Guides, tutorials, and tips for Project Zomboid server hosting.
The admin command list as it actually stands on Build 42.20 — becoming admin, the seven access levels, the console-vs-chat slash rule, daily-use commands by job, and the B42 changes (capabilities, new item IDs) older lists miss.
Not a recycled B41 list: every mod here was checked against the live Steam Workshop for the Build 42 tag — with the Workshop ID and Mod ID for each, a ready-to-paste starter config, and the two traps subscriber counts hide.
The server runs fine, but every player gets rejected — because a Workshop mod updated and the server hasn't caught up. Why B42 servers drift out of date, the clean-restart fix, and how to move the breakage to 4am.
Electricity, CGNAT, both UDP ports, and who owns the 2am restart — the real costs on each side, and a decision table that tells some readers to self-host.
The practical walkthrough of the ~20 keys admins actually change — identity, PvP, PauseEmpty, backups, mods — plus the SandboxVars world rules, the stop-edit-start rule, and which choices are world-permanent.
Libraries first, dependencies before dependents, later wins on conflict — and the mod-manager workflow that applies those rules across a 60-mod list without hand-sorting an ini at midnight.
B42 lag comes in three flavours with three different fixes. Tell GC stutter from simulation load from one player’s bad Wi-Fi, then apply the right one — including the animal-population dial B41 admins don’t know about.
Your B41 world can't come to Build 42 — but your settings mostly can, and your group definitely can. The honest carry-over table, the fresh-start path, the legacy-branch option, and the backup to take first.
Build 42 moved the floor: ~6GB before a single mod loads. The sizing table by group size and mod count, the JVM -Xmx 75% rule, and how to recognise GC stutter before you buy the wrong upgrade.
The most common Build 42 server problem: mods that won't load. B41-only mods, semicolon syntax, Workshop download stalls, load order and client mismatches — diagnosed in order of likelihood, with a working end-to-end example.
The complete, current guide to running a B42 dedicated server — SteamCMD install, servername and cachedir explained, first boot, servertest.ini, both UDP ports, admin and whitelist, and the habits that keep it alive.