Your 7 Days to Die difficulty or blood moon setting does nothing

Since the game's 3.0 update, 7 Days to Die reads difficulty, blood moons, day length, loot and zombie settings from one value, the sandbox code. The Fun Pimps removed the old separate lines from serverconfig.xml, so they no longer do anything, and the panel's Game Difficulty list, which passes one of them, most likely has no effect either. Make a sandbox code in the game and paste it into the SandboxCode line.

Why it happens

The Fun Pimps moved these rules into the game's Sandbox Options and list the removed lines in the V3.0 release notes, among them GameDifficulty, DayNightLength, the BloodMoon lines and LootAbundance. A server now takes these rules from SandboxCode in serverconfig.xml. Guides written before the 3.0 update, and old copies of serverconfig.xml, still show the old lines, so they look as if they should work.

Fix it

1. Make a code in the game's Sandbox Options menu and copy it.
2. In the panel, stop the server, open Files and click serverconfig.xml.
3. Replace the value of the SandboxCode line with your code, keep the quotes, and click Save content.
4. Start the server.

The steps in full: How to change difficulty and sandbox settings on your 7 Days to Die server.

Still no change

• No SandboxCode line in the file: the server runs a game version from before 3.0, or an old serverconfig.xml. Restart with Auto Update on so the game is current, then check the file again. If it is still missing, open a ticket.
• The code went back: a game update can bring a fresh serverconfig.xml, and a reinstall always does. Paste your code again.
• A typo: copy the code again from the game rather than typing it.
• Check what the server runs: at every start the game writes its sandbox settings to logs/latest.log. Open it under Files and search it for Sandbox: How to change difficulty and sandbox settings on your 7 Days to Die server.

Other lines in the file, such as land claims: How to edit serverconfig.xml on your 7 Days to Die server.