Rust Gene Calculator
Paste the genes of the clones you have, pick what you want, and the calculator finds which ones to plant around a sapling - and how many of each - to breed it. Green genes (G growth, Y yield, H hardiness) are good; red genes (W more water, X empty) are bad.
Your clones
Best layouts
Results appear here.
Planter checker: what will this grow?
Enter the sapling in the middle and the plants touching it (up to 8, diagonals count) to see the genes it will end up with.
How Rust crossbreeding works
- Every plant has six gene slots. Facepunch's own summary: “Green genes are good. Red genes are bad.” (farming update)
- Plants only crossbreed in a planter, with plants of the same type, once - when the plant reaches its Crossbreed growth stage. After that its genes are fixed.
- The plants that count are the ones touching it in the same planter, diagonals included - up to 8 for the middle of a large planter. Plants in a different planter never count.
- For each slot, every neighbour adds its gene's weight: red genes (W, X) weigh 1.0 and green genes (G, Y, H) 0.6. The slot only changes if the biggest total is more than the weight of the gene already there - so one green neighbour can't change anything, but two can.
- When two genes tie, community testing says planting order decides it; this calculator shows ties as equal chances.
- Clones keep their parent's genes exactly; seeds get random genes when planted. Clone your best result early in its Mature stage to keep it.
- The weights are the data-mined values every Rust gene calculator uses; the stage and neighbour rules come from community testing (RustBreeder, Rust Addicted).
- Livestock: Facepunch says cows' and sheep's genes “won't behave exactly like plants” (Livestock update) and hasn't published how they work, so this calculator covers plants only.
A Rust gene calculator for plant crossbreeding: paste your clones, choose a goal and it searches every combination of up to 8 neighbours for the layout most likely to breed it, using the game's 1.0 (red) and 0.6 (green) gene weights.
Frequently Asked Questions
G (growth) and Y (yield) are the ones most players breed for - for example GGGGYY or GGGYYY - with H (hardiness) useful in poor ground. W and X are the bad, red genes.
At least two with the same green gene in that slot: one green gene weighs 0.6, which can't beat the 0.6 or 1.0 already in the slot, but two weigh 1.2, which beats either.
No - Facepunch says livestock genes won't behave exactly like plants and hasn't published how they work, so this calculator is for plants only.