Docs · Project Zomboid

How to host a Project Zomboid server

There are two honest ways to run a Project Zomboid Build 42 server for you and your friends: stand one up yourself on a box you rent or own, or let a managed host handle the machine, the patches and the backups. This guide covers both fairly, then walks through getting a B42 server live on Forgehold.

Path one: self-hosting

Self-hosting is the DIY route, and it’s a legitimate one — especially if you already run a home server or a VPS and enjoy the tinkering. The dedicated server ships with the game, and you install it through SteamCMD using Project Zomboid’s dedicated-server app ID, 380870. Point SteamCMD at that app, let it download, and you have a server binary you can launch.

What you take on when you self-host:

• A machine with real headroom. Build 42 is heavier than Build 41 — budget a 6–8 GB RAM box just for a small modded server, more as your group and mod list grow. See the B42 server requirements guide for sizing.
• Networking. Players outside your LAN need to reach the box, which means port forwarding on your router (Zomboid uses UDP; the default is around 16261) and a stable public IP or a dynamic-DNS setup.
• Keeping up with patches yourself. B42 currently lives on Steam’s unstable branch, and it moves. When The Indie Stone ships a patch you decide whether and when to update, re-run SteamCMD, and hope your saves and mods survive the jump.
• Backups, uptime and OS upkeep. If the box reboots, the disk fills, or a save corrupts, that’s on you. No off-site copy means one bad update can end a run.

None of this is beyond a technical person — plenty of communities self-host happily. It’s a question of whether you want to own the operations work or spend that time playing. The recurring cost of self-hosting is rarely the hardware; it’s the attention. A server that runs your friends’ long-running world quietly demands patching discipline, monitoring, and a backup habit you actually keep to.

Path two: managed hosting

Managed hosting trades that operations work for a monthly fee. The provider owns the hardware, the port setup, the container that isolates your server, the RAM tuning, and the off-site backups. You get a dashboard and a connect address; you configure the game and invite your friends. The trade-off is cost and less low-level control — you’re renting a curated setup rather than building your own.

Forgehold is a managed host built specifically for Project Zomboid, so the rest of this guide shows what that path actually looks like end to end.

Hosting a B42 server on Forgehold

1. Sign up. Create an account with a magic link (we email you a one-tap sign-in link), or with Google or Discord. No password to remember.
2. Pick a plan. Choose a tier sized to your group and mod list. If you’re unsure, the server requirements guide gives a RAM rule of thumb. Every plan starts with a 3-day trial — your card isn’t charged until day 4, so you can stand a world up and make sure it’s right before you pay.
3. Let it provision. The first boot takes roughly 3–5 minutes while the machine downloads Project Zomboid through SteamCMD. The Status tab shows live progress; subsequent restarts are far quicker.
4. Grab your connect address. Once the server reports running, the Status tab shows a Connect panel with your IP:port — the exact string you paste into the game.
5. Join in-game. Open Project Zomboid, go to Join, and enter that IP and port. The how-to-connect guide walks through the client dialog step by step.

Configuring your server

From the server’s Config tab you set the things players notice first: the server name, an optional password, whether PvP is on, and the maximum player count. Save, and the change is applied to your running server.

One thing to get right early: sandbox settings are baked into the world at the moment it’s first generated. Zombie population, zombie speed, loot respawn and the XP multiplier all belong to the world, not the live config. If you want a high-population, fast-XP world, set those before the world generates — changing them afterward only affects a brand-new world, and applying them to an existing save means regenerating it. The World tab flags this so you don’t get caught out.

Adding mods

Project Zomboid’s mod scene is a big part of why people run their own servers. On Forgehold you add Steam Workshop mods from the dashboard, and every change is staged on a canary container first — the new mod set is downloaded and validated in isolation before it ever touches your live world, so a broken update is caught off to the side rather than on your players. The mod install guide covers the workflow in detail.

A word on build choice before you commit a world to it: Project Zomboid’s mod ecosystem is deepest on Build 41, while Build 42 has the current content and the momentum. Because saves don’t transfer between the two, it’s worth deciding up front which your group wants — the B41 vs B42 comparison lays out the trade-off so you don’t have to redo your world later.