Guides5 min read
Project Zomboid: the settings that decide whether people stay
Zomboid servers live or die on a handful of sandbox values. Which ones matter, and which ones only look like they do.
Zomboid gives you several hundred sandbox settings, and about six of them decide what your server feels like. The rest are detail you can leave alone until somebody asks.
The six that matter
- 1.Population multiplier - how many zombies exist at all.
- 2.Respawn - whether cleared areas stay cleared, which decides if progress is permanent.
- 3.Loot rarity - the difference between scavenging and shopping.
- 4.Day length - how much real time a survival day costs.
- 5.Safehouse rules - whether players can lock each other out, which is a social setting more than a mechanical one.
- 6.PVP - decide it before launch, because changing it later changes who plays.
Admin accounts and passwords
The admin account and its password are generated for you at first boot rather than shipped as a default. Change it if you like, but do not remove it - Zomboid's admin panel is how you handle the griefing incident that will eventually happen.
Memory is about map, not players
Zomboid holds loaded map cells, and players scatter. Ten players in one town costs less than four players in four towns. 3 GB is a small group, 6 GB a busy server, 10 GB a large one with mods.