---
title: "Set up a dedicated Project Zomboid server (Build 42)"
description: "A Project Zomboid B42 server by the hour: sandbox preset, Workshop mods without the two-list trap, RAM that grows as you explore, and a world that stops ageing when the server is off."
url: https://tickserv.com/en/guides/project-zomboid-dedicated-server
site: "TickServ (https://tickserv.com)"
lang: en
published: 2026-07-31
games: [project-zomboid]
---
# Set up a dedicated Project Zomboid server (Build 42)

Now that Build 42 multiplayer has reached the stable branch, a dedicated server is the simplest way to keep a world alive between sessions: it runs without leaving your PC on, and you only pay for the hours it actually runs.

## 1. Create the server

Pick **Project Zomboid**, the amount of RAM and the sandbox preset. The server starts on its own, and you get a stable connection address to share with your group.

## 2. The sandbox preset

**Apocalypse** is the default — the hardest one, the classic campaign settings. The others available: Survivor, Survival, Builder, FirstWeek, SixMonthsLater and Beginner.

⚠️ The preset is **chosen at creation and cannot be changed afterwards**: it defines the world itself. To try another one, create a second server.

## 3. Join the game

In game: **Play → Join → Add server**, then paste the address and password shown in your console.

There are **no ports to forward**: the game ports (16261 and 16262 over UDP) and the Steam ports (8766 and 8767) are already handled. Older tutorials asking you to open a whole range, one port per player, predate 41.65 — that requirement is long gone.

## 4. Mods, without the usual trap

A Project Zomboid server needs **two** different lists, and mixing them up is the number one reason a server refuses to start:

- `WorkshopItems=` — the **Steam IDs** of the mods (the numbers you see in the Workshop URL);
- `Mods=` — the **internal IDs**, written inside each mod's `mod.info` file, which have nothing to do with the ones above.

Here, you only fill in the first list. On the first start the server downloads the mods, we read the downloaded `mod.info` files, derive the internal IDs and restart the server with the right configuration. If nothing could be downloaded, we **refuse to start** rather than quietly booting a vanilla world — that is the kind of surprise you discover three evenings later.

⚠️ Build 41 mods **do not work** on Build 42: the modding system was rebuilt and every mod has to be ported by its author.

## 5. The settings, and when they take effect

The sandbox preset (§2) is the only setting locked at creation. The others can be changed from the console, and **take effect on the next start**: they are injected into the machine at boot, not applied live.

| Setting                          | Default | What it does                                                                                                                |
| -------------------------------- | ------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **PvP**                          | on      | Allows players to fight each other. Turn it off for a strictly co-operative game.                                           |
| **Pause when nobody is playing** | on      | Freezes world time while the server is empty (see §7).                                                                      |
| **Visible in the public list**   | off     | While this is off, the server does not show up in the game's public browser: you get in with the address and password only. |
| **Steam Workshop mods**          | empty   | The Steam IDs of your mods (see §4).                                                                                        |

Everything else — fine-grained difficulty, season length, zombie density, how long before water and power shut off — does **not** come from these settings but from the **preset** you picked at creation. Those values live in the server's sandbox variables, next to its `Server/tickserv.ini` file; both are readable from the file manager.

## 6. How much RAM?

- **A group getting started, few or no mods**: 8 GB.
- **Large group, or a lot of mods**: 16 GB.

The part most guides leave out: memory use **grows as you explore**. A three-week-old world with a widely explored map and built-up bases is significantly heavier than a fresh one. You can move up a tier whenever you need to, without losing your game.

## 7. Time passes while you're away

On a server left running around the clock, the world keeps ageing while nobody plays: power and water eventually shut off (two in-game weeks by default), crops wither, generators run dry, food spoils.

Two protections are on by default: **pause when nobody is connected** (time stops while the server is empty), and above all the fact that a **stopped server ages nothing at all**. You come back to the world exactly where you left it, even three weeks later.

## 8. Your saves, and how to bring an existing world over

The world is saved on shutdown and restored on the next start. On top of that, a **timestamped backup is taken every 30 minutes** while the server runs, and the **last five are kept**. You can download them, or restore one — with the server stopped, so you never overwrite a world that is being written to.

Already have a game running elsewhere? You can bring it over:

1. Grab the `Zomboid/Saves/Multiplayer/<ServerName>/` folder from the machine that was hosting.
2. Zip that folder — or just its contents, we put it in the right place either way.
3. Upload the archive when you create the server.

⚠️ A **Build 41 save will not load on Build 42**: the formats are incompatible, and nothing converts one to the other.

## 9. Shut down when you're done

Server off = €0. Auto-shutdown kicks in on its own when nobody is connected, the world is saved on shutdown and restored on the next start.

> [Create your Project Zomboid server](https://tickserv.com/en/games/project-zomboid)