Dig and Survive: How to Get Scrap (Digging Steps & Requirements)

In Dig and Survive, you get scrap by digging at the dig site during the day with a digging tool (you start with a spoon shovel), while the site's generator is fueled — usually with zombie fuel. Scrap you dig up goes straight into your sack/backpack. Digging is not possible at night, and if the generator runs out of fuel mid-dig, the area closes and you're kicked out.

Before you dig: requirements

• Fuel-powered access. The dig site's generator runs on fuel. Zombie corpses can be compressed into zombie fuel and put into the generator. If the generator runs dry, access closes and you're ejected from the dig area mid-dig.
• Pausing saves fuel. Pausing the generator stops fuel from draining while you manage loot or sell items; resume it to keep digging.
• A digging tool. The tutorial directs you to "drill for scrap," and your starting tool is a basic spoon shovel.
• Better tools dig faster. A toy shovel bought from or looted from vendors digs noticeably faster than the spoon shovel. A drill also exists in the game, but its digging behavior hasn't been fully documented, so treat it as unverified as an upgrade path.
• Golden fuel. Golden fuel gives 500 fuel and can be used when normal fuel runs out.

How to dig and collect scrap

1. Follow the tutorial prompt to "drill for scrap" during the day.
2. Make sure the generator has fuel (zombie fuel in the generator keeps the dig area open).
3. Use your digging tool at the dig spot. Digging is a continuous drilling action, and deeper digging keeps producing loot — observed all the way down to a very deep "hell" level.
4. Collected items, including scrap, go into your sack. The starting sack is small; larger bags (such as a "massive bag" holding 12 items) can be purchased to carry more.
5. Scrap is its own distinct pickup, separate from other finds like wood boards, sheet metal, gold bars, coins, gems, amethyst, and junk items like toilet paper.
6. Watch the fuel timer. When fuel runs out you're ejected from the dig spot, so pause the generator to bank loot between sessions and resume to continue.

Things that can stop your run

• Night blocks digging. You can only dig during the day.
• Fuel out = kicked out. If the generator runs empty while you're digging, the area closes and you lose that session.
• Backpack limits are hard. A full backpack forces a trip to sell or manage inventory before you can keep digging.
• Slow tools waste fuel time. The spoon shovel makes it hard to gather much before fuel expires; faster tools like the toy shovel mitigate this.
• Depth may not matter. One player observed that loot quality didn't seem to improve with depth ("It's literally the same"), but this is an untested impression, not a confirmed rule — check in-game rather than assuming deep digging pays off.

No guaranteed loot table or drop rates for scrap are documented; specific finds were incidental observations, not a catalog. Platform-specific digging controls (PC, mobile, tablet, console inputs) haven't been observed — check your platform's on-screen prompts in-game.

After collection

Scrap has two documented uses, separate from digging it up: build defenses yourself, or sell it for cash to buy weapons and med kits. In observed play, scrap dropped at the workbench area converted into money, and 10 scrap was required to craft an auto turret from its blueprint. Note the currency naming is currently inconsistent across the game's official description (gems as vendor currency) and observed gameplay (cash from scrapping at the workbench and pawn shop), so check which currency the vendor in your session actually takes. The selling transaction itself is covered on the scrap-selling page — this guide stops at collection.