Resources Guide
There are four resources in Build and Defend Your Raft: wood, metal, scrap and gold. Two of them build your raft, one of them upgrades it, and one of them currently does nothing at all. This guide covers where each one comes from and what it’s worth.
The four resources
| Resource | Main uses | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Wood | Almost everything: floors, walls, doors, stairs, towers, the raft size upgrade (180 wood) | Floating crates, islands, shark drops |
| Metal | Cannons, reinforced pieces, the raft weapons upgrade (110 metal) | Barrels, islands, shark drops |
| Scrap | The raft weapons upgrade (70 scrap) and other higher-tier recipes | Both crates and barrels, islands, shark drops |
| Gold | Nothing yet — officially saved for a future update | Floats, islands, shark drops |
The crate and barrel rule (and why it confuses everyone)
This is the single most-asked question in the game’s official Discord:
- Crates (wooden boxes) give wood or scrap.
- Barrels (metal drums) give metal or scrap.
It’s a coin flip either way, and scrap appearing from both is why new players think the drops are bugged — they’re not, that’s just the design. Metal from barrels is rarer feeling because wood demand is bottomless: the raft size upgrade alone eats 180 wood, and every wall you rebuild after a raid eats more.
The developer-side answer to “why is metal so hard to get” is basically that it’s meant to be the bottleneck resource — cannons and reinforced pieces are balanced around you having to raid or trade for metal.
Islands: the harvest spots
Islands dot the map and are the fastest legal way to fill your chest. A good island stop gives stacks of wood, metal barrels and gold pieces in one sweep. Two cautions:
- Your raft is defenseless while the whole crew is on the island. Assign a driver/gunner if you’re in a crew.
- Not every island is worth the stop — some are barren. Bigger islands with visible crates and barrels pay best.
Killed sharks can be looted and drop wood, metal, scrap and gold — no shark meat, despite the polluted ocean. Since sharks aggressively chase swimmers, farming them deliberately is a high-risk, high-reward play: see the sharks guide before you try.
What gold is for
Straight from the team in the official Discord: gold is for something in the future. It has no use in the current build. Bank it anyway — when the update lands (the dev posts updates every Saturday), early hoarders will be first in line for whatever it buys.
Priority cheat sheet
- Wood → Crafting Table upgrades, then raft size, then walls
- Metal → cannons and reinforced pieces
- Scrap → raft weapons upgrade
- Gold → hoard
Related pages
- Nets guide — passive loot collection while you sail
- Shop guide — when buying resources with Robux is worth it
- Crafting Table guide — where resources go