Buried City Residential Master Key Location in Arc Raiders
Buried City Residential Master Key location in Arc Raiders, all three apartment doors it opens, which one holds the best loot, and why it beats the Rare keys.
Category: Key & Keycard Locations ยท Updated 2026-08-02
Short answer
Where to find it and where to use it
This is the only Buried City key with a real decision attached to it. It is a master key, and the map marks three separate doors it fits. You pick the one that suits your spawn and your route.
| Marked door | Side of map | Nearest landmarks |
|---|---|---|
| Grandioso Apartments | West | Plaza Rosa, Marano Park |
| Main Street apartment | Centre | Plaza Rosa, Piazza Roma |
| Santa Maria Houses | East | Eastern Station, Piazza Arbusto |
The key itself is a random container drop, and it is a common one by key standards. It comes out of residential containers, which on Buried City means the Grandioso Apartments themselves and the cluster of houses east of the Abandoned Highway Camp. That is a convenient loop: the same buildings that drop the key contain a door it opens.
All three doors sit in green loot zone territory, the calmest tier on the map. That is the whole appeal of this key. You are not fighting the map to use it.
What it unlocks
One of three residential doors on Buried City. The key does not open all three, it opens whichever one you walk up to first.
- Grandioso Apartments (west): the most reported of the three. Guides describe the door two different ways, which is worth knowing before you go in. One route has it on the first floor on the eastern side of the northern building, beside a broken open wall that faces the Santa Maria Houses. Another has it on the lowest level, reached by dropping down the elevator shaft and taking the only connecting room off the hallway. Sweep both, they are minutes apart, and only one will be locked.
- Main Street apartment (centre): a street level door near Plaza Rosa, opening into two floors of apartment to work through.
- Santa Maria Houses (east): a derelict residential building near Eastern Station. The door is described as sitting at the base of a staircase, opening into a space with several residential containers and cabinets. Some guides file this third door under the Red Tower district rather than Santa Maria Houses, so if you are cross-referencing another guide, that is the same door under a different landmark.
What is inside
The Grandioso room is the best documented, and it is dense for an Uncommon key:
- At least six filing cabinets and drawers of various types
- An ammo crate
- A suitcase, a med bag, and a wardrobe
- A security breach locker
- A computer
Cabinets and drawers roll blueprints, valuables, crafting materials, weapon components, and occasionally intact weapons. One player pulled a Tempest, an Epic assault rifle, out of a drawer here, and another reported a run that netted 40,000 Coin. Neither is typical. Loot is randomised on every reset.
The Main Street and Santa Maria doors are less thoroughly documented and are generally described as moderate by comparison. If you have one key and a free choice, the evidence points at Grandioso. Guides also consistently recommend running these rooms on a night raid, where loot rolls are reported to be stronger.
Is it worth the detour
Yes, and it is probably the best beginner key on Buried City.
The maths is simple. The key is Uncommon, so it drops often enough that you will find more. All three doors are in green loot zones, so the walk in is low risk by Buried City standards. The rooms clear in about a minute. And the container density behind the Grandioso door is out of proportion to the key's rarity.
Compare that to the Hospital, where a Rare key sends you into an orange zone, or Town Hall, where an Epic key commits you to a long clear in a red zone. This key asks for very little and gives back reliably.
The only real caveat: it is single use across three doors, so do not walk to Grandioso, find someone already inside, and burn the key on the nearest door out of frustration. Bank it and come back. The rooms reset every raid.
How keys work in Arc Raiders
Keys in Arc Raiders are consumables, not tools. Four rules cover everything you need to know before you carry one into a raid.
- Every key is single use. It is consumed the moment the door opens. One key equals one room, so a second run at the same door means a second key.
- Keys are lost on death. If a Raider drops you on the way there, the key is on your body with the rest of your bag. The only way it survives a death is in your Safe Pocket.
- Locked rooms reset between raids. The room refills every raid, so it never goes stale. Stack keys and run the same door over and over.
- Keys come out of containers and off players. Cabinets, drawers, desks, and lockers are the sources, along with anyone you kill who was carrying one. There is no guaranteed spawn shelf, so the honest advice is to loot every drawer on the way past.
Other keys on Buried City
- JKV Employee Access Card: an Uncommon card for the fourth floor of the Space Travel building
- Hospital Key: a Rare key for the small room in the north west corner of the Hospital
- Town Hall Key: an Epic key that opens the whole Town Hall building
- Every key in the game: the full Arc Raiders key locations hub
- The map itself: our interactive Buried City map, with every marked spawn and door
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the Buried City Residential Master Key used?
- It fits three separate apartment doors on Buried City: Grandioso Apartments in the west, a street level apartment on Main Street near Plaza Rosa in the centre, and the Santa Maria Houses near Eastern Station in the east.
- Does the Residential Master Key open all three doors?
- No. It is single use like every key in Arc Raiders, so one key opens one door. The master part means you get to choose which of the three, not that you get all of them.
- Which Residential Master Key door has the best loot?
- Grandioso Apartments is the best documented and the densest, with at least six filing cabinets and drawers plus an ammo crate, med bag, wardrobe, security breach locker and a computer. The other two are generally described as moderate by comparison.
- Where does the Residential Master Key drop?
- From residential containers, most reliably the Grandioso Apartments themselves and the group of houses east of the Abandoned Highway Camp. It is an Uncommon key, so it drops more often than the Hospital or Town Hall keys.
- Is the Residential Master Key worth using?
- Yes, and it is the easiest key on the map to run. All three doors sit in green loot zones, the rooms clear in about a minute, and the loot behind the Grandioso door is well above what an Uncommon key normally buys you.