The Tool Cupboard (TC) is the most important thing in any Rust base. It stops your base from decaying and stops other players from building on it. Here is how it works, based on Facepunch's official Rust wiki.
Building privilege
- A TC costs 1000 wood. When you place it you are authorised automatically.
- Teammates have to walk up to it and press E to authorise. Hold E to deauthorise yourself or to clear everyone on the list.
- You know you have privilege when BUILDING PRIVILEGE shows in the bottom right, above your health bar.
- The radius comes from the foundations of the building the TC is connected to, not from the cupboard itself. Run around your base and watch where the indicator appears and disappears.
- Players without privilege can still place twig floors and wooden ladders on your base, so plan for ladder raids.
Upkeep and decay
- Put resources in the TC to pay upkeep, a fraction of what the building cost. Open it to see the cost per 24 hours and how long your base is protected.
- Walls, foundations, floors, roofs, doors and windows add to upkeep. Deployables like sleeping bags don't.
- Separate buildings need their own TC, or have to be joined by foundations.
- High external walls inside your TC radius don't decay and don't add to upkeep. Small "external TCs" around your base stop people building just outside your radius.
When upkeep runs out
Bases decay from the outside in. Full decay takes 1 h for twig, 3 h for wood, 5 h for stone, 8 h for metal and 12 h for armoured. If only one material runs out, only those parts decay.
Grief protection
If your TC is destroyed with resources still inside, it uses up to 24 hours of upkeep to protect the base for a day, so raiders also get less loot from it.
Lock your TC and hide it deep in the base.
Source: https://wiki.facepunch.com/rust/the_tool_cupboard
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