Project Zomboid servertest.ini explainedThe basic settings of your server

Published on August 4, 2026 · last updated on October 21, 2026

What is servertest.ini responsible for?

servertest.ini is the technical foundation of your Project Zomboid server: network, access and mods. The actual game rules - number of zombies, loot, XP - are separately in servertest_SandboxVars.lua. This separation is the most common stumbling block during setup: if you want to make the zombies slower, you are looking in the wrong file. As a rule of thumb: the .ini controls who gets onto the server and what it is called to the outside world - the SandboxVars control what awaits the players there.

You edit both files via the config editor in the web interface or via WebFTP/SFTP. Changes only take effect after a server restart. These are the values you touch first:

PVP=true                 # player versus player on/off
Public=true              # visible in the server browser
PublicName=My PZ Server
MaxPlayers=16            # maximum number of players
Password=                # join password (empty = open)
PauseEmpty=true          # server pauses without players
Open=true                # join without a whitelist

With PVP=false, the server becomes a pure co-op/PvE server. If Password= stays empty, anyone can join. PauseEmpty=true stops the world as long as nobody is connected - game time then does not continue.

How do I enter mods and maps correctly?

You add Workshop mods via the two-key system: WorkshopItems takes the numeric Workshop IDs, Mods the mod IDs from the respective mod.info. Both lines have to match, otherwise the server does not load the mod - details in the guide Install mods. Maps are added additionally via Map=:

WorkshopItems=2200148440;2822286426
Mods=Bandits;ExampleMod
Map=EerieCountry;Muldraugh, KY

With Map=, you stack several maps in load order. The vanilla map Muldraugh, KY always belongs at the end as the base - it fills everything that the custom maps in front of it do not cover. If it is at the front, it overwrites the custom map. Separate several entries with a semicolon each, without a space after it.

Here too, changes only take effect after a restart. If a mod is still not loaded afterwards, the other key is almost always missing: the Workshop ID only downloads the mod, it does not activate it - only the matching entry under Mods does that.

Which ports does the server run on?

You control reachability via DefaultPort - the Project Zomboid default is 16261 - and the associated UDP port. The default port only serves as orientation: what counts are always the ports that the web interface shows for your server. Exactly this combination of IP and port is what your friends enter in the game.

For remote management, you additionally activate RCON via RCONPort and RCONPassword. With it, you control the server without being in the game yourself - and management tools and Discord bots also connect through it to send commands or schedule restarts. Which commands are then available and how you authorize further admins is explained in the guide Admin & server commands. Do not make the RCON password the same as the join password from Password=: one lets players onto the server, the other gives full control over it. Keep both separate and change the RCON password as soon as you give access to other people.

Why the file is not always called servertest.ini

The name is not a constant, but a default: the configuration is only called servertest.ini as long as the server is called servertest. If you rename it, the file is called <name>.ini and the associated game rules file <name>_SandboxVars.lua. The two always belong together as a pair and carry the same name part.

The practical consequence is important: the folder with the saved world also follows this name. A renamed server no longer finds its previous world and creates a new, empty one - without an error message, without asking. To the players, that looks like data loss, even though the old world lies untouched right next to it. If you want to change the name, make a backup beforehand and know how to restore it: Create & restore backups.

The second stumbling block concerns the editing itself. If there are several .ini files in the folder, for example from an earlier attempt, the wrong file simply changes nothing - and you then look for the error in the values instead of the file name. If in doubt, check which server name is shown in the web interface and edit exactly the file that matches it. The same applies to the SandboxVars.

When a change does not take effect

The file is saved, the value is there, and the server still behaves as before. Almost always, one of these four cases is behind it - checked in this order, you find the cause the fastest:

• The server was running while you edited. Project Zomboid keeps the configuration in memory and writes it back when shutting down. Your change is overwritten in the process. The right order: stop, edit, start.
• The restart is missing. The file is only read at startup. A running server does not take anything over afterwards.
• The key is misspelled. An unknown name is silently skipped and the default value stays active. There is no error message - which is why it pays to compare character by character with a working entry.
• It is the wrong file. Everything that concerns the feel of the game - zombies, loot, XP, day length - is not here, but in the SandboxVars.

For RCON, there is a special case: without a set RCONPassword, access stays off, regardless of which port is entered. The setup including error patterns is described in Set up & connect RCON. And if the change does take effect but nobody can get onto the server any more, take a look at Fix connection problems - values such as Password, MaxPlayers and the mod lists have a direct effect on joining.

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