You get a red keycard, also called a red card, by finishing the blue keycard puzzle at one of six monuments: Airfield, Arctic Research Base, Missile Silo, Power Plant, Train Yard or Water Treatment. You then carry it to Large Oil Rig, Launch Site, Military Tunnels, Small Oil Rig or an Underwater Lab to open the best rooms. You cannot skip the blue card.
Where to get one
Each of these monuments hands out a red card as the reward for its blue-card puzzle.
| Monument | What players report you need |
|---|---|
| Water Treatment | A blue card and one fuse |
| Train Yard | A blue card and two fuses |
| Arctic Research Base | A blue card, and scientists to deal with first |
| Airfield | A blue card |
| Missile Silo | A blue card |
| Power Plant | A blue card |
The fuse and scientist notes come from player tips on a community database and are a few years old, so treat them as a guide. Every monument in the table needs the blue card.
Where to use one
| Monument | Notes |
|---|---|
| Launch Site | Its puzzle needs a red card |
| Military Tunnels | Also needs a blue card |
| Large Oil Rig | Its puzzle needs a red card |
| Small Oil Rig | Its puzzle needs a red card |
| Underwater Lab | Also needs a blue card |
The monument lists come from the community database Rust Labs. Facepunch does not publish one.
How to get a blue card first
- Finish a green puzzle at a Harbor, Satellite Dish or Sewer Branch. Those puzzles reward a blue card.
- Or catch and gut a Catfish, Orange Roughy, Salmon or Small Shark. Each has a 20 percent chance to give one.
- You can no longer buy one. Facepunch removed the blue card from the Outpost vending machine on 6 November 2025.
What changed lately
- Monument blockers (September 2026). Monuments with red keycard puzzle rooms now have blockers that take a lot of damage to destroy. Some weaker ones fall to melee. Once destroyed they do not come back, and any that survive the first 24 hours start to decay. Facepunch added them to slow early access to the loot.
- Slower refreshes (November 2025). The loot in a puzzle room refreshes only after someone has looted a container in it. About 10 minutes before a refresh, severe radiation starts around the loot rooms and puzzle parts. The puzzle only resets after five minutes with nobody near it, so camping a monument no longer holds it in place.
- Wipe day. A new map starts on the first Thursday of the month, with every monument fresh. See Rust forced wipe day.
Want to practise the routes on your own island? Start a server on the Rust page.
Sources: rustlabs.com: Red keycard, rustlabs.com: Blue keycard, rust.facepunch.com: Pivot or die, rust.facepunch.com: Breach and clear