Iron rods and the iron key
Checked 2026-10-16. Steam build 25955406. Patch 1.0.47.0.
The Reddit iron-rod route is the one I trust for the early game because the author posted screenshots. The line I would tape to the workbench is theirs: do not spend every rod. A lever next to a chest wants one, and the workbench wants two more.
Early rods
There is no starter workbench recipe. Players say the first rods come off rusty locks and fences on doors, or out of chests. Yellow goo broken with a pickaxe can also drop one.
After the smelter
Once you build a smelter (clay plus scrap metal; the exact clay count is not published), 3 scrap metal and coal smelt 1 iron rod. Priority spends from the notes: workbench 2, cooking pot 3, hammer 3, chains 2.
The iron key is a different object. It sits in the progression before the prison key, after the hammer, and it is not crafted from clay. See the prison key page for that chain. A broken lever in the prison also wants one rod plus a chain, according to a 15 October 2026 player note.
| Job | Rods | When |
|---|---|---|
| Lever by the early chest | 1 | Before you smelt anything |
| Workbench | 2 | Plus 3 planks and 1 leather |
| Cooking pot | 3 | The station, not a dish |
| Hammer recipe | 3 | Only after you find the first hammer |
| Chains | 2 | Prison levers and similar doors |
| Smelted rod | 0 spent | Costs 3 scrap metal and coal |
