What's New in Project Zomboid Build 42 for Multiplayer

The server is in charge: inventory and actions on the server

It's the change you see least and feel most. In Build 42, the inventory (moving items, opening containers, the loot that spawns) and timed actions (crafting, building, healing) run on the server; your game only draws them. So two players no longer see different things in the same wardrobe, and cheating is much harder.

On top of that come the game's own anti-cheats (speed, hits, walking through walls, inventory and more), which 42.20 switched back on, rebuilt, and 42.21 extended. 42.21 also closed a gap that let people join a server without going through Steam, so SteamID bans really work (the commands to ban).

A map twice the size

The map's area has doubled compared with Build 41. There are three new towns, Ekron, Irvington and Brandenburg, and Riverside, West Point, Rosewood, Fallas Lake, Muldraugh and Dixie have been rebuilt with all their buildings different. Louisville has skyscrapers up to 32 floors, and around the edges of the map there's randomly generated wilderness for anyone who wants to live in the woods.

For a group, that goes a long way: everyone can have their own looting route without stepping on each other's toes. And Workshop maps have to be made for Build 42: which ones are.

Basements

Build 42 brings 400 generated basements and 75 unique ones, plus bunkers and panic rooms. Which ones appear and where is decided by the world seed, so they change from one game to the next. In the world settings, “Basement Spawn Frequency” sets how many there are, from “Never” to “Always”. Since 42.21, explosives work inside them too.

In multiplayer, a basement is a highly sought-after base: a good place to claim as a safehouse (how to claim a safehouse).

Animals and farms

Sheep, chickens, pigs, cows, rats, rabbits and deer, to hunt or raise: meat, leather, eggs, milk, wool and manure. Wild ones leave tracks and droppings to follow, and there's a new profession for looking after them. In a group, the farm is the job for whoever doesn't fancy going out to fight.

For whoever runs the server: the server simulates animals even when nobody's nearby, and a huge farm shows up on the processor (what to turn down if it stutters). In the world settings there's “Animal Spawn Chance” and the pace of everything (growth, pregnancy, milk, wool), and in the .ini, AnnounceAnimalDeath posts in chat every time one dies.

Crafting and building: trades to share out

Crafting has been rebuilt with workbenches, ingredients you can choose and several pieces at once. There are new skills, such as masonry, carving, stonework, pottery, blacksmithing and glassmaking, with their own recipes and professions; in the world settings, each one has its own experience multiplier.

Melee weapons have a separate handle and head (and the head can fall off), you can pack things into boxes to store more, hang weapons on the wall and place items wherever you like within a tile. On a long-running server, sharing out trades across the group is what makes the base progress.

Darker nights and new weapons

Lighting has been completely rebuilt: it bounces off walls, gets in through windows and doors, and nights are blacker and more dangerous. If your group struggles with it, “Darkness during night” in the world settings softens it.

Firearms have a new aiming system (affected by panic and stress), new models, animations, ammo and sounds, and they can jam.

Four game modes

Apocalypse is the “canon” mode, the classic one rebuilt to be faithful to 1993 Kentucky; Outbreak, for those short on time; Rising, calmer and for building; and Extinction, for veterans, with running zombies. Each has its own preset to start from and tweak as you like. Which one to pick for your group: which settings to start with for friends.

Mod manager and server list

Build 42 brings an official mod manager: search, mark favourites, sort the load order, see dependencies and incompatibilities and save lists to share. The server list lets you hide modded, full or empty servers and sort by ping and by players. Each player's ping shows in the player list.

The .ini has new options, such as ShowCoordinates (shows the coordinates in the bottom right for everyone) and, since 42.20.3, up to 254 players at once, with room for admins even when the server is full; the game itself warns that with more than 32 there may be problems.

What it means for your server

More to simulate means more RAM: with Build 42, 6 GB at least (how much for your group). Build 41 saves don't open on 42 and many mods have to be swapped: Build 42 vs Build 41 explains it.

On NapNodes the servers install Build 42 (today, 42.21), all the new settings are in “Settings” under the game's own names, and no Zomboid server goes below 6 GB.

Frequently asked questions

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