When Facepunch released A Miner Update and not long after Devblog 70, the game of RUST changed significantly with quarries and pump jack machinery providing players with a method of passive resource collection that could substantially reduce the manual resource grind at the expense of Low Grade Fuel (LGF).
Clans would often (while possible) completely compound their chosen monuments and pump jacks, which could include Crude Oil, Stones, or Sulfur, Metal, and High Quality Metal ore harvests. So long as they had a supply of LGF, they could run these resource generators day and night.
Recent changes from the Big Quality of Life Update altered the landscape of this passive resource gathering completely. Instead of using readily available and craftable LGF, quarries and pump jacks were shifted to be more in line with the Giant Excavator, now requiring Diesel Fuel to power.
Because of these recent changes, players must understand efficient ways of acquiring diesel to maintain resource-generating methods that utilize quarries and pump jacks.
Diesel acquisition
Before the updates mentioned above, diesel fuel was a relatively sparse commodity, spawning at a select few monuments but also available for direct purchase for a rather steep price at the Outpost monument. With the shift from LGF to diesel, players may now find it at any of the following monuments:
Airfield – 3 Barrels
Junkyard – 1 to 3 Barrels
Large Oil Rig – 4 Barrels
Military Tunnels – 3 Barrels
Power Plant – 3 Barrels
Small Oil Rig – 3 Barrels
The Dome – 2 to 4 Barrels
Water Treatment Plant – 3 Barrels
Quarries
Recognizing the distinction between running the Giant Excavator and using the much smaller Quarry system is essential. Chief among their differences are the following:
Utilizing Giant Excavator announces to the general public when the monument is engaged; quarries do not.
Giant Excavator has a resource output PER DIESEL roughly twice that of the output of a quarry over the same timeframe.
Quarries have no obstructions or guardians other than (potentially) other players. They are much quieter and stealth in every regard.
Following in the same format as quarries, the pump jack utilizes the same basic functionality but with a different output type. Pump jacks are found on the outskirts of particular monuments and cannot be built around them. They are available at Power Plant, Trainyard, and Water Treatment Plant monuments
