How to set up a 7 Days to Die server from scratch

What you need first

• An active 7 Days to Die plan on Fatality — see our 7DTD hosting plans.
• A Steam copy of 7 Days to Die on each player's PC.
• RAM: 6-8 GB for vanilla 8-player, 12-16 GB for Darkness Falls or Undead Legacy with a full group, 24-32 GB for flagship 32-player overhaul communities.
• Fast single-thread CPU — 7DTD's server loop is dominated by one thread (zombie AI pathfinding, voxel destruction recompute). Our Ryzen 9 nodes handle this by default.

Deploy the server (1-click)

Our 7DTD template runs SteamCMD to install the dedicated server (App ID 294420), sets up the base directory structure, and opens ports 26900-26902 (TCP + UDP).

1. Pick the 7DTD template at checkout

   On our 7DTD hosting page, pick a plan sized for your slot count and mod plans. Location close to your players reduces chunk-streaming lag.

2. Wait for SteamCMD

   First install takes 5-8 minutes (~10 GB download). Console shows Success! App '294420' fully installed. when ready.

3. First boot (vanilla, empty world)

   Start the server with defaults to verify it works. Console ends at StartAsServer: About to start as a server then GameServer has started when listening.

Pick your world — Navezgane, RWG, or Nitrogen

Navezgane (canonical hand-built)

The Fun Pimps' curated map. Fixed layout, handcrafted cities, ~8×8 km. Best for: vanilla SMP runs and small friend groups. Nothing to configure — just set GameWorld to Navezgane.

RWG (Random World Gen)

In-engine procedural generator. First-boot bake time is 10-30 minutes for an 8k map; 45-90 min for 16k. World layout, biomes, and POI placement are seeded — set WorldGenSeed to a repeatable seed for shared worlds.

Nitrogen / Tellure / KingGen (pre-baked 16k maps)

Community-built offline world generators. Bake a map on your PC, then SFTP it to the server. Biome density, city frequency, and POI placement are noticeably richer than vanilla RWG — the gold standard for 16k+ servers.

1. Generate locally

   Download Nitrogen or KingGen. Configure map size, biome weights, town density. Generate — takes 20-40 minutes on a modern PC.

2. Upload to the server

   SFTP the output folder (usually named after your map, e.g. MyWasteland) to:

   7DaysToDieServer_Data/data/Worlds/MyWasteland/

3. Reference in serverconfig.xml

   <property name="GameWorld" value="MyWasteland" />

Configure serverconfig.xml

The main config file, in the server root:

7DaysToDieServer_Data/../serverconfig.xml

XML format — each setting is a <property> tag. The lines that matter most:

<ServerSettings>
  <!-- Identity -->
  <property name="ServerName" value="My 7DTD Server — Darkness Falls"/>
  <property name="ServerDescription" value="Active staff, Day 49 horde, loot x1"/>
  <property name="ServerPassword" value=""/>
  <property name="ServerVisibility" value="2"/>  <!-- 0=private, 1=friends, 2=public -->

  <!-- Slots & ports -->
  <property name="ServerMaxPlayerCount" value="24"/>
  <property name="ServerPort" value="26900"/>

  <!-- World -->
  <property name="GameWorld" value="Navezgane"/>  <!-- or your RWG / Nitrogen name -->
  <property name="WorldGenSeed" value="MySeed123"/>
  <property name="WorldGenSize" value="8192"/>  <!-- for RWG only -->
  <property name="GameName" value="MyGameSave"/>

  <!-- Difficulty -->
  <property name="GameDifficulty" value="2"/>  <!-- 0=Scavenger to 5=Insane -->
  <property name="GameMode" value="GameModeSurvival"/>
  <property name="BloodMoonEnemyCount" value="8"/>  <!-- per player, per horde -->
  <property name="BloodMoonFrequency" value="7"/>

  <!-- Loot & XP -->
  <property name="LootAbundance" value="100"/>  <!-- percentage -->
  <property name="LootRespawnDays" value="30"/>
  <property name="XPMultiplier" value="100"/>

  <!-- PvP / deaths -->
  <property name="PlayerKillingMode" value="3"/>  <!-- 0=No Killing to 3=Kill Everyone -->
  <property name="DropOnDeath" value="1"/>  <!-- 0=nothing, 4=everything -->
  <property name="DropOnQuit" value="0"/>
  <property name="DeathPenalty" value="1"/>

  <!-- Admin password (Telnet) -->
  <property name="TelnetEnabled" value="true"/>
  <property name="TelnetPort" value="8081"/>
  <property name="TelnetPassword" value="change-me-strong"/>

  <!-- Persistence -->
  <property name="SaveGameFolder" value=""/>
  <property name="SaveDataLimit" value="-1"/>
</ServerSettings>

The admin stack — Allocs, ServerTools, CSMM, BotMan

Four tools every serious 7DTD server runs. They stack, don't conflict.

Allocs Server Fixes

Community patch pack with dozens of bug fixes and the in-game / web map rendering API. Effectively mandatory — ServerTools, CSMM, and BotMan all depend on it being present.

Install: SFTP the Allocs files into the server's Mods/ directory. Restart. The API is live on the port configured in Allocs' config file (default 8080).

