How to change difficulty and sandbox settings on your 7 Days to Die server

Since the game's 3.0 update (June 2026), 7 Days to Die keeps its gameplay rules in one value, the sandbox code. Build the code in the game's Sandbox Options menu, copy it, and paste it into the SandboxCode line of serverconfig.xml on your server. Then restart.

What the sandbox code covers

The Fun Pimps moved many of the old server settings into the game's Sandbox Options, more than 150 options in all. They include the rules owners change most:

• difficulty and how hard zombies hit
• blood moon nights: how often they come and how many zombies they bring
• day length and daylight hours
• loot amount and how fast loot comes back
• zombie speed by day and by night
• XP and what you lose when you die

The Fun Pimps removed the old separate lines for these from serverconfig.xml, and the game's default code plays like the old Adventurer difficulty. The Game Difficulty list on the panel's Game Settings page still passes one of those removed settings to the game, so it most likely has no effect. It does no harm, so you can leave it as it is. Source: the V3.0 release notes, section "Server Admin notes for Sandbox Options and legacy property removal".

Make a code in the game

1. Start 7 Days to Die on the same version as your server.
2. Go to the screen where you start a new game and open Sandbox Options.
3. Set the options you want.
4. Copy the code the menu gives you.

Paste it into your server

1. In the panel, take a backup first: How to back up and restore your 7 Days to Die world.
2. Stop the server.
3. Open Files and click serverconfig.xml in the main folder.
4. Find the line with SandboxCode. Replace the code between the quotes after value= with yours. Keep the quotes.
5. Click Save content.
6. Start the server.

Check which rules the server runs

At every start the game writes its sandbox settings to its own log. After a restart, open Files, then logs, then latest.log, click in the file, press Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on a Mac) and search for Sandbox. If the values are not the ones you set, the code did not reach the server: check the SandboxCode line again.

Good to know

• Keep a copy of your code somewhere safe. A game update can bring a fresh serverconfig.xml, and a reinstall always puts back the game's own copy. Check the line after each update and paste your code back if it changed.
• To try a code without touching your world, change Save Name to a new name first. That starts a separate world and keeps the old one: How to start a new world on your 7 Days to Die server.
• Land claims, player killing and other server rules are their own lines in serverconfig.xml, not part of the code: How to edit serverconfig.xml on your 7 Days to Die server.
• A change seems to do nothing? See Your 7 Days to Die difficulty or blood moon setting does nothing.