These are the options on the Settings, Game Settings page of a PlayNHost Project Zomboid server, taken from the panel's own definitions. Rows marked read only are set by your plan or the server and cannot be changed.
All settings
| Setting | What it does | Allowed | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Server Name | The name used for the save and config files under Files. Changing it starts a separate world with fresh settings; changing it back returns to the old one. | up to 64 characters, letters and numbers | PlaynHost |
| Admin Username | The username you log in with to use admin commands in-game. | up to 20 characters, no spaces, double quotes, backslashes, asterisks or question marks | admin |
| Admin Password | The password for the in-game admin account. Change it before inviting players - anyone who knows it has full admin powers. | 6 to 32 characters, no double quotes or backslashes | a default is set, change it |
| Beta Branch | Run an opt-in test branch published by the developers instead of the normal release, for example b41multiplayer to stay on the older Build 41. Leave this empty for the normal, current version - that is the right choice for almost everyone. Changing this takes effect on the next reinstall, not on restart, and a reinstall replaces the game files. Your world is kept, but a world created on a newer build may not load on an older one. | up to 64 characters, letters and numbers and these symbols: _ . - | empty |
| Steam Auto Update | Check for a new Project Zomboid build each time the server starts, and install it before launching. Leave this on to stay current with the version most players and mods target. Turn it off to stay on the build you are running now - useful mid-playthrough, when a game update would leave your mods behind until their authors catch up. With this on, a start that follows a game update takes a few minutes longer while the update downloads. | on or off | off |
| Steam Workshop Item IDs | Workshop item IDs to DOWNLOAD, separated by semicolons - e.g. 3436537035;2392709985. This is the number at the end of the mod's Steam Workshop URL (steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3436537035). The server downloads and updates these itself every time it starts; no reinstall is needed. IMPORTANT: downloading a mod does NOT switch it on. You must also list the mod's name in "Workshop Mod IDs" below. Setting only this field leaves the mods on disk but disabled - that is the single most common reason mods appear to do nothing. Writes WorkshopItems= in your server .ini. Restart to apply. Leave empty for a vanilla server. | up to 2000 characters | empty |
| Workshop Mod IDs (load order matters) | Mod IDs to ENABLE, separated by semicolons - e.g. UsefulBarrelsMP;AnotherMod. These are NOT the numbers above, and they are NOT the mod's title on the Workshop page. Each mod ships a mod.info file with both a name= line (its display title) and an id= line - only the id= value works here. They are often different: the Workshop item "Useful Barrels" has id=UsefulBarrelsMP. Display titles frequently contain spaces; mod IDs do not, so if this field rejects what you typed, you have almost certainly pasted the title instead of the ID. Find it on the mod's Workshop page, where authors usually publish it as "Mod ID". | up to 2000 characters, letters and numbers and these symbols: _ . - | empty |
| RCON Password | Password for RCON (remote console) tools. RCON is off until this is set - an empty password refuses every login. Change it if you share this server's details with anyone. | 6 to 32 characters, no double quotes or backslashes | a default is set, change it |
| PVP | Allow players to hurt and kill each other. Writes PVP= in your server .ini. Restart to apply. | on or off | on |
| Zombie Population | How many zombies populate the world. 1=Insane 2=Very High 3=High 4=Normal 5=Low 6=None. Writes Zombies= in your sandbox settings. Restart to apply. | a number from 1 to 6 | 4 |
| Zombie Respawn | How frequently new zombies are added to the world over time. 1=High 2=Normal 3=Low 4=None. Writes ZombieRespawn= in your sandbox settings. Restart to apply. | a number from 1 to 4 | 4 |
| Loot Respawn (hours) | After this many in-game hours, containers that have been looted at least once restock. 0 means loot never respawns. Writes HoursForLootRespawn= in your sandbox settings. Restart to apply. | a number from 0 to 8760 | 0 |
| Banned Item IDs | Comma-separated item type IDs that will never spawn as loot, e.g. Base.Pistol,Base.Katana. Find item type IDs in the game's item scripts. Writes LootItemRemovalList= in your sandbox settings. Restart to apply. | up to 2000 characters, letters, numbers and spaces and these symbols: _ . | empty |
| Max Players (read only) | The player limit included with your plan. This field is read-only. To run with fewer players, click Players on your server overview and pick any number up to your plan limit - you can raise it back whenever you like. Upgrading your plan raises the limit itself. | set by your plan or the server | set by your plan |
| RCON Port (read only) | Assigned by PlayNHost from the ports allocated to this server. Use it to connect an RCON client (players, save, chat and other admin commands from outside the game). | set by your plan or the server | assigned to your server |
Good to know
- Everything on the Settings, then Game Settings page is applied each time the server starts, so restart the server after changing one. Edit these there and not in the server files: the panel writes them again at every start and would overwrite a manual edit. The server password, spawn settings and other sandbox options have no panel field. To set those, stop the server, open Files, go into .cache, then Server, and edit
<Server Name>.ini (server password and other server options) or<Server Name>_SandboxVars.lua (sandbox rules), then start the server. - The panel saves a value when you leave its field. If the value is not allowed, the panel tells you and keeps the old one.
- Passwords and tokens are not listed with a value. Each server starts with one set for you, or with none, as the row says.
- To open the page, follow How to set up your Project Zomboid server or How to change your server settings.
