How long until my backpack despawns (and tips for finding it)

[Aurora]

One of the most commonly asked Rust game questions is... How long until my backpack despawns? If you die by usual game mechanics, it's on players to locate their corpse (or backpack) and retrieve their own items.

How long until my backpack despawns?

It depends what you have.  You can retrieve your player inventory for a minimum of 10 minutes to a maximum of 65 minutes when you die.  

Your corpse will automatically remain for 5 minutes and then switch to a camouflaged backpack. The despawn timer for the backpack uses the default despawn timer of the highest tier of item contained. Both the corpse and backpack can be looted.

For example, if your best item is a torch, the backpack will despawn 10 minutes after player death. The corpse remains for 5 minutes and the torch despawn timer adds another 5 minutes when the corpse is replaced by the backpack.  If you died with an M249 in your inventory, the backpack will despawn 65 minutes after player death.  

Testing it

I tested with Bed (20 min), Spas-12 (5 min), Rocket Launcher (60 min), and Pistol Bullet (20 min). Player corpse changed to backpack at exactly 5 minutes each time, then each backpack despawned based on the individual item despawn timer and are accurate.

In testing, attachments and ammunition, when equipped on a weapon, will not change the weapon despawn timer. A backpack containing only a Spas-12 Shotgun with an equipped Holosight (40 min) and 12-Gauge Buckshot (20 min) loaded, still despawns 10 minutes after player death. The despawn timer in this scenario would only be increased if the attachment or ammo were using a slot in the backpack and not loaded in the weapon.

Opening your player corpse will restart the despawn timer. For example, if opened 4 minutes after death, the corpse despawns 5 minutes later -- nine minutes after player death occurred. The same result when opening the camouflaged backpack, however I only tested it on a Spas-12 backpack with a 5 minute item despawn timer.  Potentially could be useful if you arrive at your backpack with items in your inventory and need extra time to loot it all.

Where do I find Item Despawn times?

Item despawn timers can be found on RustLabs. Simply look up the highest tier item that you know was in your inventory to determine how long you have to find your backpack.  The despawn timer is located to the right of the item description and differs from the item decay timer.

Note: I haven't seen a despawn timer higher than 60 minutes listed in Rust Labs. If you find one, please let me know!

Tips to locate your corpse / backpack:

• Start by checking your in-game map to locate your death marker. This is where you will need to start your search.
• Be sure to thoroughly search the area where you died. The camouflaged backpack can be difficult to locate in some terrains.
• If you died in the air or at the top of an incline, look around as your corpse may slide down a hill, making a slight difference between the death marker and actual location of your corpse or backpack.
• If you die while retrieving your backpack, a second death will not remove the first death backpack, but it will change your map death marker to the newest death location.  To avoid losing the items, set a map marker when you die or note the location should any wolves thwart your retrieval attempts.
• Keep in mind that on our Pure servers, an equipped item will fall to the ground and has its own despawn timer, that is independent to the despawn time of your backpack.