ServerTools

In-game admin commands, land-claim management, log filtering. Lives as a modlet in Mods/.

Provides /kick, /ban, /teleport, /give, and a big catalog of admin utilities accessible in chat for players with the right permission level.

CSMM (Catalysm Server Manager)

The modern web-based admin panel for 7DTD. Talks to the server over Telnet. Features: events (zombie spawning on schedule), gimme rewards, scheduled hooks, ban management, Discord routing, player statistics.

Install: CSMM runs as a separate Node.js process. Point it at your server's IP + Telnet port + password. Details at csmm.app.

BotMan / Bot.Net

Discord bot for 7DTD. Chat relay (in-game ↔ Discord), server status pings, player join/leave announcements, admin commands from Discord.

Install: BotMan runs as a separate binary. Provide your Discord bot token + server Telnet credentials. Details at botman.nl.

Overhaul mods — Darkness Falls, UL, WotW

Darkness Falls

Biggest overhaul. Adds classes, new zombies, laser weapons, titanium tier. Harder than vanilla (in a good way). Requires its own matching 7DTD version — check the DF Discord for the current compatible build.

Undead Legacy

Subquake's long-running overhaul. Focus on depth and realism — new crafting systems, food/water mechanics, hundreds of new items. Slower-paced, deeply systemic. Also version-pinned.

War of the Walkers

Lighter-touch overhaul. More quality-of-life, more QoL traders, refined progression. Good "middle ground" pick.

Installing an overhaul

1. Pin the 7DTD server version

   Each overhaul ships for a specific 7DTD version. The panel's Settings → Version lets you pick a SteamCMD -beta branch. Use the one the overhaul specifies — usually a previous or alpha21-style branch rather than latest.

2. Download the overhaul from its official source

   Darkness Falls: 7DTD forums → Mods. Undead Legacy: Subquake's site. War of the Walkers: its forum thread.

3. Upload to Mods/

   SFTP the overhaul's folder (e.g. 0-DarknessFallsCore) into the server's Mods/ directory. Overhauls usually ship as multiple modlets — upload all of them.

4. Distribute the client-side mod to players

   Every player needs the exact same modlet files installed locally in their 7DTD Mods/ folder. Share a zip or link to the overhaul's official download. Version mismatch = immediate kick on connect.

5. Wipe the world

   Overhauls generally need a fresh world — they change loot tables, POIs, and biome spawns in ways existing saves can't handle. Set a new GameName and let the server regenerate.

Tuning blood moon and difficulty

The settings admins tweak most often:

• BloodMoonFrequency — days between hordes. Default 7. Lower for faster loops (3-5), higher for casual (10-14).
• BloodMoonEnemyCount — zombies per player per horde. Default 8. Bumping to 12-16 for experienced groups; 20+ melts any server under ~16 GB RAM.
• GameDifficulty — 0 (Scavenger) to 5 (Insane). 2 (Adventurer) is the community default; 3 (Nomad) for regulars; 4+ for players who enjoy pain.
• LootAbundance — percentage. 100 = vanilla. Drop to 50-75 for harder servers, raise to 125-150 for relaxed / casual.
• XPMultiplier — 100 = vanilla. Raise to 150-200 for fast progression; drop to 50-75 for grindier runs.
• DropOnDeath — 0=nothing, 1=toolbelt, 2=backpack, 3=all, 4=delete. Most RP/PvE servers run 1 or 2.

Connect and test

1. Launch 7 Days to Die

   Main menu → Play Game → Join a Game.

2. Direct-connect via IP

   Click Connect to IP, enter YOUR-IP and port 26900 (leave default). Enter the server password if you set one.

3. Or find it in the server list

   If ServerVisibility=2 (public), your server appears in the public browser within 5-10 minutes of first boot. Use Connect to IP in the meantime.

Common errors and fixes

"Server is not responding"

Ports 26900-26902 must be reachable (our panel opens them by default). If the server booted but doesn't respond, check the console for a crash at GameServer has started — if it never prints that, the server never reached listening state.

Sim speed drops to 3-5 FPS on Day 7

Blood-moon horde is too much for your CPU. Options in order:

• Reduce BloodMoonEnemyCount from 8 to 4-6
• Upgrade plan CPU (a faster single-thread core helps more than more cores)
• Install Allocs' chunk-reset-on-horde optimizations

"Version mismatch" on join (overhaul server)

Client and server have different modlet versions. Sync the exact modlet files — use a diff tool on each side if needed. Overhauls that ship multiple modlets must all match.

World save corrupted / stuck at "Loading"

Panel → Backups. Roll back to the last good snapshot. Daily auto-snapshots with 30-day retention ship standard; manual snapshots unlimited.

Out of memory after a few days

7DTD has historical memory-leak patterns; restart daily via the panel's scheduled tasks. Long-running servers should restart at 4 AM local time when nobody is online.

CSMM / BotMan can't connect

Telnet credentials mismatch. Verify TelnetEnabled=true, TelnetPort=8081, and TelnetPassword match what you've configured in CSMM or BotMan. Restart the 7DTD server after changing the Telnet password.

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Stuck on something specific? Email support with your server IP, overhaul (if any), and the last 50 lines of the console — we'll usually have an answer within the hour.