7 Days to Die Server Settings

Every setting on your 7 Days to Die server lives in the Startup tab of the Nitro panel. Stop the server, change the field, start the server.

Caution

Use the Startup tab, not serverconfig.xml. Your server passes the Startup tab values to the game at launch and those win over anything in the file. Editing serverconfig.xml directly looks like it works, then gets overwritten on the next restart.

Settings labelled [Admin] are infrastructure — ports, network protocols, internal paths — and are locked so your server stays reachable. Open a ticket if you need one changed.

Sandbox Code

This is the big one. V3.0 introduced over 150 sandbox options and removed 30 individual settings from the server config in the process. Difficulty, XP multiplier, loot abundance, loot respawn, zombie speed, feral sense, blood moon frequency, air drops, day length, drop-on-death and death penalty are no longer separate fields — they’re all encoded in a single Sandbox Code.

The default is AAAJABJACJADJARFBNC, which matches the old Adventurer difficulty.

To build your own:

1. Launch 7 Days to Die on your PC and start creating a new game. You don’t have to actually start it.
2. Open Sandbox Options and set everything how you want it — difficulty, zombie speed, loot, blood moons, traders, all of it.
3. Copy the generated code.
4. In the Nitro panel, stop your server, open the Startup tab, and paste it into Sandbox Code.
5. Start the server.

Tip

The Sandbox Options menu ships official presets — Undead Matinee, Bite Club, Legacy Survival, Almost Creative Mode and more. Loading one and copying its code is the fastest way to get a coherent ruleset without touching 150 sliders.

Caution

Rebuild your code after a major game update instead of re-pasting an old one. V3.1 split enemy and animal density into separate day and night settings, which changed the code layout. The Fun Pimps warn that an older code may no longer be valid, and that an invalid code can default some or all settings rather than throwing an error.

The full option list is in the V3.0 release notes.

Server identity

Field	Default	What it does
Server Name	A 7 Days to Die Server	The name players search for. Be specific
Server Description	Powered by EVLBOX	Short blurb shown next to your server
Server Website	(blank)	Clickable link in the browser. A Discord invite works well
Server Password	(blank)	Blank means anyone can join
Server Visibility	2	2 public, 1 friends only, 0 unlisted (direct IP only)
Region	NorthAmericaEast	Browser region filter. Set it to where your players are
Language	English	Browser language filter. Use the English name, so German, not Deutsch
Max Players	8	Tied to your plan. Contact support to change it
Reserved Slots	0	Slots only usable by players at the permission level below
Reserved Slots Permission	100	Lower numbers are more privileged. 0 is owner
Admin Slots	0	Extra slots admins can use when the server is full
Admin Slots Permission	0	Permission level needed for an admin slot

World

Field	Default	What it does
Game World	Navezgane	Navezgane for the hand-built map, RWG for a random world, or the folder name of a world you uploaded
Save Name	My Game	Name of the save
World Gen Seed	evlbox	Seed used when Game World is RWG. Any text
World Gen Size	6144	RWG map size in metres. Multiple of 2048, from 2048 to 16384

Danger

Game World, Save Name, and (for RWG) World Gen Seed and World Gen Size decide which save loads. Change any of them and the server starts a brand new world. The old save isn’t deleted, but nobody will be in it. Back up first.

Note

Bigger maps aren’t free. A 10240 map uses noticeably more RAM and disk than 6144, generates for longer, and takes longer for each new player to download. Stick with 6144 or 8192 unless you have a reason.

Anti-cheat and crossplay

Field	Default	What it does
EasyAntiCheat	true	Must be false for any mod players install locally. XML-only modlets run with it on. Must be true for console crossplay
Allow Crossplay	false	Lets PlayStation and Xbox players join. Needs EAC on, no mods, and 8 or fewer players

See How to Connect for the crossplay checklist and How to Install Mods for the mod path.

