Project Zomboid

Admin access, Workshop mods and why a long-running save grows heavy.

Everything in Your panel applies to Project Zomboid. These are the parts specific to it.

Startup parameters

Four values live in Startup parameters:

• Server Name
• Admin Username and Admin Password — used to log in as admin in-game
• Max Players

Everything else — the hundreds of sandbox options that define how brutal your apocalypse is — sits in the server configuration files, which you edit in the file manager.

Workshop mods

Project Zomboid pulls mods from the Steam Workshop. You add them by listing Workshop IDs and mod IDs in the server config file — two separate lists, and both are required. Missing the mod ID is the most common reason a mod that "is installed" does nothing.

The server downloads the mods itself on the next start, so there is nothing to upload by hand.

Everyone needs the same mods. The mod list has to match between server and players, or people get turned away at the join screen.

Take a backup before adding or removing mods on a save you care about — mods that change items or the map can disturb a world that is already running.

Admin access

Log in in-game with the admin username and password from Startup parameters. That gives you the game's own admin panel and commands.

The console in the panel is available too and is where you go if the game itself is unresponsive.

Memory

Plans start at 3 GB, which suits a small group on a fresh save.

Memory use climbs as players spread across the map, as you stack Workshop mods, and as a long-running save accumulates loot, vehicles and built-up bases. Project Zomboid keeps a lot of world state in memory, so a save played for months genuinely needs more than a new one — this is not a leak, it is how the game works.

If you are planning a large mod list or a server that stays alive for months, start higher. You can move up later without losing the save.

Saving and restarts

The server writes the world periodically. A nightly scheduled restart is worth setting up — it keeps memory use in check on a long-lived save and gives the server a clean state each day.

Warn players first with a scheduled say command a few minutes before.