7 Days to Die offers dozens of server settings that let you tailor the experience exactly to your liking. From the difficulty and Blood Moon frequency to XP multipliers and loot abundance: every detail is configurable. In this guide we cover all settings from serverconfig.xml, grouped by category, so you can quickly find the right combination for your group.
The configuration file
All settings are in serverconfig.xml in the server's root folder. Edit this file through the game panel or with a text editor. After every change you need to restart the server.
Difficulty and XP
| Setting | Values | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
GameDifficulty | 0 to 5 | 0 = Scavenger (easiest), 5 = Insane. Affects zombie damage, HP and XP reward |
PlayerKillingMode | 0 to 3 | 0 = no PvP, 1 = allies only, 2 = strangers only, 3 = everyone |
XPMultiplier | Decimal | 1 = default, 2 = double XP. Increase for faster progression |
BlockDamagePlayer | Percentage | How much damage players deal to blocks. 100 = default, 200 = double |
BlockDamageAI | Percentage | How much damage zombies deal to blocks. Lower for easier bases |
An XP multiplier of 1.5x to 2x is popular on servers where players are not online daily. It speeds up progression without completely removing the challenge.
Blood Moon
The Blood Moon horde is the signature feature of 7 Days to Die. Every seventh night (by default) a horde of zombies attacks your defenses.
| Setting | Default | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
BloodMoonFrequency | 7 | A Blood Moon every X days. 3 = intense, 14 = relaxed |
BloodMoonRange | 0 | Spread around the frequency. 2 = day 5 to 9 at freq 7 |
BloodMoonEnemyCount | 8 | Max simultaneous zombies per player. Increase on powerful servers |
BloodMoonWarning | 8 | How many hours before sunset the warning begins |
For a heavy Blood Moon experience, combine a frequency of 3 or 5 with an EnemyCount of 16 to 32. Watch the RAM usage: each zombie costs memory.
Loot and economy
| Setting | Default | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
LootAbundance | 100 | Percentage of normal loot quantity |
LootRespawnDays | 7 | After how many days loot returns in searched containers |
AirDropFrequency | 72 | An airdrop every X in-game hours. 0 = off |
AirDropMarker | On | Whether the airdrop is marked on the map |
Zombies and enemies
MaxSpawnedZombies: the total maximum number of zombies in the world. Default 64. Lower to 40 on servers with less than 8 GB of RAM.MaxSpawnedAnimals: maximum number of animals. Default 50. Animals consume fewer resources than zombies.EnemySpawnMode: on or off. Turning it off disables all enemies (creative mode).ZombieFeralSense: 0 = off, 1 = nighttime only, 2 = day and night, 3 = always. Feral sense makes zombies more aggressive.
Map and world
GameWorld: the map name. Navezgane (fixed map) or RWG (Random World Generator).WorldGenSize: size of a generated map. 4096 (small) to 10240 (very large). Larger maps consume more RAM and storage.WorldGenSeed: the seed for map generation. The same seed produces the same map.
Day and night cycle
| Setting | Default | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
DayNightLength | 60 | Length of a full day/night cycle in minutes |
DayLightLength | 18 | How many of the 24 in-game hours are daylight |
A 90-minute cycle with 18 hours of daylight gives a relaxed rhythm. Hardcore servers go for 120 minutes with only 12 hours of daylight.
Recommended configurations
Casual (friends, relaxed)
- GameDifficulty: 2 (Adventurer)
- XPMultiplier: 2
- LootAbundance: 150
- BloodMoonFrequency: 7
- BloodMoonEnemyCount: 8
Hardcore (experienced groups)
- GameDifficulty: 4 (Warrior)
- XPMultiplier: 1
- LootAbundance: 75
- BloodMoonFrequency: 5
- BloodMoonEnemyCount: 24
- ZombieFeralSense: 2
How much RAM does my 7D2D server need?
For a standard Navezgane map with up to 8 players, 6 GB is enough. With a large generated map (8192 or larger) or more than 16 players, 8 to 12 GB is recommended. The Blood Moon is the most memory-intensive moment: always keep some headroom.
Why HostValues?
7 Days to Die servers at HostValues run on AMD Ryzen 9 7950X hardware with NVMe storage and DDoS protection included. Edit your serverconfig.xml through the game panel and restart with one click. All plans can be cancelled monthly. Check out 7 Days to Die hosting.
