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Cloning and crossbreeding in Rust: how to breed a godclone

Read genes, save clones, crossbreed in a large planter: the rules behind every cross and a routine that turns random seeds into GGGYYY.

Updated · 8 min read

In short

  • Every plant has six genes. G growth, Y yield and H hardiness are good, W water use and X empty are bad.
  • Seeds get random genes when planted. A clone is an exact copy of its plant – that is how you keep good genes.
  • Crossbreeding happens once per plant, in the “Crossbreed” growth stage, and only with neighbouring plants of the same kind in the same planter. Plant the centre clone first so it is the first to crossbreed.
  • Rule of thumb: if the same green gene appears twice on one gene slot around a plant, it beats any red gene in the centre.
  • The target is almost always the godclone GGGYYY. ClonePilot works out which of your clones to plant around the centre.

Reading the six genes

Look at a planted plant or hover over a clone or seed in your inventory: under “Genetics” you see six coloured letters. Green is good, red is bad. The order does not change the effect – it only matters when crossbreeding, because that compares slot by slot.

Rust inventory: Sunflower Clone with the genetics X Y Y X W W
A sunflower clone with XYYXWW: two good yield genes, four bad ones. You would not keep a clone like this – or only as a donor for single slots.
GeneMeaningEffect
GGrowthThe plant grows faster.
YYieldMore harvest and more clones per plant.
HHardinessCopes with worse conditions, mainly temperature. Rarely needed in a heated indoor farm.
WWaterThe plant needs more water.
XEmptyNo use. It just takes a slot.

Seeds get random genes, clones keep them

A seed has no fixed genes yet. They are generated at random when you plant it – so even the seed from a crop of your best clone does not inherit its genes, but gets random genes when planted. A clone, on the other hand, copies its plant's genes exactly. That is why every breeding run works the same way: plant many seeds, clone the best plants, crossbreed the clones on purpose.

PlantsHow you get seedsMore seeds
Berries, pumpkin, corn, potatoesPick the wild plant: 1 seed and 1 crop. Every crop you eat gives 1 seed – whether from the wild or from your planter.Any time: harvesting a planter gives no seeds, but every crop you eat does. A wild plant thus yields 2 seeds.
Hemp, sunflower, rose, orchidPick the wild plant: exactly 1 seed. These plants cannot be eaten.Only in the wild – harvesting a planter gives no seeds.
Every seed becomes a plant with random genes when planted – even one from a crop of your godclone. You only pass good genes on through clones.
Rust inventory: Chicken Pie with Gene Chance “Increase”, duration 10m and the tooltip “Extra chance for a plant gene to become positive.”
In the game: Gene Chance – Increase, duration 10m. The tooltip explains the effect: an extra chance for a plant gene to become positive.
  1. Hold E on a planted plant and choose Take Clone in the radial menu. This works from the Sapling growth stage on, but not during Crossbreed.
  2. To save the genes before crossbreeding, clone at Sapling. To keep the result of a cross, clone from Mature on.
  3. More Y means more clones per plant: with four Y you get 4 clones, with three or two Y 3 clones. You always get at least 2 clones, even without any Y.
  4. Label your boxes or enter the clones in ClonePilot – after three generations nobody remembers which clone was which.
Rust: a plant's radial menu with the “Take Clone” option
The plant's radial menu: Take Clone takes the clones.

How a cross is decided

Every plant goes through the stages Seed, Seedling (after about half a minute to a minute), Sapling (after around 8 minutes, longer depending on the number of G), Crossbreed, Mature, Fruiting and Ripe. Only in Crossbreed does it take on genes – from every neighbouring plant, horizontally, vertically and diagonally. The centre of a large planter can thus receive genes from up to eight neighbours. After that its genes are fixed. Important: it is always the plant currently in Crossbreed that crosses. The neighbours only give – which is why the centre has to get there first.

  • Who counts: only plants that touch it directly – diagonals included – in the same planter and of the same kind. Red and blue berries are different kinds.
  • How many: in a large planter (3 × 3) the centre has eight neighbours, an edge slot five, a corner three. That is why you almost always breed in the centre.
  • Weight: every green gene of a neighbour counts 0.6, every red one 1.0. Matching genes on the same slot add up.
  • Who wins: on each slot the gene with the highest total wins – but only if that total is higher than the weight of the gene the centre already has there. Otherwise the slot stays as it is.
  • Ties: if two genes share the highest total, chance decides (50 : 50).

Example: four average clones become GGGYYY

None of the four donors is perfect, each has one weak gene. Because the weaknesses sit on different slots, the right gene appears three times on every slot (3 × 0.6 = 1.8) – more than any single red gene (1.0). The centre is guaranteed to become GGGYYY, whatever seed or clone is planted there.

