MATERIALS & CRAFTING · FIELD GUIDE

Short of Iron Rods? Check which stage you are in.

Checked October 16, 2026 · Full game · Source-based guide

Before you have a Smelter

The original player had spent a rod on a nail and could not make a Workbench. The reply points downstairs from a door shown in its screenshot. Because that landmark depends on the image, this guide does not turn it into a claimed universal “first rod” coordinate.^[1]

Keep the rod needed by the mechanism you are currently repairing before spending the rest on optional camp equipment. In the prison, the weight-door report identifies a floor lever as a separate iron repair.^[2]

Once production is available

1. Open the Smelter’s recipe/menu and check that Iron Rod is available.
2. Supply Scrap Metal and Coal. The player report gives 3 Scrap Metal for 1 rod; it does not establish a Coal quantity here.
3. Make the rods you need, then return to your blocked recipe or mechanism.

The production ratio comes from a single player reply, not our test. No infinite-supply claim or Coal consumption rate is inferred.^[1]

If you cannot build the Smelter yet

Smelting is not an immediate solution if the station itself is unavailable. The Pickaxe → goo → Clay guide covers the material chain; keep searching existing areas for loose rods while that route is still locked.