Recently, there has been an increased focus on understanding the structural details of disordered materials which are found across all energy technologies [Shamblin et al., Nat. Mater. 2016]. Despite the importance of these materials, there is still little knowledge about the atomic-scale rules governing disordering processes. Here, we present results from neutron total scattering experiments from spinel (AB2O4) and pyrochlore (A2B2O7) model systems which reveal that short-range ordering and associated structural relaxations in disordered materials can be understood as an extension of Pauling’s rules [Pauling, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1929]. These rules apply whether disorder is induced intrinsically (e.g., chemical substitution), extrinsically (high temperature), or even by highly non-equilibrium conditions (high-energy ion irradiation and mechanical milling). These results provide a framework that can be utilized to predict the atomic configuration in disordered materials, including those that result from exposure to extreme conditions. [O’Quinn et al., Science Advances 2020]