Safehouses and Factions in Project Zomboid: How to Claim a House on a Server
On a Project Zomboid server, a safehouse is a house your group claims as its own: depending on how the server is set up, outsiders can't get in or take anything. Factions are the team, with a name and a tag. Both are switched on by the admin in the .ini, and the rest is done inside the game.
First: the server has to allow it
If right-clicking inside a house doesn't give you the option to claim it, the first thing to check is that the server allows it. In the .ini, PlayerSafehouse=true lets everyone claim safehouses; AdminSafehouse=true, only admins. Factions are turned on with Faction=true.
On NapNodes they're in “Settings” → “The essentials”: “Players can claim safehouses” and “Factions”. The rest is in the “Safehouses and factions” block. It applies on restart. The other server options are in the .ini guide.
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How to claim a safehouse
The option is called “Claim Safehouse” in the right-click menu.
Pick a house
It has to be a home: shops, warehouses and the like can't be claimed unless the server has SafehouseAllowNonResidential=true. Nor can a place where new players spawn (the game tells you it's a spawn point and can't be claimed).
Empty it
Nobody else can be inside: if another player is there, the game tells you the building is occupied and can't be claimed until it's empty.
Claim it
Inside the house, right-click the floor → “Claim Safehouse”. If the server requires you to have survived a number of days (SafehouseDaySurvivedToClaim), it tells you how many are left.
Adding your friends and managing the safehouse
Right-click inside the safehouse → “View Safehouse”. From there you can add a player (they get an invitation they have to accept), change the safehouse's title, change its owner, or release it so anyone can claim it.
Each player can only be in one safehouse at a time, as owner or member. If someone is already in another, they have to leave that one first.
With SafehouseAllowRespawn=true on the server, members who die can choose to respawn in the safehouse: the new character starts at home instead of on the other side of the map. Everything else that happens when you die, in dying on a Project Zomboid server.
What a safehouse protects (and what it doesn't)
What it protects is decided by the server, option by option. SafehouseAllowTrepass: if it's true, people who aren't in the safehouse can walk in without an invitation; to keep them out, false. SafehouseAllowLoot: whether outsiders can take things. SafehouseAllowFire: whether fire damages the safehouse.
DisableSafehouseWhenOwnerConnected: with true, the safehouse is a normal house while the owner is online and only protected when they're not. SafeHouseRemovalTime: after how many real hours without visiting the safehouse a player is removed from it. SafehousePreventsLootRespawn: loot doesn't respawn inside a safehouse.
What it never does: stop zombies. A safehouse is a rule between players; you still need to board up the windows.
On Build 42, the .ini also has options for war between safehouses (War, WarStartDelay, WarDuration and WarSafehouseHitPoints): if they're on, one group can declare war on another safehouse for a set time. On a server among friends, leave them off.
How to create a faction
Open your player panel
In the game, on your player panel, “Faction” → “Create Faction”.
Give it a name and a tag
The name, 3 to 14 characters; the tag, which shows next to your names, 1 to 4. To set a tag, the faction may need a minimum number of members (FactionPlayersRequiredForTag), and to create one, you may need to have survived a number of days (FactionDaySurvivedToCreate).
Invite the others
From the same panel. Each of them gets the invitation and accepts it.
Decide whether you can hurt each other
The faction's melee PvP option allows damage between members. For a group of friends on a server with PvP, better off (how PvP works).
For admins
The game's admin panel has the safehouse list and the faction list, to see who owns each one. A safehouse owner can also release it with /releasesafehouse (the other commands are in the list of admin commands).
On NapNodes, commands go in the panel's “Console”, without the slash, and the in-game admin user is in “Settings” → “In-game admin”.
Frequently asked questions
How do I claim a house in Project Zomboid multiplayer?
Go into an empty home, right-click the floor and choose “Claim Safehouse”. If the option doesn't appear, the server most likely doesn't have PlayerSafehouse turned on.
Why can't I claim a safehouse?
Because it isn't a home, someone is inside, it's a player spawn point, you're already in another safehouse, or you haven't yet survived the days the server requires. The game tells you which.
How do I add a friend to my safehouse?
Right-click inside the safehouse → “View Safehouse” and add the player. They get an invitation and have to accept it.
How do I stop other players getting into my base?
Claim it as a safehouse and ask the admin for SafehouseAllowTrepass=false and SafehouseAllowLoot=false in the .ini. That way outsiders can't get in or take anything.
How do I create a faction in Project Zomboid?
With Faction=true on the server, from your player panel: “Faction” → “Create Faction”, with a name of 3 to 14 characters. Then invite the others from there.
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