Stella Montis Archives Key Location in Arc Raiders

Where to find and use the Stella Montis Archives Key in Arc Raiders, the only epic key on the map, plus the Storage Room it opens and the loot inside.

Category: Key & Keycard Locations · Updated 2026-08-02

Short answer

Where to find it and where to use it

The key has no fixed spawn. It is a random container drop, which means no route guarantees one and nothing on the map will point you at it. What you can do is stack the odds.

• Search residential containers: wooden drawers, cabinets, suitcases, desks, and metal drawers are the container types that roll keys.
• Best maps to farm it: Dam Battlegrounds is the most commonly reported source, especially Pale Apartments, Ruby Residence, and Pattern House. Buried City players report it around Grandioso Apartments and the houses east of the Abandoned Highway Camp.
• On Stella Montis itself: the Lobby, the Business Center, and the metal drawers near the Lobby Metro Station.
• Off other raiders: keys drop from players you kill. A lot of Archives Keys change hands this way, because plenty of raiders find one and never reach the door.

This is an epic key, so it turns up less often than the other Stella Montis keys. Night raids and Electromagnetic Storms are reported as better looting conditions. Safe Pocket it the second you find one.

What it unlocks

The Archives Key opens one door: the Storage Room in the far east corner of the archives wing, on the top floor of Stella Montis. Our map marks it past the Cultural Archives, and the guides we cross checked describe the same door as sitting in the north east corner of the archives, east of the Lobby and one level above the Seed Vault area.

A route that works: come in through Communications, take the vent tunnel, follow the hallway past the Cultural Archives signage, then get down to the archive floor by staircase or zipline. The locked door has red indicator lights. The archives wing holds more than one locked door and each takes its own key, so read the prompt before you commit.

Clear this up before you walk. If you look this key up in an item database, you may see its description quoted as "unlocks a door in Medical Research in Stella Montis". That wording is a mix up with the separate Stella Montis Medical Storage Key, and it sends players to the wrong side of the map. Independent item databases list the Archives Key description as "unlocks a door in the Archives in Stella Montis", and every location guide we checked puts the real door in the archives. Go east, not west.

What is inside

The Storage Room is a large space and the payoff is volume, not one guaranteed drop.

• Breachable storage crates through the room
• Drawers and cabinets to sweep
• Weapon cases
• Raider backpacks

Loot rolls are random, so two runs can look completely different. What makes the room rank well is container count: you are buying a room's worth of rolls instead of one safe. Night raids roll better tables, so if you are holding the key and can pick your moment, spend it at night.

Expect company. Shredders and Ticks patrol this part of the map heavily, and the archives is a busy interior route for other raiders. Clear first, loot second.

Is it worth the detour

Yes if you are already committing to the Stella Montis interior. No if you are out on the edge of the map and would have to cross the whole complex to get there.

The honest math: this is the only epic key on Stella Montis and it opens the biggest container room of the four. Against that, the route is long, it runs through the busiest interior corridors on the map, and the key is spent whether the room gives you a weapon case or a bag of scrap. Spend it on a raid where you were passing the archives anyway.

How keys work in Arc Raiders

Four rules cover every key in the game, and they are the ones that cost people gear when they forget.

1. Every key is single use. It is consumed the moment the door opens. One key, one entry, no exceptions.
2. Keys are lost on death unless they are in your Safe Pocket. The Safe Pocket is the only slot that survives a death, so a key goes in there the second it hits your inventory.
3. Locked rooms reset between raids. Another raider clearing this room does not lock you out next raid. It refills.
4. Keys drop from containers and from players. Cabinets, drawers, desks, and lockers roll them, and so does anyone you kill who was carrying one.

Two habits on top of that. Check the room's loot zone before you spend a key, because a green zone room and a red zone room are not the same trip. And count your free bag slots before you open the door.

Other keys on Stella Montis

Stella Montis has four keys worth learning. The Archives Key is the top of the list, but the other three are easier to find and faster to reach.

• Stella Montis Security Checkpoint Key: rare, opens the security room by the Security Bridge north east of the Lobby, with the strongest blueprint reputation on the map.
• Stella Montis Assembly Admin Key: uncommon, opens the admin office just off the Central Corridor in Assembly.
• Stella Montis Medical Storage Key: uncommon, opens a small storage room inside Medical Research on the west side.
• Every Arc Raiders key location: the full list across every map.
• Stella Montis interactive map: every marked door, extract, and POI in one place.