Project Zomboid servertest.ini generator

Zomboid ties its config filename to the server name, so the single most common problem is a perfectly correct file that the server never reads.

Start from a preset

Visual Settings

key value Format
Identity

Name in the public server list.

Description in the server list.

Main game port, UDP.

Second UDP port used alongside the first. Forward both.

Gameplay

Player versus player damage.

Server-wide chat. Turning it off is common on roleplay servers.

The PvP safety toggle players can turn on to prevent accidental damage.

Shows names above players.

World

Minutes between world saves. 0 saves only on shutdown, which risks losing everything on a crash.

Minutes between backups. 0 disables periodic backups.

Fixed spawn coordinates. Leave at 0,0,0 to use the normal spawn regions.

Semicolon-separated mod IDs. These are the mod IDs, not the Workshop numbers — mixing the two up is the usual reason a modded server will not start.

Semicolon-separated Workshop IDs. Every mod above needs its Workshop ID listed here as well.

Map load order. Custom maps must be listed before the base map, not after.

Players & Access

Slot limit. Memory depends far more on how spread out players are than on this number.

Join password.

Performance

Pauses the world when nobody is connected. Saves CPU and stops time passing while you are away.

Network

Lists the server publicly. Off still allows direct connections by address.

servertest.ini

PublicName=Spawnly PZ Server
PublicDescription=
Public=false
DefaultPort=16261
UDPPort=16262
MaxPlayers=32
Password=
PVP=false
GlobalChat=true
PauseEmpty=true
SaveWorldEveryMinutes=0
BackupsPeriod=0
SafetySystem=true
DisplayUserName=true
SpawnPoint=0,0,0
Mods=
WorkshopItems=
Map=Muldraugh, KY

How servertest.ini syntax works

The file is key=value, one per line, with lowercase true and false for booleans. The filename itself is significant: a server launched as servertest reads servertest.ini, and renaming the file without changing the launch parameter leaves the server running on defaults from a file you are no longer editing.

The mistake that costs people hours

Zomboid keeps a second file of sandbox settings alongside this one, covering loot rates, zombie behaviour and time scale. Those are not in this file and cannot be set from it, so if you are trying to change zombie population or day length and nothing happens, you are editing the wrong file rather than making a syntax error.

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