Project Zomboid offers a lot of customization for running your server. From administration customization to your mods and spawnpoints, the settings are expansive. This is a comprehensive list of all of the server settings and how to use them. These are the .ini file settings. The .lua (Sandbox) settings are separate.
If you host your Project Zomboid server with indifferent broccoli, then here's our guide for editing your .ini server settings.
| Setting | Description | Values | Default |
| PVP | Players can hurt and kill other players | True, False | True |
| PauseEmpty | Game time stops when there are no players online | True, False | True |
| GlobalChat | Toggles Global Chat on or off | True, False | True |
| ChatStreams | Defines chat channels | s, r, a, w,y, sh, f, all | |
| Open | Clients may join without already having an account in the whitelist. If set to false, administrators must manually create username/password combos. | True, False | True |
| ServerWelcomeMessage | The first welcome message visible in the chat panel. This will be displayed immediately after player login. you can use RGB colours to chance the colour of the welcome message. You can also use <LINE> to create a separate lines within your text. Use: <RGB:1,0,0> This message will show up red! | ||
| AutoCreateUserInWhiteList | Add unknown usernames to the whitelist when players join. Clients will supply their own username/password on joining. (This is for Open=true servers) | True, False | False |
| DisplayUserName | Display usernames above player's heads in game | True, False | True |
| ShowFirstAndLastName | Display first & last name above player's heads | True, False | False |
| SpawnPoint | Force every new player to spawn at these set x,y,z world coordinates. Find desired coordinates at map.projectzomboid.com. (Ignored when 0,0,0) | ||
| SafetySystem | Players can enter and leave PVP on an individual basis. A player can only hurt another player when at least one of them is in PVP mode - as shown by the unobscured skull and crossbones on the left of the screen. When SafetySystem=false, players are free to hurt each other at any time if PVP is enabled. | True, False | True |
| ShowSafety | Display a skull icon over the head of players who have entered PVP mode | True, False | True |
| SafetyToggleTimer | The time it takes for a player to enter and leave PVP mode | 0-1000 | 2 |
| SafetyCooldownTimer | The delay before a player can enter or leave PVP mode again, having recently done so | 0-1000 | 3 |
| SpawnItems | Item types new players spawn with. Separate multiple item types with commas. | Item IDs | |
| ResetID | Reset ID determines if the server has undergone a soft-reset. If this number does match the client, the client must create a new character. Used in conjunction with PlayerServerID. It is strongly advised that you backup these IDs somewhere | 0-2147483647 | 734207823 |
| Mods | You can list your Mod IDs in this field. | ||
| Map | You can list your map folder names in this field. | Muldraugh, KY | |
| DoLuaChecksum | Kick clients whose game files don't match the server's. | True, False | True |
| DenyLoginOnOverloadedServer | True, False | True | |
| Public | Shows the server on the in-game browser. (Note: Steam-enabled servers are always visible in the Steam server browser) | True, False | False |
| PublicName | Name of the server displayed in the in-game browser and, if applicable, the Steam browser | ||
| PublicDescription | Description displayed in the in-game public server browser. Typing \n will create a new line in your description | ||
| MaxPlayers | Maximum number of players that can be on the server at one time. This excludes admins. WARNING: Server player counts above 32 will potentially result in poor map streaming and desync. Please advance with caution. | ||
| PingLimit | Ping limit, in milliseconds, before a player is kicked from the server. (Set to 100 to disable) | 100-2147483647 | 400 |
| HoursForLootRespawn | After X hours, all containers in the world will respawn loot. To spawn loot a container must have been looted at least once. Loot respawn is not impacted by visibility or subsequent looting. | 0-2147483647 | 0 |
| MaxItemsForLootRespawn | Containers with a number of items greater, or equal to, this setting will not respawn | 0-2147483647 | 4 |
