A Workbench Level 1 costs 500 wood and 100 metal fragments. Level 2 costs 500 frags, 20 high quality metal and 5 Basic Blueprint Fragments. Level 3 costs 1,000 frags, 100 HQM and 5 Advanced Blueprint Fragments. None of them cost scrap any more: Facepunch removed scrap from workbench recipes in November 2025 and cut research prices to 15, 30, 60 or 120 scrap depending on rarity. The bottleneck is now fragments, not scrap.

Workbench crafting costs

Bench Recipe Craft at Recycles into (monument)
Workbench Level 1 500 wood, 100 metal fragments Anywhere 300 wood, 60 frags
Workbench Level 2 500 metal fragments, 20 HQM, 5 Basic Blueprint Fragments Workbench 1 300 frags, 12 HQM, 3 Basic fragments
Workbench Level 3 1,000 metal fragments, 100 HQM, 5 Advanced Blueprint Fragments Workbench 2 600 frags, 60 HQM, 3 Advanced fragments

All three bench blueprints are known by default. You only need the previous tier nearby to craft the next one. A higher bench also crafts faster: Level 2 takes 45 seconds at a Level 1 bench and 22 at a Level 2.

Outpost has a public Level 1 bench and research table, and the Deep Sea floating cities have workbenches and research tables too, which helps on day one.

Blueprint fragments

Fragments were added in the October 2025 Meta Shift update to stop groups rushing tier 3 on scrap alone.

Basic Blueprint Fragments (for Level 2):

  • One guaranteed in every green keycard puzzle room
  • Two guaranteed next to the red card in every blue puzzle room
  • Found at medium and large monuments and in airdrops
  • Chance drops from military crates, large underwater crates, junkpile scientists and roadside metal detecting

Advanced Blueprint Fragments (for Level 3):

  • Guaranteed in hackable locked crates
  • 1 in 10 chance in elite crates
  • Always spawn in pairs
  • Found at Launch Site, Military Tunnels, the Missile Silo, Underwater Labs, both Oil Rigs, and Cargo Ship and Chinook crates

If you cannot contest those, you can convert 20 Basic fragments into 1 Advanced. That is 100 Basic fragments for a Level 3 bench, so it is a fallback, not a plan. A green room plus a blue room in one run gets you three Basic fragments; the keycard puzzles guide has the routes.

How the tech tree works

Each workbench tier has its own tech tree. Open the bench, pick an item, and pay scrap for every locked node on the path to it. Two recent changes matter:

  • No more tax. Tier 2 and 3 trees used to add a surcharge on top of the item's research price. That tax was removed in November 2025, so a node now costs its plain research price.
  • Whole paths at once. Since the April 2026 Spring Clean update you can click any node, see the preview path, and buy the whole path with one button. You still pay for every node on the way, so a cheap target buried deep in the tree can cost more than its sticker price.

The research table is the other route. Put the item itself and its scrap cost in, wait 10 seconds, and learn the blueprint. It skips the path entirely, so if you find a gun in a crate, researching it is always cheaper than walking the tree. A research table costs 200 metal fragments and 20 scrap at a Level 1 bench. Do not leave spare scrap in it; anyone can take it.

Research cost tiers since November 2025:

Rarity Scrap now Before
Common 15 20
Uncommon 30 75
Rare 60 125
Very Rare 120 500

Scrap cost for key blueprints

Research table prices from the official wiki. With the tax gone, the node price in the tech tree should match, plus whatever nodes sit before it.

Blueprint Bench to craft Scrap
Revolver Level 1 30
Hatchet Level 1 30
Satchel Charge Level 1 60
Garage Door Level 2 30
Semi-Automatic Rifle Level 2 60
Thompson Level 2 60
Python Revolver Level 2 60
Pump Shotgun Level 2 60
High External Stone Wall Level 2 120
Rocket Launcher Level 2 120
Gears Level 3 60
Assault Rifle Level 3 120
Armored Door Level 3 120
Timed Explosive Charge Level 3 120

Under the old prices the Assault Rifle alone was 500 scrap before tax. At 120 they are no longer the wall they used to be; the fragments are.

What to research first

The order depends on whether you are building or raiding first, but this works for most groups.

Day one (Level 1). Satchel Charge for early raids and doors, plus a cheap sidearm like the Revolver. Both are cheap enough that you should not wait on a crate drop.

Level 2 first. Garage Door is 30 scrap and gives you a solid airlock door; just remember it costs two gears each to craft, and a gear costs 100 scrap if you craft it. Then one main gun: the Semi-Automatic Rifle or Thompson for mid range, Pump Shotgun if you fight in close. High External Stone Walls come next for a compound.

Level 2 later. Rocket Launcher, if your server is in raid mode.

Level 3. Assault Rifle, Timed Explosive Charge and Armored Door, in whatever order your group needs. The Level 3 bench is the hard part, so plan your Advanced fragments before you plan your scrap.

Blueprints persist or wipe depending on the server, so check its info before spending everything on day one. The crafting calculator works out the material cost of what you learn, and the raid calculator shows how many charges or rockets a wall takes.

Workbench upgrades

The May 2026 update added nine workbench upgrades. They cannot be crafted, they are rare, and each one changes the bench's look and gives a bonus. One of them extends the bench range, which since June 2026 also extends comfort range. Slot them through the bench's own inventory.

Sources