You just spent three hours hauling logs. Your fingers are cramped from clicking, your inventory is a mess of sticks and duct tape, and you finally have a wooden shack to call home. Then, a naked player with a chainsaw walks up and deletes your wall in thirty seconds. This is the Unturned experience. If you're still using wooden doors, you aren't playing a survival game; you're running a charity for raiders. Honestly, the metal door in Unturned is the literal line between "I have a base" and "I have a pile of debris where my loot used to be."
It's easy to get distracted by the flashy stuff. You want that Grizzly sniper rifle or a Maplestrike with a drum mag. But none of that matters if you log off and your gear is gone by morning. Using metal isn't just about "health points." It’s about how the game's damage mechanics actually work.
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The Hard Math of Not Getting Robbed
Wooden doors are a joke. Any player with a fire axe or a bluntforce can eventually chew through wood. But the metal door? It’s immune to small arms fire and melee weapons. That changes the entire economy of a raid. If someone wants into your base, they have to use explosives. We’re talking grenades, C4 (Charges), or Dragonfang rounds.
Most casual players on a PvP server don't just carry C4 around for fun. By installing a metal door, you’ve effectively priced out 80% of the server's population from being able to mess with you. You've moved from "easy target" to "high-cost investment."
Crafting it isn't as bad as you think
You need a Blowtorch. That’s the gatekeeper. Without it, you’re stuck in the Stone Age. Once you find one—usually in gas stations or mechanics' shops like those in PEI or Washington—the recipe is basic.
- Get some scrap metal.
- Turn them into Metal Sheets.
- Use the Blowtorch to fuse them.
If you’re playing on a map like Russia, where resources are spread thin, finding that initial scrap can feel like a chore. Scrapping useless car parts or those extra frying pans you find in kitchens is the fastest way to bulk up. Don't throw away the junk. Turn it into security.
Why "Metal" Doesn't Always Mean "Safe"
I see this mistake constantly: players put a metal door on a wooden frame. It looks cool, sure. It makes you feel like you’ve reached the mid-game. But here's the reality—raiders aren't stupid. If your door is metal but the wall holding it is birch wood, they’ll just blow up the wall.
It’s called the "path of least resistance."
You have to think like a thief. A metal door in Unturned has about 2,000 health. A wooden wall has significantly less and is susceptible to lower-tier tools. You've essentially put a bank vault door on a cardboard box. Always upgrade your doorframe and the surrounding walls to metal as soon as the door is hung.
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The "Vault" Strategy
If you’re low on scrap, don't try to make the whole base metal at once. Build a "honeycomb" or a small 1x1 room inside your wooden base. Put your lockers and your most precious loot (looking at you, Alicepacks) inside that metal core. Even if the outer shell gets cracked, the metal door protects the heart of the base.
Comparing the Variants: Jail vs. Metal
There’s often a debate about using the Metal Door versus the Jail Door. Visually, the Jail Door lets you see who is standing outside. That sounds great, right? You can peek at a camper without opening the door.
But there’s a massive trade-off.
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People can see in. If a raider can see your base layout, where your beds are, or where your storage is placed, they can plan their explosive placement perfectly. Knowledge is just as dangerous as C4 in Unturned. I personally prefer the solid metal door every time. Keep them guessing. If they don't know where the loot is, they might waste charges blowing up an empty room.
Maintenance and the "Lock" Myth
One thing that trips up newer players is the "permission" system. In Unturned, metal doors are automatically locked to you and your group. You don't need to craft a separate lock or key. If you placed it, you (and anyone in your Steam group) can use it.
However, don't forget about "decay." On many multiplayer servers, if you don't interact with your base for a certain number of days, the structures start to lose health. Even a formidable metal door will eventually crumble into dust if you disappear for a week.
Advanced Tips for High-Traffic Servers
- Airlocking: Never have just one door. Build a small 1x1 "porch" with two metal doors. Open the first, walk in, close it, then open the second. This prevents "door-camping" where a player waits for you to leave and slips inside before the door closes.
- The Blowtorch is your Best Friend: Always keep a blowtorch in a locker near the entrance. If you’re being raided and they’ve damaged the door, you can actually repair it while they are reloading or setting the next charge. It’s incredibly frustrating for the attacker.
- Symmetry is a Trap: Don't make your base look like a perfect cube. It makes the "center" easy to find. Offset your metal doors to make the pathing confusing.
The Economics of Scrapping
If you're struggling to find enough metal, stop looking for ore. Mining rocks is slow, loud, and makes you a target. Instead, go to a high-spawn civilian area and collect every tool, can, and melee weapon you find. A kitchen knife or a hammer might seem useless, but in the crafting menu, they break down into scrap metal.
On maps like Yukon, where the environment is actively trying to kill you, this efficiency is the difference between surviving the night and freezing to death because your wooden door got kicked in.
The metal door in Unturned is a milestone. It’s the moment you stop being a "freshspawn" and start being a "player." It represents a shift in mindset from "I hope they don't find me" to "I dare them to try."
Practical Next Steps for Base Security
To truly secure your footprint in the game, you should prioritize these specific actions in order:
- Secure a Blowtorch first: Scour industrial zones; it is the single most important tool for any metal-tier construction.
- Phase out Wood: Replace your main entrance door first, then immediately prioritize the doorframe. A metal door on a wooden frame is a visual bluff that doesn't work against experienced players.
- Double-layer your entrances: Create an airlock using two metal doors to prevent "pushed" entries by aggressive players lurking outside.
- Collect and Scrap: Pick up every "junk" item (hammers, wrenches, kitchenware) to accumulate the metal sheets needed for repairs and expansion without the need for tedious mining.
- Check Server Settings: Verify the "Structure Damage" and "Decay" settings on your specific server to ensure your metal investment doesn't disappear during a weekend away.