7 Days to Die combines zombie survival with base building and tower defense. Every 7th night, a Blood Moon horde attacks your base. A dedicated server lets your group prepare together around the clock.
Requirements
- RAM: 8 to 12 GB. The game generates terrain procedurally and keeps it in memory.
- CPU: 4 cores recommended. Blood Moon hordes with 64+ zombies per player are extremely CPU-heavy.
- Storage: 10 to 15 GB for server files and world data.
- Ports: 26900 TCP/UDP (game), 26901-26902 UDP (additional).
Installation
- Select 7 Days to Die in the game panel, or install via SteamCMD (app ID 294420) on a VPS.
- Edit
serverconfig.xmlwith your desired settings. - Start the server. First boot generates the world (5 to 15 minutes depending on world size).
Essential settings in serverconfig.xml
| Setting | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| ServerMaxPlayerCount | 8 | 8 to 16 for most servers |
| GameDifficulty | 2 (Adventurer) | 3 (Nomad) for challenge |
| BloodMoonEnemyCount | 8 | 8 to 16. Per player. Higher = more intense. |
| LootAbundance | 100 | 100 to 200. Percentage of loot spawns. |
| DayNightLength | 60 | 60 to 90 minutes per day. |
| LandClaimSize | 41 | 41. Area protected by a land claim block. |
| ZombiesRun | Default | Default (walk day, run night) or Never for easier play. |
Blood Moon tuning
The Blood Moon is the defining feature. Tune it carefully:
BloodMoonFrequency: days between hordes. Default 7. Set to 14 for casual servers.BloodMoonEnemyCount: zombies per player during Blood Moon. 8 is manageable, 16 is intense, 32 is chaos.BloodMoonRange: variation in days. 0 = always on day 7, 3 = between day 4 and day 10.
Mods
7DTD supports modding through the Mods/ folder:
- Download the mod (usually a zip with a
ModInfo.xml). - Extract to
Mods/modname/on the server. - Restart. Clients need matching mods for some mod types.
Popular overhaul mods: Darkness Falls, Undead Legacy, War of the Walkers.
Does the server run on Linux?
Yes. The 1.0 release has a dedicated Linux server build. Performance is comparable to Windows.
How many players before it lags?
Blood Moon is the bottleneck. With 8 players and 64+ zombies each, you need strong CPU. For 16 players, 12+ GB RAM and 4 fast cores are recommended.
7 Days to Die servers run on KVM VPS plans or game plans at HostValues.
