RUST Minicopter Command and Variables

RUST Minicopter Command and Variables

The RUST Minicopter, introduced on 2/7/2019 in the February update and later substantially modified in the Modular Vehicle Update on 7/2/2020, is the fifth aircraft to be introduced to RUST and the second to be officially pilot-able by players.

Minicopters and scrap transport helicopters, can be purchased by players for scrap at the RUST Air Wolf Shop. This is currently unlike other vehicles such as hot air balloons, rowboats, and RHIBs, which are spread across the game world and are controlled by server population variables.

Practical reasons for using the RUST Minicopter command and variables

• Minicopters allow players to get an overview perspective of the map and experience the game in a way they’ve never been able to before
• Use as a location device, similar to a bat signal for players not in your party
• Air raids, evacuations, and reconnaissance on enemy bases
• Potential future for this becoming a vessel that can be used when transitioning to a different server
• Spawn the Minicopter into the game for custom events and mayhem
• Adds additional interactions for players to use and be creative with
• Admins using the Minicopter can advertise a unique aspect of their RUST servers, especially once modded
• Provide an additional means for transportation in the game beyond running, walking, boating and swimming

Minicopter’s Appearance

Scrapped together with a handful of pieces, the Minicopters appear to sit on the frame of a rusted boat trailer, with the wheels intact. Two makeshift chairs have been welded on, but mind the bubble gum when sitting down. The tail rudder appears to be made out of sheet metal resembling a stop sign.

Directly behind the captain’s chair is a small red container, with the word “fuel” scribbled in white paint, sitting atop the portable engine. The rear and main rotor blades appear to be made of a thin sheet metal resembling, quite possibly, the only legitimate items to be grafted onto this contraption.

Human Carrying Capacity

There are two seats in total, with a max carrying capacity of two souls. One chair is designed for the pilot, closest to the engine, with a control stick positioned just behind the passenger’s seat.

It’s important to note the optional passenger seat is the only seat that can wield inventory items while in flight, making the wingman the de-facto gunner, bomber, or spear chucker! The captain and passenger can also access the fuel container when using alt to look behind to the fuel container.

Health, Decay & Repair

The Minicopter’s health defaults to 1000 when they spawn into the game. The current health of the Minicopter can be seen when actively sitting in either of the vehicle’s seats. This is a new addition to the RUST UI altogether. The health meter can be located just below the hydration meter, in the lower right of the screen.

Over time the Minicopter will take decay damage. This occurs regardless if it housed properly or not, similar to the rowboat, hot air balloon, and RHIB. With the default variable value set, Minicopters take up to 8 hours to decay outside and 36 hours inside or under a roof. The inside decay rate is now controlled by its own decay variable, unlike previous implementations. (See variables below.)

Damage done to Minicopters can be repaired using a wooden hammer and metal fragments. Each hit with the hammer will heal 52 damage and consume 13 metal fragments.  When a Minicopter hits 0 health, whether from decay or player damage, it will explode into a ball of flame, covering the ground with fire. Much like popcorn, Minicopters can be heard blowing up in the distance all across the map.

After running the Minicopter through a battery of tests, we’ve determined that it can be damaged by the following:

• Collision
• Guns
• Melee weapons
• Tools
• Explosives
• SAMs

However, do note that the Minicopters are impervious to arrows and fire damage. When the Minicopter explodes, if players are mounted, they will die in the explosion.

Vehicle Operation & Fuel Storage

The Minicopter’s controls are very similar to the existing CH47 that is already in the game, but only spawn-able by admins.

To turn the Minicopter on, simply add low-grade fuel to the gas tank behind the captain’s chair. It can hold up to 500 low-grade fuel, which can run the Minicopter in the air for a total of 16 minutes and 30 seconds before the engine disengages.

Next, mount the captain’s chair and press the W key once. Pressing this key will turn the Minicopter’s engine on and will engage the propellers. There isn’t a mechanism to disengage specifically, but it will shut off automatically if a player exits the captain’s chair by pressing the spacebar key.

To control the Minicopter:

• Use the W & S keys to control the engine’s speed
• Use the A & D keys to control the yaw (left and right directions)
• Use the mouse to control the pitch (elevation)

Who can enter the RUST Minicopter command 

The RUST Minicopter command can be issued and configured on vanilla RUST servers by RUST admins and moderators only.  Non-admin players on vanilla RUST servers cannot use the RUST Minicopter command and variables but will be able to find the Minicopters scattered across the map on vanilla servers.

RUST minicopter.entity command (1 of 1)

• This command is used to manually spawn a pilot-able Minicopter into the game
• When issuing this command, the initiating player must be above the ground and not clipped in a wall or geography
• The mouse cursor needs to be pointed in the exact location of where the Minicopter should spawn
• The Minicopter can be removed using the ent kill command

Note that this RUST admin command does not work from RCON platforms and does require being logged into the game server.

Use the command below to spawn a single Minicopter:

spawn minicopter.entity

On success the console will display:

spawned minicopter.entity[3426268362] at (111.0, 0.1, 124.9)

Related Minicopter variables