Every second counts when you’re looting. If you want to know how to pick up loot fast in Rust, then this guide will cut your looting time by half.
Looting is a task that all players have to do. Whether you’re in a large group or playing solo, looting is essential to progress in Rust. How many times have you died while looting a crate or a body for too long?
In a fast-paced and brutal world like Rust, you can never take your sweet time in picking up items. But you see this Rust streamer who just hovers over loot and instantly transfers them to his inventory.
How do you pick up loot that fast? In this guide, I’ll teach you the tricks and controls you should know about to loot more efficiently in Rust.
How To Pick Up Loot Fast in Rust

Picking up loot fast in Rust is achieved with a combination of techniques, shortcuts, and nifty key binds. This trick is called hover looting. It is the most important keybind for looting in Rust. This allows you to transfer or pick up all the loot you hover your mouse over.
However, you need to set this first by going to control settings and searching for Hover Loot. You can set it to any button you want but the most ideal is your side mouse buttons (Mouse 4 and Mouse 5). Simply hold your Hover Loot button and hover over the loots to pick them up fast.
Not only should you be fast but safe and efficient as well. Here are the control configurations that you should learn beforehand to reduce your looting time by 50%.
Looting Controls and Keybinds
- Moving loot: The most basic control in looting. Moving loot from one inventory to another is done by right-clicking or left-clicking and dragging it to transfer it to another slot.
- Moving Half: You can move half the amount of items by middle-clicking and dragging it to another slot.
- Moving 1/3: You can move 1/3 of a stack of items by holding Shift and middle-click -dragging it to another slot.
- Alt+Loot: You can directly wear any clothing or armor from a crate or any loot box by holding Alt while picking them up. This works in combination with hover loot and regular transfer.
Also Read: How to Get Scraps Fast in Rust
Tips For Picking Up Loot Fast and Safe in Rust

Make an Inventory Layout
When you’ve already picked up loot, do you bother to arrange them in your inventory? Doing this will allow you to quickly dispose of items when you don’t need them. This is all about preference so as long as you familiarize yourself with a layout or pattern in your inventory, you’ll be benefiting from this tip.
For example, I always put the most important items on the top row of my inventory. Then I leave the second row for low-value items so I can quickly get rid of them if I need room for more valuable loot.
Clear Up Your Inventory
When you’re in the middle of a skirmish, you won’t have the time to go over your inventory and decide which items to throw away. That’s why it’s important to throw away any useless items. Your rock, torch, and seeds go without saying. Always throw these away.
Next are items you don’t need such as water buckets, vehicle parts, empty cans, and other unhelpful items. While you can recycle these later, that inventory slot is much more useful when you find a gun or other rare loot.
Also Read: All Keycard Locations in Rust
Set Your Priorities
Taking down an enemy with a full inventory or even a backpack is one of the greatest feelings in Rust. However, looting a body in the middle of a battlefield can be overwhelming. That’s why you should have clear priorities when picking up loot.
This depends on your current needs and what loot you’re looking for. But a good rule of thumb would be Guns>Ammo>Medicine> Kits. After that, you can quickly grab whatever else you need and go.
This way you don’t sit next to a body wondering what you should be picking up first.
Move While Looting
A looting player is a bullseye in Rust. Staying still or just standing while looting will make you a sitting duck for other players. That’s why you should be moving around while looting. By pressing WSAD randomly, you are harder to hit and make headshots and one-taps far less likely.
Don’t Be Greedy
This is one of the most important things to keep in mind when looting in Rust. While squeezing every bit of loot you can from a dead body can be tempting, this always leads to being caught or countered by another player.
If you watch experienced Rust players and streamers, you will observe that they don’t spend more than 5 seconds looting a body. Get the guns, ammo, and high-priority stuff and skedaddle.
Leaving a few stuff behind is better than leaving empty-handed. Trust me when I say this is one of the most regretful moments when it happens to you.
Also Read: Rust for Beginners: How to Survive Your First Day
Final Thoughts
Now you know how to pick up loot fast in Rust. By mastering hover loot, you can have a full inventory in no time. But you better make sure that it’s full of high-priority loot and not some useless trash.
By combining these tips and ticks, you can become a fast and efficient looter while staying safe and bringing home more during your roams.
If you want to find top-tier loot, our Rust hack with ESP will help you do just that. It shows you all crates, dead bodies, and loot within 200-400 meters. Not only that but you’ll see any nearby enemies as well. It’s safe and trusted by thousands of Rust players so go check it out.