Project Zomboid server settings editor

Paste or upload your .ini and SandboxVars.lua (or start from those of a freshly created server), change each option with its name and explanation in plain English, and take the finished files with you. There are more than 410 options, grouped by topic and with a search box. Whatever you don't touch comes out the same, comments included, and nothing leaves your browser.

The two files of a Zomboid server

• <name>.ini (servertest.ini if you haven't renamed it): the server. Password, whether it shows in the public list, players at once, PvP, chat and voice, safehouses and factions, mods, ports and the backups the game makes itself. Each line is Option=value; yes and no are written true and false.
• <name>_SandboxVars.lua: the world. How many zombies there are and what they're like (whether they sprint, how well they hear, how they infect), loot, when the power and water go off, weather, cars, experience. It's a Lua table: Zombies = 4, with its commas and braces; one missing comma and the server won't start, which is exactly what the editor prevents.

Next to them you'll see <name>_spawnregions.lua (where players can spawn): this tool doesn't touch that one. The names and explanations of each option come from the game's own text; the lists (“Normal”, “Very High”…) show next to them the number that goes in the file, which is the one you'll see in forums and guides.

Where they are on your PC and on a server

• On Windows (your PC, also if you host the game with the in-game “Host” button): C:\Users\<your user>\Zomboid\Server.
• On Linux (a dedicated server): ~/Zomboid/Server of the user that runs the server.
• On a rented server: it depends on the host. At NapNodes they're in .cache/Server and are called napnodes.ini and napnodes_SandboxVars.lua (in the panel's Files).

To change them, three steps: stop the server, replace the files with the ones you download here (with the same names they had) and start it again. The server reads them on startup. Back up the world first if you're going to change a lot.

What people change most

For a group of friends: in the .ini, Password, PauseEmpty (time stops with nobody online, so the power and water don't go off while you're not playing) and PVP. In the SandboxVars, Zombies (how many), ZombieLore.Speed (whether they sprint) and WaterShut and ElecShut (when the water and power go off). Type any of those words in the search box above. Each one explained at length in the guides to the server .ini and the sandbox settings; and if the server stutters, what to lower first.

Mods, with the Build 42 backslash

Mods go on two lines of the .ini: WorkshopItems=, with the Steam Workshop numbers, and Mods=, with the Mod IDs, separated by semicolons. On Build 42 each Mod ID has a backslash in front (Mods=\modoptions;\tsarslib); without it they don't load and the server doesn't warn you. If you paste a Build 41 .ini, the editor tells you and adds it. To write both lists from Workshop links, use the Project Zomboid mod list tool.

Frequently asked questions

At NapNodes, without downloading anything

In our panel, Settings has all these options, with the same names, grouped by topic and with a search box; they save by themselves and apply when you press Restart. Workshop mods are searched for and added under Mods, and the panel adds the Build 42 backslash. The RAM in your plan is yours alone, never oversold, and you can try it with a free Project Zomboid server, no card needed.

Create your free Project Zomboid server

Friends can't join? Can't connect to a Project Zomboid server. Is your server responding? Check it here.