| ConstructionPreventsLootRespawn | Items will not respawn in buildings that players have barricaded or built in | True, False | |
| DropOffWhiteListAfterDeath | Remove player accounts from the whitelist after death. This prevents players creating a new character after death on Open=false servers | ||
| NoFire | All forms of fire are disabled - except for campfires | True, False | False |
| AnnounceDeath | If checked, every time a player dies a global message will be displayed in the chat | True, False | False |
| MinutesPerPage | The number of in-game minutes it takes to read one page of a book | 0-60 | 1 |
| SaveWorldEveryMinutes | Loaded parts of the map are saved after this set number of real-world minutes have passed. (The map is usually saved only after clients leave a loaded area) | 0-2147483647 | 0 |
| PlayerSafehouse | Both admins and players can claim safehouses | True, False | False |
| AdminSafehouse | Only admins can claim safehouses | True, False | False |
| SafehouseAllowTrepass | Allow non-members to enter a safehouse without being invited | True, False | True |
| SafehouseAllowFire | Allow fire to damage safehouses | True, False | True |
| SafehouseAllowLoot | Allow non-members to take items from safehouses | True, False | True |
| SafehouseAllowRespawn | Players will respawn in a safehouse that they were a member of before they died | True, False | False |
| SafehouseDaySurvivedToClaim | Players must have survived this number of in-game days before they are allowed to claim a safehouse | 0-2147483647 | 0 |
| SafeHouseRemovalTime | Players are automatically removed from a safehouse they have not visited for this many real-world hours | 0-2147483647 | 144 |
| SafehouseAllowNonResidential | Governs whether players can claim non-residential buildings. | True, False | False |
| AllowDestructionBySledgehammer | Allow players to destroy world objects with sledgehammers | True, False | True |
| SledgehammerOnlyInSafehouse | Allow players to destroy world objects only in their safehouse (require AllowDestructionBySledgehammer to true). | True, False | False |
| KickFastPlayers | Kick players that appear to be moving faster than is possible. May be buggy -- use with caution. | True, False | False |
| ServerPlayerID | ServerPlayerID determines if a character is from another server, or single player. This value may be changed by soft resets. If this number does match the client, the client must create a new character. This is used in conjunction with ResetID. It is strongly advised that you backup these IDs somewhere | ||
| DiscordEnable | Enables global text chat integration with a Discord channel | True, False | False |
| DiscordToken | Discord bot access token | ||
| DiscordChannel | The Discord channel name. (Try the separate channel ID option if having difficulties) | ||
| DiscordChannelID | The Discord channel ID. (Use if having difficulties with Discord channel name option) | ||
| Password | Clients must know this password to join the server. (Ignored when hosting a server via the Host button) | ||
| MaxAccountsPerUser | Limits the number of different accounts a single Steam user may create on this server. Ignored when using the Hosts button. | 0-2147483647 | 0 |
| AllowCoop | Allow co-op/splitscreen players | True, False | True |
| SleepAllowed | Players are allowed to sleep when their survivor becomes tired, but they do not NEED to sleep | True, False | False |
| SleepNeeded | Players get tired and need to sleep. (Ignored if SleepAllowed=false) | True, False | False |
| KnockedDownAllowed | True, False | True | |
| SneakModeHideFromOtherPlayers | True, False | True | |
| WorkshopItems | List Workshop Mod IDs for the server to download. Each must be separated by a semicolon. | ||
| SteamScoreboard | Show Steam usernames and avatars in the Players list. Can be true (visible to everyone), false (visible to no one), or admin (visible to only admins) | True, False | True |
| SteamVAC | Enable the Steam VAC system | True, False | True |
| VoiceEnable | VOIP is enabled when checked | True, False | True |
| VoiceMinDistance | The minimum tile distance over which VOIP sounds can be heard. | 10-100000 | 10 |
| VoiceMaxDistance | The maximum tile distance over which VOIP sounds can be heard. | 100-100000 | 100 |
| Voice3D | Toggle directional audio for VOIP | True, False | True |
