The Apartment Complex is a large safe-zone monument that added rentable storefronts to Rust in the Common Ground update on July 2nd, 2026. The shop stalls sit inside the monument’s protected bubble, which lets you sell items without building and defending a vending machine base out in the open. Claiming one is a simple transaction, but it runs on Scrap and keeps charging you for as long as you hold the space.
Quick answer: Walk up to a vacant vending shop inside the Apartment Complex, interact with it, and pay the Scrap down payment. A shopkeeper NPC then appears at your stall, and you keep the shop by paying its hourly Scrap upkeep.
What you need before renting a shop
The only resource that matters here is Scrap. Every rentable space in the Apartment Complex costs Scrap to claim, and the shops are no exception. Bring more than the initial payment, because the stall keeps drawing an ongoing cost the entire time it belongs to you.
There are two charges to plan for. The first is a one-time down payment to take the stall. The second is an hourly rate that works like standard base upkeep, quietly ticking away as long as you own the shop. Because the monument sits inside a safe zone, you can gather and hold that Scrap without worrying about being attacked on the way to the stall.
How to tell a vacant shop from a rented one
The shop stalls are grouped together near the front of the Partially Empty Building, with entrances close to the storefronts. Before you spend any Scrap, check whether the stall is actually free. A rented shop already has an active owner running it, and you cannot claim a space that someone else holds.
The clearest tell is the shopkeeper. A vacant stall is empty and available to rent, while a claimed one displays its owner’s sell orders and shows the shopkeeper NPC standing in place. If a stall is already stocked with items for sale, it belongs to another player, and you should look for one that is still open.
Renting a shop step by step
You know the rental worked when the shopkeeper is present, and your sell orders show on the stall. From there it behaves like a safer, more official version of a vending machine.
Running the shop after you rent it
A rented shop gives you full control over what you sell and for how much. The controls cover the essentials of a trading stall, and the location does the rest of the work by putting your goods in a place other players actively pass through.
| Shop control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Sell orders | Create and manage the items buyers can purchase |
| Stock | Load the shop with the goods you want to move |
| Pricing | Set your own price for each item |
| Sign | Paint the sign above the stall to advertise your shop |
| Drone access | Buyers appear able to purchase from your shop via drone delivery |
Drone access is the detail that can make the Apartment Complex a busy trading hub. Because purchases can go through drones, buyers do not always have to be standing at your stall to trade, which widens your potential customer base.
Image credit: Facepunch Studios / Quick Tips
Keeping the shop and paying upkeep
Renting is not a one-and-done payment. The stall charges an hourly Scrap cost that continues for as long as you own it, in the same way a base draws from a tool cupboard. Keep feeding it Scrap if you want the shop to stay active.
Note: the exact down payment and hourly figures shown during testing are likely to change, so treat any specific numbers you see as provisional rather than fixed. Plan for a running cost rather than a flat fee.
Safe zone rules that affect your shop
The monument itself is a safe zone, with turrets around the block keeping combat in check, so your shop and the trading floor around it are protected from the usual open-world fighting. This is the main advantage over a homemade vending machine base, which has to be defended.
The rented rooms in the main apartment building work differently, since those interiors count as combat zones rather than untouchable bubbles. That distinction matters if you also rent an apartment to live in, but it does not remove the safe-zone protection covering the shop stalls out on the monument grounds. Bring your Scrap, claim an open stall, and keep the upkeep paid to hold your spot in one of Rust’s few protected marketplaces.
