Code raiding is the zero-boom raid: instead of blowing a door open you stand at the code lock and guess. It works for one reason — people are terrible at picking codes. Rust doesn't publish door-code statistics, but players punch in PINs the way humans do everywhere, and that has been studied hard: in DataGenetics' analysis of ~3.4 million leaked 4-digit PINs, the twenty most popular codes covered 26.83% of everything people chose. One lock in four, openable from a list of twenty guesses.
The defender takeaway is the same list read upside down: if your code is on this page, change it before the next door-camper finds your base. Punch it into the checker above — the verdict never leaves your browser.
The 20 most common 4-digit codes
MeasuredThe raid order — 353 codes
Numeric order is useless at a code lock — starting at 0000 and counting up takes weeks. This is the same 4-digit space reordered by how likely a human is to have chosen it: the researched twenty first, then each pattern family expanded in full and deduped, so no code appears twice. Working straight down takes 11 h at the lockout rate.
Read this honestly: only Block 1 is ordered by measured frequency. Everything after it is a strategy ordering — anyone showing you a percentage next to code #147 invented it.
Block 1 — The researched top 20
#1–20Measured≈ 30 minMeasured frequency, highest first. These twenty alone cover a quarter of all real-world 4-digit codes.
Block 2 — Repeated pairs
#21–106Strategy order≈ 2.5 hABAB couplets — easy to type twice, easy to remember. The four already in the top 20 sit above; the rest run in numeric order, which is as good as any: no measured per-code odds exist inside this family.
Block 3 — Years
#107–190Strategy order≈ 2.5 hRecent years first, then birth years newest-first. In the research, every 19xx combination sat in the most-used fifth of the dataset.
Block 4 — Ladders & sequences
#191–227Strategy order≈ 1 hRuns, reverse runs and doubled steps — the family 1234 belongs to.
Block 5 — Keypad geometry
#228–257Strategy order≈ 45 minStraight lines and corners on the numeric pad — people pick what their thumb can draw. 2580, straight down the middle, ranked #22 overall in the research.
Block 6 — Day/month dates
#258–353Strategy order≈ 2.8 hDDMM dates on salient days — firsts, teens, paydays, month ends. 1004 sits at #6 on measured frequency and reads exactly like this family.
How long each slice actually takes
Every figure here is arithmetic on one rule — 8 failed attempts, then a 15-minute lockout, so 32 guesses an hour per raider. Bring more raiders and it divides: the lockout is per player, not per lock.
Why those families — the patterns behind the order
Beyond the researched table, guesses follow human patterns. These are the families the blocks above are built from, in the order they tend to pay off — as strategy tiers, without made-up per-code odds.
All-same digits
0000 · 1111 · 7777 · 9999Only ten codes exist and all ten sit inside the researched top 20 — the fastest family to clear and the most likely to hit.
Sourced: all 10 all-same codes appear in the measured table above.
Couplets (ABAB)
1212 · 1010 · 6969 · 2020Repeated pairs are easy to type twice and easy to remember.
Sourced: repeated-pair codes make up 17.8% of ALL PINs in the DataGenetics dataset.
Years
2026 · 2001 · 1998 · 1987Birth years and memorable dates. Recent years and 19xx birth years dominate.
Sourced: every 19xx combination sits in the top fifth of the dataset; 2000 and 2001 are top-20.
Keypad geometry
2580 · 1470 · 1379 · 2468Straight lines and corners on the numeric pad. People pick what their thumb can draw.
Sourced: 2580 — straight down the middle of a keypad — ranks #22 overall.
Ladders & sequences
1234 · 4321 · 1122 · 0112Ascending or descending runs and doubled steps. 1234 alone is over 10% of all PINs; its cousins follow.
Sourced: 1234 (10.713%), 4321 and 1122 are all in the top 20.
Dates (DDMM)
1004 · 2512 · 3101 · 0107Birthdays and anniversaries typed as day-month, on the days people actually pick.
Sourced: 1004 sits at #6 on measured frequency and reads like a date.
Shock & lockout — the mechanics that limit code raiding
Every wrong entry also delivers an electric shock. Community wikis document it at roughly 5 damage, ramping with rapid consecutive tries — this figure isn't in our datamine yet, so treat it as community-documented rather than official.
Sources: Facepunch — December 2021 update · DataGenetics PIN analysis (archived) · Rust Wiki — Code Lock
Protect your base — how to pick a safe code
A good code is simply one that isn't human. Everything on this page is a blocklist:
- Nothing from the top-20 table or the pattern families — no repeats, couplets, years, keypad lines or sequences. That single rule removes the guesses that cover a quarter of all real-world codes.
- No birth years or anything a teammate could know. In the research, every 19xx code sat in the most-used fifth of the dataset.
- Pick four genuinely arbitrary digits and avoid "famous random" codes — 8068 was the rarest PIN in the 2012 study, and precisely because that was published, it isn't safe anymore.
- Change codes after every wipe and after kicking a teammate — guessing isn't the only way codes leak.
- Layer your doors. A random code makes a lock a 1-in-10,000 problem at the lockout rate — at that point raiders reach for explosives instead, which is what your base design and raid cost are for.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the most common Rust codes?
- The same codes people pick everywhere: 1234 (over 10% of all real-world PINs by itself), 1111, 0000, then repeats, couplets and years. The measured top 20 covers 26.83% of everything people choose.
- How many tries do you get before a code lock locks you out?
- 8 failed attempts, then that player is locked out of entering codes for 15 minutes — about 32 guesses an hour per raider. The lockout is per player, so groups rotate through it.
- How long does it take to code raid a door in Rust?
- The researched top 20 takes under an hour solo. The full 353-code list on this page is a several-hour commitment, and brute-forcing all 10,000 combinations takes roughly two weeks of lockouts — nobody does that.
- Is code raiding still possible in Rust?
- Yes, but it was deliberately nerfed: Facepunch's December 2021 update added the failed-attempt lockout and an electric shock on every wrong entry. Guessing a human code is still viable; brute force is not.
- Can you code raid in Rust Console Edition?
- Console Edition uses the same code locks and the same human habits, so the top of this list transfers. Exact lockout tuning can differ between editions — the numbers on this page are datamined from the PC build.
- How do I pick a code that isn't on this list?
- Four genuinely arbitrary digits: no repeats, sequences, keypad shapes, years or dates. Use the checker at the top of the page — it tells you instantly whether a raider working this list would reach your code, and the code never leaves your browser.