Rust Beginner Guide
Low-pop first wipe, a 2x1, two bags, and why Launch Site can wait.
What you are actually playing
Rust is a persistent PvP survival game. The server is the product: you naked-spawn, farm nodes, build a base that can take a raid, and lose it when someone brings more sulfur than you. You win the wipe by still having a stone airlock on day three, not by bow-killing three nakeds on the beach.
The first wipe
Play on a low-pop or beginner-tagged server. Main 1000-pop is a dissertation in door camping. Place two bags apart from your base. Build a 2x1 or honeycomb starter, not a mansion. Time-to-stone matters more than roof shooting floors.
The loop
Spawn, get a sleeping bag and tools, farm a starter, upgrade to stone, then play the monument and oil rig loop until wipe. Learn Harbor or Airfield before you run Launch Site with a rock.
What good looks like after a week
You can upkeep stone, run Harbor without panicking, recycle at Outpost without the same exit every time, and you have not stored all sulfur in the TC. Then Airfield. Then oil.
Social
Allies are temporary. Do not hand codes to a random who helped you bow a wolf. Mute, pick better servers, and do not voice-chat your base location.