Dying on a Project Zomboid Server: What You Lose, Where You Respawn and How Not to Lose Everything
In Project Zomboid death is permanent, on a server too: your character is gone and you start a new one in the same world, with the same account. What you built is still there and your gear stays where you fell. How much it hurts depends on how the server is set up: where you respawn, whether the admin can make it up to you and whether you run a mod so you don't start from scratch.
What happens when you die
Your character dies for good. You stay on the server with the same account (username and password) and create a new one, with its own occupation and traits, starting without the previous one's skills. The world isn't touched: the base, the cars and whatever you stored are still where they were.
Your body stays in the world with whatever you were carrying. If you died infected, it gets back up as a zombie: to get your backpack back, you have to kill it first. If the server has AnnounceDeath on, everyone finds out in the chat.
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Where you respawn
By default, like a new player: you choose one of the server's spawn areas (or spawn at SpawnPoint, if the admin has set one). That can put you on the other side of the map; the admin can leave a single area or set a fixed point.
With SafehouseAllowRespawn on, safehouse members can choose to respawn in the safehouse: the new character starts at home. It's the most convenient option for a group (how to claim a safehouse).
PlayerRespawnWithSelf lets you respawn at the coordinates where you died, right next to your gear (and, if it was a horde, next to the horde). PlayerRespawnWithOther is for split screen and Remote Play: respawning next to the other player on your screen.
Getting your gear back
Go for your body as soon as you can, and preferably with company. Zombie corpses disappear after the hours set in “Time Before Corpse Removal” (HoursForCorpseRemoval); if the server also has RemovePlayerCorpsesOnCorpseRemoval, players' bodies go with them, along with what they were carrying. Among friends, better leave that off.
If the server has a whitelist
Watch out for DropOffWhiteListAfterDeath: on a closed server (Open=false), it removes the player who dies from the whitelist, and they can't get back in until an admin adds them again. It's meant for one-life servers; among friends it's almost never what you want (the whitelist, step by step).
Not losing everything: skills and XP
What hurts most when you die is your skills. Three ways to soften it:
A mod: Skill Recovery Journal has your character write a journal of what they've learned, and the next one gets it back by reading it. It's up to date with Build 42 and works in multiplayer (its details and requirements).
XP: the sandbox “Global Multiplier” makes everything level faster, so the new character catches up sooner. Outbreak mode already gives 20% more XP.
Books: skill books multiply XP, and on a server the group can keep them at the base for the next person who needs them.
If someone dies because of a bug
It happens: a connection hiccup at the wrong moment, a car that clips through the ground. Build 42's command list has nothing to bring a character back to life, but an admin can make up for it: /additem "name" Base.Item amount gives items back and /addxp "name" Skill=amount gives XP (the command list). And if lag deaths keep happening, lag can be fixed.
To keep things fair, have the server rules say from the start whether deaths are compensated and how: that way nobody argues afterwards.
With NapNodes
All of these options are in the panel's “Settings”, with a search box: type “safehouse”, “corpse”, “death” or “whitelist”. They save on their own and apply when you restart. Admin commands go in the “Console”, without the slash, and the in-game admin user is in “Settings” → “In-game admin”.
Frequently asked questions
Do you lose your character when you die in Project Zomboid multiplayer?
Yes: death is permanent. You keep your account on the server, but you start with a new character, without the previous one's skills, in the same world.
Can I get my items back after dying?
Yes: they stay on your body, where you died. If you were infected, it will have got back up as a zombie and you'll have to kill it to get your backpack.
How do I respawn at my base in Project Zomboid?
If your base is a claimed safehouse and the server has SafehouseAllowRespawn on, when you die you can choose to respawn in the safehouse.
Is there a way to keep your skills after dying?
Not without mods: only a higher XP multiplier to get them back sooner. With the Skill Recovery Journal mod, the new character recovers them by reading the previous one's journal.
Can an admin revive me in Project Zomboid?
There's no command to bring a character back to life. What an admin can do is give you items with /additem and XP with /addxp.
Shall we set it up for you?
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