How to make a 7 Days to Die server

Your 7 Days to Die server is installed and waiting for you. Here's how to start it, get your group in, set it up the way you like and keep your world safe.

What you get after ordering

Your server is installed and stopped, ready for its first start. It starts on Navezgane, the game's built-in map, with a save called MyGame, and it's listed in the game's server browser under the name in the Startup tab.

Start the server

Press Start, then open the Console. The game's own log is long and technical, so the console hides most of it and shows a short list of plain-English lines instead:

Join your server

1. Launch 7 Days to Die and open the multiplayer server list from the main menu.
2. Search for your server's name, or choose to connect by IP address and enter the Server address and Port from the left rail of your dashboard.
3. If you set a server password, enter it when the game asks.

Your friends join the same way. Their game must be on the same version as the server (see Game version below).

The Startup tab

These are read every time the server starts, so change them with the server stopped, or restart afterwards:

• Server name and Server password: how players find your server and what they need to get in. Leave the password blank for an open server.
• Server visibility: listed publicly, shown only to Steam friends, or not listed at all (players then connect by IP address).
• Max players: how many can be on at once. It starts at 8, the game's own default. Each player adds load, so a bigger group is happiest on a bigger plan.
• World: Navezgane, or RWG for a random world made from the World seed and World size (6144, 8192 or 10240). A new seed makes a new world.
• Save name: the save the server loads. A new name starts a new save beside the old one, so you can keep several.
• Easy Anti-Cheat: keep it on unless a mod you use needs it off.

Server settings

The Server Settings tab edits your server's serverconfig.xml for you: the description and link players see in the browser, the region, player killing, land claims, how many zombies and animals roam at once, view distance and more. Save, then restart the server for the changes to take effect.

Mods

The Mods tab installs mods you download. Press Add mod and upload the mod's .zip: the folder with its ModInfo.xml inside. The server unpacks it into its Mods folder, and it loads on the next restart. Each mod can be disabled or deleted from its row. How to install mods on a 7 Days to Die server has more.

• XML-only mods (modlets) change the game's own settings files. Easy Anti-Cheat can stay on for them, and many only need to be on the server.
• Mods with their own code (.dll files) usually need every player to install them too, and Easy Anti-Cheat turned off in the Startup tab.

Make a backup before adding a big mod: removing a mod that added blocks or items can leave gaps in a world built with it.

Game version

To stay on an older version, for example while an overhaul mod catches up with a game update, enter its branch (such as v3.3.0) in Game version in the Startup tab and restart. Leave it blank for the current version. Players then need the same version, which they pick in Steam on the game's Properties page, under Game Versions & Betas. 7 Days to Die game version and experimental has the steps.

Saves and backups

When you press Stop or Restart, the server saves your world before it goes down, so nothing is lost. saveworld in the Console saves it at any time.

Your worlds and saves are in the UserData folder in the File Manager tab: random worlds in GeneratedWorlds, saves in Saves. Backups keeps copies of your worlds, saves, settings and mods that you can restore. The game itself isn't in a backup: it comes from Steam, and the server downloads it again at its next start, on the version set in Game version.

Console commands

The Console takes the game's own commands. A few worth knowing:

If something isn't working

• Friends can't find the server: check they're searching for the exact name in the Startup tab, or have them connect by IP address with the address and port from your dashboard.
• The game says the versions don't match: the server and the player must be on the same game version. Check Game version in the Startup tab and the version the player picked in Steam.
• The server is taking a long time to start: a random world is generated on its first start, and a big one takes longer. Watch the console for Players can join now.
• Only one player lags: check their ping against what ping to expect from each city. If it is well above the figure for their city, the delay is on their connection rather than the server.

More 7 Days to Die guides

• 7 Days to Die server settings
• 7 Days to Die worlds and saves
• 7 Days to Die admins, bans and whitelist
• 7 Days to Die console commands
• 7 Days to Die game version and experimental