How to Plant Crops and Survive Raids
Mini-farming, raid triggers, defence layouts and per-bot counters, all on one page.
How crops trigger raids
In Scrap Mechanic 1.0, any crop with a positive crop value can start a 60-second threat countdown. Pre-1.0 advice about staying under a “safe crop count” is outdated — even one valuable crop can draw attention once you keep adding to the cluster.
Cluster merging: planting locations within roughly 10 game units merge into one cluster. The game totals crop values across the cluster, not per isolated Soil Bag.
Countdown reset: adding another crop during the first ~10 seconds of an active countdown can reset the timer back to 60 seconds.
Crop values (1.0 community data)
| Crop | Value |
|---|---|
| Tomato | 1 |
| Potato | 1 |
| Carrot | 2 |
| Redbeet | 5 |
| Banana | 15 |
| Chili | 15 |
| Blueberry | 50 |
| Orange | 100 |
| Broccoli | 500 |
| Pineapple | 1000 |
Raid level thresholds
Community testing commonly cites raid tiers at cluster totals of 1, 50, 100, 550, 1000, and 5500. Above 10,000 triggers a Super Raid — note that exactly 10,000 may still fall in the level-6 band in some docs; treat anything above 10,000 as Super Raid territory.
Multiplayer: raid scaling caps around 3 players — additional party members do not infinitely multiply wave size.
The mini-farming technique still helps by keeping clusters small and values low. For defensive layouts and turret wiring, see how to protect your farm. Full crop tier reference: farming guide.
Note on older guides: Early Access wikis described a 64×64 grid cell model. In 1.0, clusters merge within ~10 units instead. Defensive spacing between plots still matters for bot pathing and base design even though the merge radius changed.
Wave-by-wave breakdown
- Wave 1 — Totebots. Two to four small bots wielding cardboard arms. They die in two hits of a sledgehammer and ignore walls. Funnel them into a choke and they are trivial.
- Wave 2 — Haybots. Orange agricultural bots with pitchforks. They throw hay bales at range and are resistant to blunt damage. Spud Guns, Connads and the new Spud Launcher are the recommended counters.
- Wave 3 — Tapebots. Tape-themed ranged bots with high damage. They appear in late-game waves and around warehouse outskirts. Use walls with windows or layer your defence behind metal.
- Wave 4 — Farmbots. The boss-tier bot you must defeat to obtain Warehouse Keys. They are slow but tanky, and the 1.0 patch added new movement patterns to make them less predictable.
Defensive layouts that actually work
The classic scrap-mechanic.survive layout uses three concentric walls:
- Outer wooden wall — absorbs Haybot projectile spam and slows bots down so you can repair.
- Inner metal wall — placed 4 blocks behind the outer wall with murder holes for ranged fire.
- Farm plot — at the centre, with a single 2-block wide entrance covered by your controllers and sensors gate.
This pattern beats every raid in the game because it gives you multiple layers to fall back to. Pair it with a battery-powered light ring so you can see the wave coming.
For active defence before turrets are wired, Cornades and Spud Guns clear Haybot waves quickly from behind the inner wall.
Automation upgrades
Once you unlock the controller, wire your gate to open only when a sensor detects you. The same sensor can trigger an automated Spud Gun turret that aims at any non-mechanic entity. This is the safest late-game setup because you can stay inside while the turret handles waves 1 to 3 for you.
What to plant and when
- Day 1-3: Wheat and Beet — quick to grow, low aggression impact.
- Day 4-7: Carrot and Tomato — moderate return, useful for Cookbot recipes.
- Day 7+: Pineapple and Broccoli — unlocked from warehouse crates, restores hunger and thirst in one bite.
For the full crop catalog, see the items and crops page.
Watch the community walkthrough for this guide:
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions.
Do raids happen at night only?
Raids are timed events, not time-of-day triggers, but most waves spawn shortly after the in-game clock hits dusk. Watch the aggression timer above your crops.
What happens if I die during a raid?
You respawn at the nearest bed or the Mechanic Station with your inventory intact. Crops on fire stay on fire unless you bucket water on them, so leave a water bucket close to the farm.
Can I skip raids entirely?
On Easy difficulty raid frequency drops by about half, but you still need to defend. In Creative there are no raids at all.