Project Zomboid Asks Me to Create a New Character When I Join the Server: Why and What to Do

First: don't create the character yet

Go back to the menu without creating anything. On a server each character is tied to a username, and they're stored in the players.db file in the save folder. If the old one is still there and the problem is the name or the save, it can be fixed and your character comes back; if you create another one on top with the same username, it's harder.

If you died (even while being disconnected by a connection drop), this isn't it: in Project Zomboid death is permanent on a server too, and what you need is to go and get your body and your gear.

You joined with another username

This is the most common one. The character doesn't belong to your Steam account but to the username you registered with on that server. If you typed a different name in the server's entry under “Favorites” (or you're joining from another PC, or a friend passed you their entry with their name), the server sees you as a new player and asks for a character.

It's fixed by editing the entry under “Favorites” and entering your usual username and password. If you don't remember the name, ask the server admin before trying others.

It also happens the other way round: the game's wiki notes that someone joining with a profile they already used in a “Host” game can get stuck in the void, and there the fix really is changing the username.

The server is running a different save

Accounts (username and password) and characters are stored in different places: accounts in a separate database (the db folder, next to Saves); characters in the save (Saves/Multiplayer/<name>). If the save changes, your password still works but your character isn't there, and the game asks you for a new one.

The save changes when someone resets it or moves its folder aside (how to reset it), when the server is started with another name (on your own server, the -servername option: another name, another save), when a backup from before your character was created is restored or when the server moves from Build 41 to 42, which doesn't open Build 41 saves (what changes between them).

If it was a reset, the old save is usually still there in another folder: giving it its name back with the server stopped recovers it, with all its characters.

The ResetID has changed

The server's .ini has an option, ResetID, which the game itself describes like this: it shows whether the server has gone through a soft reset, and if it doesn't match the player's, the player has to create a new character. It goes with another one, PlayerServerID, and the game's help advises writing both down somewhere.

If someone changed it (by hand, by copying another server's .ini or with a soft reset), everyone who joins afterwards will have to create a character. If you have the old .ini or a backup, giving it its old number back is usually enough. The rest of the .ini, in what each option does.

The server closed without saving

If the server crashes (runs out of memory, freezes) or the process is killed by force, whatever hadn't been saved is lost. If your character hadn't had time to be saved, for example because you'd just created it, it asks you for another one when you come back. The moderators of the game's Steam forum also link it to force-closing the game or the server (Alt+F4, the window's X) instead of quitting from the menu.

To avoid it: always shut it down with the quit command (or save before restarting), never by killing the process. And set “SaveWorldEveryMinutes”: out of the box it's 0, and the map is only saved when players leave an area; with 10 or 15 minutes, a crash takes at most that long with it.

If it crashes often, it isn't bad luck: it's almost always memory. The lag guide explains it.

A mod that changes traits or occupations

According to the moderators of the game's Steam forum, some mods that add traits, skills or occupations can make the server fail to load the character and ask for a new one every time. It happens above all when a mod like that is removed, updated or isn't made for Build 42.

To find out if that's it: with a backup made, remove the character mods in batches on a test save until it stops happening. And if you removed one recently, put it back: the character that used it may need it to load. How to add and remove them, in the Workshop mods guide.

If you've already created the new character

There's no command to bring back a lost character. If there was a backup, the whole previous save can be restored (losing whatever everyone did afterwards). If not, the admin can make up for it: /additem gives items back and /addxp, XP (the command list). For next time, backups: how to make them on a Zomboid server.

With NapNodes

1. Check your entry under “Favorites”

   The username has to be your usual one. The address and port, the ones in the panel's “Address to play”.

2. Make a backup before touching anything

   In “Backups”, if it's a paid plan (there's also an automatic one every night). The free server has no backups: in “Files”, compress the save folder (in .cache/Saves/Multiplayer) and download it.

3. Find the save

   In “Files”, in .cache/Saves/Multiplayer: the server's save is called napnodes. If you see another folder with a name like “napnodes-old”, someone moved it aside: with the server stopped, it can be given its name back.

4. Save more often

   In “Settings”, search for “SaveWorldEveryMinutes” and set 10 or 15. It saves on its own and applies when you restart.

5. Stop it from the panel

   “Stop” and “Restart” close the server with quit, which saves before exiting. To save without stopping, type save in the “Console”.

Frequently asked questions