ARC Raiders: Unlocking the Stella Montis Archives, Find and Use the Key

This article was updated on April 17, 2026 to include additional information on key locations in ARC Raiders. It was originally published on November 18, 2025.

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The new ARC Raiders map, Stella Montis, is a maze of rooms and tunnels that's really easy to get lost in, but once you learn the layout, you'll be over-encumbered with epic items in no time. This secluded location, buried in the mountains, wasn't just a research facility, it was also used to preserve humanity in the face of an apocalypse—equipped with seed vaults and cultural archives.

The cultural archives are a high-value loot area, which makes sense given it was meant to protect humanity's greatest works of art and literature. In this guide, I'll be showing you where to use the Stella Montis Archives Key. There are a couple different ways to get into this area, but I'll be showing you a cool secret tunnel that leads directly to the archives.

Where to Find the Stella Montis Archives Key

Like all key drops in ARC Raiders, it's impossible to guarantee where you'll first come across the Stella Montis Archives Key since it comes down to some nice RNG luck as well. However, user-submitted data on Metaforge (pictured above) can help us narrow down your odds a bit.

Out of 67 users at the time of writing, most players found this key in a standard, regular container. It also seems mostly likely to show up on the Dam Battlegrounds map, as that's where 33% of voting players say they tracked it down. Still, this specific key does seem to have a pretty-well distributed rate across maps.

As always, keys are most often found in residential areas, high-loot marked spaces on the map, as well as other locked rooms. If you're looking at Dam Battlegrounds (where it seems this key is most often found), check places like Pale Apartments, Ruby Residence, and the Pattern House.

Where To Use The Stella Montis Archives Key

To get started, select the Stella Montis map seen in the picture above, and don't forget to keep your key secure by stashing it in your safe pocket. This room is fairly large and has the potential to yield quite a bit of loot, so I also recommend using a looting augment that will let you carry more.

How To Get Into The Cultural Archives

There are two very easy ways to get into the archives, highlighted by the arrows in the pictures above. To get things started, I'll show you a hidden vent that will make accessing the archives from the Western side of the map much easier.

If you spawn in the central part of the map, or anywhere on the west side, make your way to the communication area seen below.

Once you're in the communication area, search for the vent opening seen in the picture below.

When you reach the exit of the vent (seen below) take a right and follow the hallway until you see the sign that says cultural archives.

At the end of the hallway, there's a staircase and a zipline seen in the picture below.

Descend To The Archives

Go down to the second floor, where you'll see the sign, and the entrance to the cultural archives (seen below).

Make your way to the north-east corner of the archives and locate the door seen below.

Find And Unlock The Storage Room

All that's left to do is unlock the room, and hope there aren't any thieves nearby. If you really want to play it safe though, I recommend not only closing the door behind you, but setting traps near it, such as jolt mines and trigger-nades.

Lucky Spawn Location

There's also a spawn location within a hundred meters of this locked door (seen above). At this spawn point, you'll load in at the northernmost point of the cultural archives, and will simply have to take a zipline down and look left, and you'll be at the door.

Proceed with caution, Raider, the archives are a hostile place infested with ARCs—at least one Shredder is usually present in this area.