| SpeedLimit | Governs the max speed limit | 10-150 | 70 |
| LoginQueueEnabled | True, False | False | |
| LoginQueueConnectTimeout | 20-1200 | 60 | |
| PlayerRespawnWithSelf | Players can respawn in-game at the coordinates where they died | True, False | False |
| PlayerRespawnWithOther | Players can respawn in-game at a split screen / Remote Play player's location | True, False | False |
| FastForwardMultiplier | Governs how fast time passes while players sleep. Value multiplies the speed of the time that passes during sleeping. | 1-100 | 40 |
| DisableSafehouseWhenPlayerConnected | Safehouse acts like a normal house if a member of the safehouse is connected (so secure when players are offline) | True, False | False |
| Faction | Players can create factions when true | True, False | True |
| FactionDaySurvivedToCreate | Players must survive this number of in-game days before being allowed to create a faction | 0-2147483647 | 0 |
| FactionPlayersRequiredForTag | Number of players required as faction members before the faction owner can create a group tag | 1-2147483647 | 1 |
| DisableRadioStaff | Disables radio transmissions from players with an access level | True, False | False |
| DisableRadioAdmin | Disables radio transmissions from players with 'admin' access level | True, False | False |
| DisableRadioGM | Disables radio transmissions from players with 'gm' access level | True, False | False |
| DisableRadioOverseer | Disables radio transmissions from players with 'overseer' access level | True, False | False |
| DisableRadioModerator | Disables radio transmissions from players with 'moderator' access level | True, False | False |
| DisableRadioInvisible | Disables radio transmissions from invisible players | True, False | False |
| ClientCommandFilter | Semicolon-separated list of commands that will not be written to the cmd.txt server log. | ||
| ClientActionLogs | Semicolon-separated list of actions that will be written to the ClientActionLogs.txt server log. | ||
| PerkLogs | Track changes in player perk levels in PerkLog.txt server log | True, False | True |
| ItemNumbersLimitPerContainer | Maximum number of items that can be placed in a container. Zero means there is no limit. (PLEASE NOTE: This includes individual small items such as nails. A limit of 50 will mean only 50 nails can be stored.) | 0-9000 | 0 |
| BloodSplatLifespanDays | Number of days before old blood splats are removed. Removal happens when map chunks are loaded. Zero means they will never disappear | 0-365 | 365 |
| AllowNonAsciiUsername | Allow use of non-ASCII (cyrillic etc) characters in usernames | True, False | False |
| BanKickGlobalSound | True, False | True | |
| RemovePlayerCorpsesOnCorpseRemoval | If enabled, when HoursForCorpseRemoval triggers, it will also remove player’s corpses from the ground. | True, False | False |
| TrashDeleteAll | If true, player can use the "delete all" button on bins. | True, False | False |
| PVPMeleeWhileHitReaction | If true, player can hit again when struck by another player. | True, False | False |
| MouseOverToSeeDisplayName | If true, players will have to mouse over someone to see their display name. | True, False | True |
| HidePlayersBehindYou | If true, automatically hide the player you can't see (like zombies). | True, False | True |
| PVPMeleeDamageModifier | Damage multiplier for PVP melee attacks. | 0-500 | 30 |
| PVPFirearmDamageModifier | Damage multiplier for PVP ranged attacks. | 0-500 | 50 |
| CarEngineAttractionModifier | Modify the range of zombie attraction to cars. (Lower values can help with lag.) | 0-10 | 0.50 |
| PlayerBumpPlayer | Governs whether players bump (and knock over) other players when running through them. | True, False | False |
| MapRemotePlayerVisibility | Controls display of remote players on the in-game map.1=Hidden 2=Friends 3=Everyone | 1-3 | 1 |
| BackupsCount | How many backups will be stored on the server at once | 1-300 | 5 |
| BackupsOnStart | Toggles the server creating a backup after each restart | True, False | True |
| BackupsOnVersionChange | Toggles the server creating backups when the game version changes | True, False | True |
| BackupsPeriod | Toggles the server creating a backup every set amount of minutes | 0-1500 | 0 |
| AntiCheatProtectionTypeX | Enables or disables AntiCheat. There are 24 AntiCheat types. | True, False | True |