Players and PvP

Field	Default	What it does
Player Killing Mode	3	0 no killing, 1 allies only, 2 strangers only, 3 everyone. Set 0 for pure PvE
Party Shared Kill Range	100	Blocks within which party members share kill XP and quest credit
New Player Safe Zone Level	5	Players at or below this level spawn in a no-enemy bubble
New Player Safe Zone Hours	5	In-game hours the bubble lasts
Bedroll Dead Zone Size	15	Radius in blocks around a bedroll where zombies won’t spawn
Bedroll Expiry Time	45	Days a bedroll stays active after its owner was last online
Persistent Player Profiles	false	true locks each player to the character they first joined with
Creative Mode	false	true gives everyone creative and cheat access. Building servers only

Land claims

This group is what stops people logging off and coming back to a hole in the ground. It matters most on PvP servers.

Field	Default	What it does
Land Claim Count	1	Claim blocks each player can place. Raise to 2 or 3 if people want a base plus a horde base
Land Claim Size	41	Blocks protected by a claim. Must be an odd number
Land Claim Dead Zone	30	Minimum distance between claims owned by non-friends
Land Claim Expiry Time	7	Days a player can be offline before protection lapses
Land Claim Decay Mode	0	0 slow, 1 fast, 2 none (full protection until expiry)
Land Claim Online Durability	4	Block hardness multiplier while the owner is online. 0 is indestructible
Land Claim Offline Durability	4	Same, while the owner is offline. 0 is indestructible
Land Claim Offline Delay	0	Minutes after logout before online protection becomes offline protection

Tip

For a friendly PvE server, set Land Claim Decay Mode to 2 and Land Claim Offline Durability to 0. Bases then survive untouched while people are away, which heads off most “who blew up my base” arguments.

Performance

Reach for these when the server struggles, in this order.

Field	Default	What it does
Max Allowed View Distance	12	Highest view distance a client may request, 6 to 12. Lowering this is the most effective change you can make. Try 8
Max Spawned Zombies	64	Server-wide zombie cap and the biggest CPU cost. Capped at 90 in the panel because higher values cripple performance
Max Spawned Animals	50	Server-wide animal cap. Cheaper than zombies, not free
Dynamic Mesh Enabled	true	Improves how damaged buildings behave. Turning it off frees RAM and CPU
Dynamic Mesh - Claims Only	true	Restricts dynamic mesh to claimed areas. Leave this on
Dynamic Mesh - Claim Buffer	3	Chunk radius around claims that dynamic mesh covers

Tip

Judge performance on blood moon night, not a quiet afternoon. If day 7 is where things fall apart, drop Max Allowed View Distance to 8 and Max Spawned Zombies to 48 before changing anything else.

Web dashboard

The game ships a built-in web dashboard with a live map. It needs a dedicated port allocated to your server.

Field	Default	What it does
Web Dashboard	false	Enables the dashboard. Needs the dashboard port allocated
Live Map Rendering	false	Renders the explored map for the dashboard. Costs CPU and disk
Web Dashboard URL	(blank)	Leave blank unless support gave you a value

1. Check the [Admin] Web Dashboard Port value on the Startup tab and confirm it appears in your server’s allocations on the Network tab.
2. If it isn’t there, see Adding Ports or open a ticket.
3. Set Web Dashboard to true, and Live Map Rendering to true if you want the map.
4. Restart, then browse to your server address on the dashboard port.

Twitch integration

Field	Default	What it does
Twitch Permission Level	90	Permission level required to use Twitch integration
Twitch During Blood Moon	false	Allows Twitch-triggered spawns during blood moons. Expect lag

Updates

Field	Default	What it does
Auto Update	1	Checks Steam for a newer build on every start. Leave this on
Beta Branch	(blank)	Blank is the public stable build. Enter a branch name like latest_experimental to opt into a test build

Caution

Switching branches needs a reinstall to apply cleanly, and experimental builds routinely break saves and mods. If your server won’t start after changing this, open a ticket rather than experimenting further.

What each change needs

Change	Effect
Name, password, description, visibility, region	Restart only
Sandbox Code	Restart. Applies to the existing save
Land claims, PvP, safe zone, bedroll, performance	Restart only
EasyAntiCheat, Allow Crossplay	Restart. Mods stop or start loading
Max Players	Restart. Contact support to raise the limit
Game World, Save Name, World Gen Seed, World Gen Size	New world. Back up first
Beta Branch	Reinstall. Open a ticket

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Questions? Reach out on the support Discord or create a ticket.