If you have been hoarding keys in ARC Raiders because you were not totally sure where to use them, you are definitely not alone. The game loves giving you vague descriptions, and since keys are single-use, opening the wrong door can feel like burning money.
Based on the most up-to-date information, ARC Raiders have locked doors spread across Blue Gate, Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Stella Montis, and Spaceport, plus the Raider Hatch Key, which works differently and is used for extraction. Keys are random drops, can be lost on death if they are not secured, and are still best saved for raids where the loot pool is stronger.
How keys work in ARC Raiders
Before getting into each location, the important part is this: keys are consumable, tied to specific doors, and the doors reset every raid. That means you do not permanently unlock anything. You use the key once, get whatever is inside, and that is the end of it. Also, note that Night Raids and major map modifiers can improve the value of what spawns behind those locked doors, which is why many players save their best keys for those runs.
It is also worth remembering that the old locked door exploit has been fixed. Embark pushed a hotfix for the door glitch, so you now need the actual key instead of hoping to cheese your way into a room.
All Keys Location & What They Unlock
| Key Name | Map | Where to Use It | What It Unlocks / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Gate Cellar Key | Blue Gate | Trapper’s Glade | Opens a cellar room with loot |
| Blue Gate Cellar Key | Blue Gate | Left of the Ruined Homestead | Opens another cellar that can contain weapons, blueprints, grenades, and healing items |
| Blue Gate Communication Tower Key | Blue Gate | Pilgrim’s Peak | Opens the Communication Tower room, usually good for electrical loot |
| Blue Gate Confiscation Room Key | Blue Gate | Underground Security Wing | Opens the Confiscation Room, one of the better Blue Gate loot rooms but very risky |
| Blue Gate Village Key | Blue Gate | Village house | Opens a locked house in the Village, safer but usually less rewarding |
| Patrol Car Key | Blue Gate | Traffic Tunnel | Opens armored patrol vehicles, useful for weapon loot |
| Dam Surveillance Key | Dam Battlegrounds | Water Treatment Control | Opens the Surveillance room, decent but inconsistent loot |
| Dam Staff Room Key | Dam Battlegrounds | Research and Administration | Opens the Staff Room, harder to reach and not always worth the risk |
| Dam Testing Annex Key | Dam Battlegrounds | Testing Annex ground floor | Opens one of the locked doors on the ground floor |
| Dam Control Tower Key | Dam Battlegrounds | Control Tower | Opens the Control Tower, one of the strongest and most dangerous loot spots on the map |
| Buried City Hospital Key | Buried City | Hospital | Opens a locked room inside the Hospital |
| Buried City JKV Employee Access Card | Buried City | Space Travel building, fourth floor | Opens a strong loot room with possible weapons, weapon mods, and rare materials |
| Buried City Residential Master Key | Buried City | Near Main Street west of Plaza Rosa | Opens a residential locked door |
| Buried City Residential Master Key | Buried City | Northern Grandioso Apartments building | Opens another residential location with useful loot |
| Buried City Town Hall Key | Buried City | Town Hall | Opens Town Hall, one of the best key uses in the game because of the amount of loot inside |
| Stella Montis Archives Key | Stella Montis | Cultural Archives storage room | Opens one of the best loot rooms in the game with blueprints, trinkets, grenades, and weapons |
| Stella Montis Assembly Admin Key | Stella Montis | Central Corridor and Assembly area | Opens the Assembly Admin room, good loot but dangerous area |
| Stella Montis Medical Storage Key | Stella Montis | Medical Research | Opens Medical Storage, rewarding but often contested |
| Stella Montis Security Checkpoint Key | Stella Montis | Lobby area near Security Bridge stairs | Opens Security Checkpoint, often used for gun parts and weapon mods |
| Spaceport Trench Tower Key | Spaceport | North and South Trench Towers | Opens both Trench Towers, making it one of the better multi-use keys |
| Spaceport Container Storage Key | Spaceport | Container Storage | Opens Container Storage, useful but often contested |
| Spaceport Control Tower Key | Spaceport | Elevator shaft route into Control Tower A6 | Opens Control Tower A6, strong loot but high PvP risk |
| Spaceport Warehouse Key | Spaceport | Shipping Warehouse | Opens the Warehouse room, quieter but usually less exciting loot |
| Raider Hatch Key | Multiple maps | Raider Hatches | Used for instant extraction back to Speranza instead of opening a normal loot room |
Which ARC Raiders keys are most worth using
The keys that stand out the most are Buried City Town Hall Key, Stella Montis Archives Key, Dam Control Tower Key, Blue Gate Confiscation Room Key, Buried City JKV Employee Access Card, and Spaceport Trench Tower Key. Those are the ones most often described as genuinely worth the risk, either because the loot is strong, the room is large, or the unlock gives access to more than a single tiny closet.
On the lower end, keys like Blue Gate Village, Blue Gate Communication Tower, Dam Staff Room, and sometimes Dam Testing Annex are more situational and easier to skip if you are not already nearby.
If you just wanted the simple answer, every key in ARC Raiders opens a fixed location, and the best way to use them is to build your raid path around the door before you even deploy. Do not bring a rare key and then wander the map trying to remember where it goes.
Right now, the safest play is still to secure the key in your safe pocket, use it during a better loot modifier when possible, and prioritize the rooms with the strongest reputation for value like Town Hall, Archives, Confiscation Room, Control Tower, and the Trench Towers.
