Raft: Survival Guide

Everything you need to go from a 2x2 raft and a plastic hook to Utopia: survival basics, raft building, research, navigation, story islands, and co-op tips.

Researched September 2026 — current as of Raft 1.1 / Hotfix 1.1.01 (March 2026, cross-play on the default branch). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Status: Raft left early access with "The Final Chapter" on June 20, 2022, so the story is complete. PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions launched December 4, 2024. Version 1.1 moved cross-play, full controller support, and in-game voice chat to the PC default branch in March 2026. If an old mod breaks, Redbeet left a fallback to v1.09 in Steam betas.

Quick Start

• Hook everything. Plastic, planks, and palm leaves (thatch) float past constantly. Hook and swim for barrels, which carry the best early loot.
• Water before food. Build a Simple Purifier and a cup early. Thirst kills faster than hunger.
• Build a Simple Grill and fish. A fishing rod plus a grill is a reliable early food loop. Plant a Small Crop Plot with potatoes or beets you find in barrels or on islands.
• Bruce the shark bites your foundations. Keep a spear handy. Hit him a few times and he backs off. Later, research reinforced foundations so he can't eat them.
• Get a Research Table ASAP. Most of the game's progression runs through it. Put new materials on it to unlock blueprints.
• Anchor and sail. An anchor lets you stop at islands; a sail lets you steer. Without both you drift past everything good.
• Use islands for big jumps. Islands give dirt, sand, clay, stone, fruit, seeds, and scrap/metal ore. Anchor before swimming off.
• Receiver + Antennas unlock the story. The receiver picks up signals leading to the story islands. That's your main quest.
• Build a bed. Sleeping skips the night, and the bed becomes your respawn point.

Core Survival Stats

Stat | Fill it with | Notes

Thirst | Purified water, coconuts, juices | Salt water hurts you. Upgrade to the Advanced Purifier and water tanks later.

Hunger | Cooked fish, crops, fruit, meat, recipes on the Cooking Pot | Cooked recipes and juices give bigger bonuses.

Health | Food/water, bandages, healing salve | Raw food and some meats hurt you.

Oxygen (underwater) | Surface, or craft Oxygen Bottles | Flippers speed up swimming.

Early-Game Build Order

Step | Build | Why

1 | Plastic Hook (starting) and a Wooden Spear | Collect debris, defend against Bruce

2 | Simple Purifier, Cup, Simple Grill | Water and cooked food loop

3 | Small Crop Plot, fishing rod | Stable food

4 | Research Table | Unlocks everything else

5 | Collection Nets | Passive debris collection at the front of the raft

6 | Storage chests, Bed | Organize, save, skip nights

7 | Anchor (stationary), Sail | Control where you go

8 | Smelter, Metal Detector, Axe, Hammer upgrades | Metal ingots, better tools

9 | Receiver + Antennas, Steering Wheel, Engine | Story navigation and powered travel

Tip: place collection nets in a wide line at the front of your raft. They pull in debris passively while you do other things. A raft with a good net wall basically runs itself.

Resources and Where They Come From

Resource | Source

Plastic, Planks, Thatch | Floating debris

Barrels | Floating debris; random loot including seeds, scrap, nails

Scrap | Barrels, islands, shipwrecks. Used directly in tool and hook upgrades

Metal ore / Copper ore | Diving around islands; the metal detector also finds buried treasure

Stone, Clay, Sand | Islands and the seafloor around them

Seaweed, Sea vines | Island seafloor

Fruit, Seeds | Islands (palms, mango, pineapple, watermelon and others)

Feathers, Eggs | Birds and nests on islands; later from chickens you raise

Craft Rope from thatch; you'll need a lot of it. Use a Hammer to build and a Hook or Axe to gather.

Navigation and Travel

• Sail: interact to raise/lower it and rotate it toward where you want to go. Wind direction matters; multiple sails add speed.
• Steering Wheel + Engines: engines run on biofuel (made from organic waste in a biofuel refiner) and let you travel against the wind. Multiple engines speed up a larger raft.
• Receiver + Antennas: craft a Receiver and place the required antennas on the raft. Power it and it will show story signals and frequencies you pick up from story islands.
• Anchors: a stationary anchor is the easiest way to stop at an island. Raise it before you leave or you'll wonder why you're not moving.

Story Islands (Order)

The story follows a trail of notes left by survivors. Each story island gives you coordinates or a frequency for the next.

