Rust Locked Crate Guide, Hack Timer, Loot and Spawns

The locked crate (also called the hackable crate or CH47 crate) is a big crate with a laptop on top that you hack, then wait 15 minutes to open. It spawns on Oil Rigs, on the Cargo Ship, from Chinook drops at monuments and on Deep Sea ghost ships. Every one has a guaranteed Metal Armor Insert and two Advanced Blueprint Fragments, and good odds at an AR, LR-300 or the new Ballistic armour.

Where locked crates appear

Source	How you get it	What you fight
Chinook (CH47) drop	The Chinook periodically drops one at a large monument	Other players, scientists at the monument
Small Oil Rig	Top level (level 4)	Blue scientists, then 5 heavy scientists from a Chinook
Large Oil Rig	Top level (level 6)	Blue scientists, then 10 heavy scientists from a Chinook
Cargo Ship	Spawns on deck while the ship is out	Cargo scientists, every group on the server
Deep Sea ghost ships	Bottom storage hull	A patrol boat trio once the crate opens
Airfield terminal (since August 2026)	Charge the larger terminal with fuses and call in a Chinook crate	Whoever sees it land

Chinook drops. Corrosion Hour lists Airfield, Train Yard, Water Treatment Plant and Junkyard as drop monuments. Rust Labs says the Chinook scientists patrol the monument first and only drop the crate once the area is clear.

Oil Rigs. Hacking the rig crate calls in a Chinook full of heavy scientists. Corrosion Hour counts 10 on Large Rig and 5 on Small Rig, and the Chinook arrives within about a minute of starting the hack. The Large Rig also has elite crates on levels 5 and 6, so it doubles as an elite crate run.

Cargo Ship. Crates spawn in rounds while the ship sails. Corrosion Hour lists the server defaults as three loot rounds spaced ten minutes apart, so arriving late can still get you one.

Ghost ships. Corrosion Hour found two locked crates on two separate ghost ships in a single Deep Sea event. They sit in the bottom storage hull, are never marked on the map, and use the same 15 minute timer. When one opens, a trio of patrol boats shows up and starts shooting anyone visible on deck.

Airfield terminal. The Power Trip update (August 2026) added two terminals to the Airfield control tower. Charging the larger one from the power grid lets you call a Chinook crate to the tarmac. Corrosion Hour reports a three hour reset window, which Facepunch says could still change.

How to hack a locked crate

Clear the area first. Hacking announces itself.
Look at the laptop and press your use key (E by default). That starts the countdown.
Wait out the 15 minutes. Server admins can change this, so modded servers may differ.
Loot it the moment it opens.

Two details matter. First, the crate shows on everyone's map, so the whole server knows where you are. Second, Rust Labs notes that damaging the computer slows the hack, so enemies can drag out your timer by shooting the laptop. Keep it covered and do not spray near it yourself.

Breach and Clear (September 2026) improved how server events save and load. Before that, a restart during an event could make the hackable crate simply vanish.

Locked crate loot table

From Rust Labs. Chances are per item, per crate. The Oil Rig version uses an almost identical table.

Guaranteed and high-chance items

Item	Amount	Chance
Metal Armor Insert	1	100%
Advanced Blueprint Fragment	2	100%
Targeting Computer	1-2	55%
Metal Facemask	1-2	53%
Metal Chest Plate	1-2	53%
Aiming Module	1	50%
CCTV Camera	1-2	46%
High Quality Metal	15-63	41%
Tech Trash	2-11	39%
Metal Pipe	5-15	39%
5.56 Rifle Ammo	50-170	37%
Scrap	140-159	34%
HV, Incendiary, Explosive 5.56	varies	34% each
Gears, Sheet Metal	5-10	31% each

Weapons and gear

Item	Chance
Assault Rifle (1-2)	29%
8x Zoom Scope, Weapon Lasersight (1-2)	29% each
Extended Magazine (1-2)	26%
Burst Module	25%
LR-300	24%
Bolt Action Rifle (1-2)	23%
Ballistic helmet, vest, leg armour	17% each
Auto Turret (1-3)	16%
M16A2	12%
Minigun	10%
Timed Explosive Charge (1-2)	10%
F1 Grenade (1-10)	10%
M4 Shotgun	9%
Satchel Charge (2)	9%
Rocket Launcher (1-2)	7%
L96, HMLMG, MP5A4, Rocket, Chainsaw	6% each
Jackhammer	4%

Unlike elite crate guns, the weapons here spawn at 100% condition. The rest of the table is a long tail of 1% rolls: electrical parts, building items, a Supply Signal and so on.

The June 2026 Built Different update is why the table looks different this year. The Ballistic Armour set and the M16A2 burst rifle are loot-only, and the locked crate is the best place to find both. At 17% per Ballistic piece, it beats the 3% you get from an elite crate by a wide margin.

How to defend a locked crate

The hack is a 15 minute advertisement. Plan for a fight.

Pick your crate. A Chinook drop in an open monument is the hardest to hold, since people can come from any side. On Oil Rig, anyone contesting you has to come in by boat or by air, which gives you time to see them coming.
Kill the heavies before you relax. On Oil Rig, the Chinook arrives fast. Hold a spot with cover over the landing zone and clear them before anyone else shows up.
Cover the laptop, not the crate. Shooting the computer slows the timer, so the spot that sees the laptop is the one to deny.
Watch the approaches. Boats and minis for Rig and Cargo; ground routes and roofs for Chinook drops. Put one player high.
Do not stand on the crate at zero. The final seconds are when third parties push. Loot fast, take guns, armour and explosives first, and leave components for the second trip.
Bring meds and spare ammo. A crate fight runs longer than a typical monument run.

A single locked crate is usually worth more than several elite crates, especially for guns. If you are going to spend sulfur getting into a rig fight, check the raid calculator first so you know what the C4 or satchels in the crate are worth for your next raid.