Generate a Project Zomboid servertest.ini

Zomboid links the config file's name to the server's name, so the problem people hit most is a flawless file the server never opens.

Start from a preset

Visual Settings

key value Format

Identity

PublicName

Name in the public server list.

PublicDescription

Description in the server list.

DefaultPort

Main game port, UDP.

UDPPort

Second UDP port used alongside the first. Forward both.

Gameplay

PVP

Player versus player damage.

GlobalChat

Server-wide chat. Turning it off is common on roleplay servers.

SafetySystem

The PvP safety toggle players can turn on to prevent accidental damage.

DisplayUserName

Shows names above players.

World

SaveWorldEveryMinutes

Minutes between world saves. 0 saves only on shutdown, which risks losing everything on a crash.

BackupsPeriod

Minutes between backups. 0 disables periodic backups.

SpawnPoint

Fixed spawn coordinates. Leave at 0,0,0 to use the normal spawn regions.

Mods

Semicolon-separated mod IDs. These are the mod IDs, not the Workshop numbers — mixing the two up is the usual reason a modded server will not start.

WorkshopItems

Semicolon-separated Workshop IDs. Every mod above needs its Workshop ID listed here as well.

Map

Map load order. Custom maps must be listed before the base map, not after.

Players & Access

MaxPlayers

Slot limit. Memory depends far more on how spread out players are than on this number.

Password

Join password.

Performance

PauseEmpty

Pauses the world when nobody is connected. Saves CPU and stops time passing while you are away.

Network

Public

Lists the server publicly. Off still allows direct connections by address.

servertest.ini

PublicName=My PZ Server
PublicDescription=
Public=false
DefaultPort=16261
UDPPort=16262
MaxPlayers=32
Password=
PVP=false
GlobalChat=true
PauseEmpty=true
SaveWorldEveryMinutes=0
BackupsPeriod=0
SafetySystem=true
DisplayUserName=true
SpawnPoint=0,0,0
Mods=
WorkshopItems=
Map=Muldraugh, KY

The servertest.ini format

It is key=value, one setting per line, with lowercase true and false. The filename carries meaning: a server launched as servertest reads servertest.ini, so if you rename the file but not the launch parameter, the server runs on defaults from a file you have stopped editing.

The mistake that wastes an evening

Loot rates, how zombies behave and how fast time passes are not in this file at all. They sit in a second, sandbox settings file beside it. So when zombie population or day length refuses to change, the edit is simply in the wrong place — there is nothing wrong with your syntax.

The files that belong to one server

Everything for a server is named after its -servername, servertest unless you choose otherwise. In the Zomboid folder of the account that runs it (C:\Users\<name>\Zomboid on Windows, ~/Zomboid on Linux), Server/ holds servertest.ini for server settings, servertest_SandboxVars.lua for the sandbox rules and servertest_spawnregions.lua for where players start. The world itself is in Saves/Multiplayer/servertest. Start the server once to have all of them generated, then edit.

Mods take two lines

Adding a mod needs two entries in the .ini, both semicolon-separated lists. WorkshopItems= holds the numeric Workshop IDs, which tell the server what to download. Mods= holds the mod IDs from each mod's own description, which tell it what to load. A mod listed in only one of the two is either downloaded and never loaded, or asked for and never fetched.

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