# | Location | What to expect

1 | Radio Tower | First story stop. Climb the tower and find the notes that set up the rest of the game

2 | Vasagatan | A stranded luxury ship; explore decks and learn about the survivors

3 | Balboa Island | A large island with puzzles and hostile wildlife

4 | Caravan Town | A rope-linked town over the water

5 | Tangaroa | A floating city with multiple districts

6 | Varuna Point | A new chapter location with more puzzles

7 | Temperance | A cold, snowy settlement

8 | Utopia | Final destination: the city where Olof Wilkstrom, a former military general, has imposed martial law. The story ends here

Each story island has key items, notes, and blueprints to unlock. Many give new blueprints that are hard to get any other way, so explore thoroughly. Several also have boss creatures; bring plenty of healing, a metal or machete-level weapon, and bows/arrows.

Farming and Food

• Crop Plots: Small Plot early, Medium/Large later. Water them with a watering can or later a Sprinkler.
• Scarecrows keep birds away from crops.
• Animals: capture chickens, goats, and llamas with the right tools and pens for eggs, milk, and wool.
• Cooking Pot: combine ingredients into recipes for bigger bonuses than raw fish.
• Juicer: blends fruit into juices that restore thirst and hunger at the same time; some juices give special bonuses.

Threats

• Bruce the shark — attacks your foundations and swimmers. Kill him for shark meat (he respawns). Reinforce foundations and raft edges.
• Pufferfish — explode near you. Kill them from range or avoid.
• Birds — seagulls land on your crop plots and eat them (scarecrows keep them off), and hostile birds on islands attack you directly. Use a bow or build protection.
• Wildlife on islands — boars, bears, and other creatures appear on larger islands and story islands. Carry a good weapon.
• Story bosses — prepare with healing food, spare weapons, and arrows.

Difficulty

Mode | What changes

Peaceful | Lowest pressure: hunger and thirst still apply, but threats are largely switched off

Easy | Less damage taken and slower hunger/thirst

Normal | Standard survival

Hard | More damage taken and faster hunger/thirst

Creative | Unlimited health and resources; build freely

The difficulty modes change how much damage enemies deal and how fast hunger and thirst drain.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Leaving without raising the anchor or leaving the raft without anchoring at an island.
• Building too wide with no foundation protection. Bruce loves edges. Reinforce, and keep a spear on hand.
• Letting food rot. Raw fish and some foods spoil; cook and store what you need.
• Ignoring the research table. New materials unlock dozens of blueprints only after you research them.
• Forgetting to fuel engines. No biofuel, no power.
• Skipping the story islands. Many key blueprints only come from story locations.
• Going deep without oxygen or flippers. Carry oxygen bottles for island dives.
• Tying everything to one chest. Label or organize storage; your raft will balloon.

Advanced Tips

• Net wall for passive farming. A wide line of nets across the bow pulls in huge amounts of debris.
• Automate water and food. Advanced purifiers, water tanks, and sprinklers let the raft run itself during long trips.
• Engine and sail combo. Use a sail when wind is favorable to save fuel; switch to engines when you need to go upwind.
• Metal detector and island dives. Buried treasure and metal/copper ore make up most of the early metal economy.
• Loot barrels while waiting. Don't sit idle while traveling; hook and swim for debris.
• Ziplines on story islands. Several story locations are built around ziplines; craft the zipline tool once you have the blueprint and keep it in your hotbar.
• Co-op roles. One player navigates and builds, another farms and cooks, another loots islands. Raft supports up to ten players, and v1.1 added cross-play between PC and console.

FAQ

Is Raft finished? Yes. The Final Chapter released June 20, 2022; post-launch updates have focused on consoles, cross-play, controller support, voice chat, and fixes.

Does Raft have cross-play? Yes. Version 1.1 moved cross-play between PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S to the Steam default branch in March 2026.

How many players can play together? Up to ten.

How do I stop the shark from eating my raft? Research and build reinforced foundations, and hit Bruce with a spear when he attacks.

How do I find the story islands? Build a Receiver and the required antennas, power it, and follow the signals. Each story island points you to the next.

What happened to my voice chat? Hotfix 1.1.01 turned PlayFab voice chat off by default for new users. Enable it in settings if you want it.

Can I play offline? Yes, single-player works offline.

Sources

• Raft on Wikipedia
• Raft Steam news feed (1.1 cross-play, Hotfix 1.1.01, console launch)