  1. empty
  2. GGXYYH
  3. empty
  4. XGGYHY
  5. Centreany
  6. GHGYYY
  7. empty
  8. GGGXYY
  9. empty
Result in the centreGGGYYY
Donor
Top donorGGXYYH
Left donorXGGYHY
Right donorGHGYYY
Bottom donorGGGXYY
ResultGGGYYY

Slot 1: G 3 × 0.6 = 1.8 · X 1 × 1.0 = 1.0 → G

Donors top, left, right and bottom, the corners stay empty. The table stacks the four donors – each column is one gene slot. Tap a slot to see which genes compete there and why the result wins.

Step by step to a godclone

  1. Collect and plant seeds. Eat a Chicken Pie first and plant within the next 10 minutes. Start with 48 seeds – one full box for ClonePilot. Add more seeds if the genes are not enough for your target.
  2. Clone good plants. Keep anything with at most one red gene and plants whose green genes sit on different slots. Clone them at the Sapling stage.
  3. Enter the clones in ClonePilot. “Scan Rust” reads the genes straight from your screen, or you type them in by hand.
  4. Pick a target and calculate. ClonePilot shows which clones to plant around the centre and how certain the result is (100% or 50%).
  5. Plant the centre first. Put the centre clone alone into a large planter. Wait 10–15 minutes until it is at Sapling 30% or more – whether 30, 60 or 80% does not matter. Only then plant the donors around it. That way the centre reaches Crossbreed first and takes on the donors' genes.
  6. Check the result and clone it. Once the centre is Mature, look at its genes. If the result is right, take clones and store them – that is your new stock.
  7. Repeat. If your donors are not good enough, ClonePilot first suggests an intermediate clone (Gen 2). Use it to keep crossing in the next round.
Open ClonePilotScan or enter your clones, pick a target, get the finished planter layout.
Rust: large planter from above with one plant in the centre and one each at the top, left, right and bottom
The example layout in the game: the large planter has three rows of three slots. The centre and the four sides are planted, the corners stay empty.

Which target suits you?

TargetBest forClones per plant
GGGYYYThe godclone and the most effective choice for every plant if you harvest right at Ripe. The optimum for berries: three Y already give 5 berries, a fourth Y adds none.3
GGYYYYMore yield, but slower growth. Pays off for pumpkin, corn, potatoes, hemp and flowers if you do not harvest right at Ripe – for example because you are out. No advantage for berries. Gives one more clone.4
GGGGYYReady fastest, less yield. For short sessions and frequent harvests.3
with HOnly useful outdoors in cold or heat. In a sheltered, heated farm H wastes a slot.–

Light, water, ground, temperature

Good genes only help if the plant is looked after. Rust rates light, water, ground and temperature separately – the worst value holds back the whole plant. A single weak spot costs more than an extra G gains.

Rust: panel of a freshly planted Red Berry with genetics W H W W Y H and the conditions light 100%, water 0%, ground 75%, temperature 100%, overall 0%
Look at a plant to see its genes and conditions. This red berry has light and temperature at 100%, but no water – so Overall is 0%.
  • Light: sunlight or ceiling lights. Without light, nothing grows.
  • Water: sprinklers with fresh water. Run salt water through a water purifier first. Radioactive water kills plants.
  • Ground: fertilizer from the composter sets ground to 100%.
  • Temperature: in cold biomes and at night, heaters near the planters help.

Common questions

Does a GGGYYY plant give me GGGYYY seeds?

No. Eating a crop of your GGGYYY clone does give you a seed – but it gets random genes when planted. You only pass good genes on through clones.

Does the Chicken Pie really give better genes?

Yes, for 10 minutes every plant gene gets an extra chance to become positive – but nothing is guaranteed. According to the game, the Rich Chicken Pie (with 4 cream) works considerably better. For a godclone you still cannot skip targeted crossbreeding.

Do plants in two different planters crossbreed?

No. Only neighbours in the same planter count – even if two planters stand right next to each other.

Why did my cross not give the expected result?

Usually a neighbour was planted too early or too late, a different kind stood next to it, or a slot had a tie. Check the layout with ClonePilot – it marks 50% results explicitly.

Do I need W genes for more water?

No. W means the plant needs more water. It is a bad gene.

Do the times apply on every server?

No. Servers can change growth times. The 8–10 minutes until Sapling apply to default settings. So go by the stage the plant shows: only plant the donors once the centre is at Sapling 30% or more.

Sources