poker, you need to put scrap in the slot for your seat.
Slot bets and multipliers
Sit at a slot machine and put scrap in it. The base bet is 2 scrap. When you add scrap, you can choose a multiplier to increase both your bet and your potential winnings. The cost of a spin is shown before you play.
After the rebalancing, big wins became less common, but 3 matching symbols come up more often. Before you leave, collect your winnings and any unused scrap from the machine.
Poker for 2–6 players
Poker tables seat 2 to 6 players and use Texas Hold’em rules. To join, put at least 100 scrap in the slot for your seat. The table has its own text and voice chat.
If you didn’t win at the showdown, you don’t have to show your cards at the end of the hand. Press R to reveal them if you want. Collect your winnings at the end of the game.
Where to find blackjack in Rust
There’s no blackjack at Bandit Camp itself. To play in a safe zone, head to Outpost. A stationary, indestructible casino wagon sits beside the small platform, with blackjack, poker, and slots inside.
Casino wagons also spawn on the aboveground railway. Their blackjack tables hold 1 to 3 players, but there’s no safe zone inside. Blackjack pays 3 to 2.
The floating cities also have the Deep Deck casino. If you’re heading there by sea, first learn how to build a boat and reach the Deep Sea.
What Bandit Camp vendors buy and sell
The black market sells weapons you can’t craft. Other vendors stock farming supplies or buy items for scrap. Find the vendor you need and check their offer, since prices change with updates.
- The black market sells weapons you can’t craft.
- The camp buys some items for scrap. You can sell honey too.
- The camp has vendors that sell farming supplies.
- Behind the Air Wolf shop, on the second floor, you can buy Tier 2 engine parts and hot air balloon armor.
Air Wolf in Rust: helicopter prices
You buy aircraft from Air Wolf by talking to the vendor. The options are a minicopter, a transport helicopter, and an attack helicopter. But the pad has to be intact first. At the start of a wipe, the vendor is waiting for repairs.
| Helicopter | Cost |
|---|---|
| Minicopter | 750 scrap |
| Transport helicopter(Scrap Transport Helicopter) | 1,250 scrap |
| Attack helicopter(Attack Helicopter) | 2,250 scrap |
The vendor’s minicopter and transport helicopter come with their flares loaded. Your teammates can also board a vehicle you’ve bought.
Fly your helicopter away from the vendor as soon as you buy it. Any vehicle left there will be confiscated after 5 minutes.
How to repair the Air Wolf pad at the start of a wipe
Since the Livestock update on October 1, 2026, the pad starts each wipe broken. Air Wolf won’t sell aircraft to anyone until it’s repaired. Repairing it unlocks the vendor for the whole server, and the pad stays intact until the end of the wipe.
Multiple players can contribute resources. A full repair takes 30,000 wood, 10,000 metal fragments, and 100 rope. One player doesn’t need to gather everything.
- Put the repair resources in your inventory and take a hammer.
- Go to the broken Air Wolf pad.
- Hit the pad with the hammer. Resources will be taken from your inventory and added to the repair.
- Keep working with other players until the pad is repaired.
- Once it’s repaired, talk to the vendor. Helicopters will be available to everyone.
On your own server, you can disable the repair requirement with vehicle.padrepairsrequired false. The command vehicle.setrepairablepads 0 leaves the pad broken, while vehicle.setrepairablepads 1 makes it whole. Find more settings in our guide to Rust console commands for players and admins.
Camp recyclers: material returns and cycle time
There are 2 safe zone recyclers at the camp. They return 40% of an item’s materials, and each cycle takes 8 seconds. You pay for the protection with fewer resources and more time.
| Recycler | Efficiency | Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| In a safe zone | 40% | 8 seconds |
| Outside a safe zone | 50% | 5 seconds |
| Outside a safe zone with a power plant running | 60% | 5 seconds, or 4.5 at full power |
Since the Power Trip update, regular recyclers outside safe zones have worked at 50% efficiency, or 60% when a power plant is running. The changes didn’t affect the camp’s recyclers. Before you load in components, check what to recycle and how much scrap each component gives.
Frequently asked questions
Can you win at the casino in Rust?
You can win an individual bet, but the casino has the edge. Facepunch warns that you can’t beat the house in the long run, so don’t count on gambling to build up your scrap.
Why doesn’t Air Wolf sell helicopters at the start of a wipe?
At the start of a wipe, the pad is broken and the vendor is waiting for someone to repair it. You’ll need 30,000 wood, 10,000 metal fragments, and 100 rope. Hit the pad with a hammer to add resources. Multiple players can help, and once the repair is complete, the helicopters are available to everyone on the server until the wipe ends.
How much does a minicopter cost in Rust?
As of October 9, 2026, Air Wolf sells the minicopter for 750 scrap. You can buy it once the pad has been repaired. Fly it away right away: any vehicle left by the vendor will be confiscated after 5 minutes.
How long does hostility last in a Rust safe zone?
The hostile timer lasts 5 minutes. A status icon appears in the corner of the screen, and you can check the remaining time in your inventory. Camp guards shoot hostile players.
Where can you play blackjack in Rust?
You can play in a safe zone inside the casino wagon beside Outpost’s small platform. There’s also blackjack in the wagons on the aboveground railway, but those aren’t protected by a safe zone. Bandit Camp itself doesn’t have blackjack.
