3.3.1` February 05 2023
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How to create a 7 Days to Die server, mod it and manage it

In this guide you will learn all the details and the requirements needed to create an 7 Days To Die dedicated server on your home computer, VPS or Dedicated Server, either you use Windows or Linux, you will be able to create an 7 Days To Die dedicated server by following this guide carefully through all the illustrated steps and written instructions.

We cover all the network configuration to help set up your internet router/firewall in order to make your server visible on the servers listing, we will also give you instructions on how to connect to your server and play on it.

This guide also covers everything required to manage your server after creation. You will learn on how to install mods and add them to your server, how to update them, how to, modify your server settings from the basic ones like changing the server name, adding a password on the server and also the more advanced ones like changing in-game settings, Zombie levels and more.

Sooner or later you will need or want to try out the admin commands and we got you covered, you can learn how to use admin commands like for spawning guns, turn god mode or just fly around, 7 Days To Die does have a lot of admin commands and we give you the full list of them. If you are outside of your server and you still want to manage your players, send admin messages, or just check whos playing, you can do that using server console, we will give you full training on how to use your server console and execute commands on it.

If you have any issues you can search in our troubleshooting section for a possible fix or solution, we cover most important and recurring issues on an 7 Days To Die dedicated server, you will also want to learn on how to update your server when it’s needed like the mods when an update it’s released.

We give you some extras also, you will like to have a system to auto restart your server every XXX hours, and backup your world now and ever just to be safe and secure about all the hours you lost grinding in-game.

You can find some external links for more content, 7 Days To Die forums has a very active community happy to help you in your questions, and official wiki also gives all the details from A to Z about 7 Days To Die and how to play it.

Please read and follow all the steps carefully one by one, and you will be able to accomplish all the tasks mentioned in this guide without any issue.

(2.1) Prerequisites - Hardware

You will need at last 4GB to 6GB memory RAM minimum, a vanilla 7 Days To Die dedicated server without any players take around that amount of memory, the maximum memory recommend it’s based on the number of players you will have, the number and type of mods you use and how much you boost and adjust your server settings. We also recommend having a CPU clock at with at last 3.2Ghz for optimal performance, below you can find a table with estimated values on the hardware requires Vs server setup.

PLAYERS

SERVER WITHOUT MODS

SERVER WITH MODS

10 - 30

3.0Ghz - 4/6GB

3.0Ghz - 6/8GB

30 - 60

3.0Ghz - 6/8GB

3.2Ghz - 8/10GB

60 - 90

3.2/3.4Ghz - 8/10GB

3.6/3.8Ghz - 10/12GB

+100

4.0Ghz - 12GB

4.0+Ghz - 12+GB

Results are estimated values tested under normal conditions on Windows Server 2012/2016, values may vary between different hardware specifications, O.S. or Linux distributions.

(2.2) Prerequisites - Hardware

To create and manage your 7 Days To Die dedicated server you will need to download and install certain dependencies for 7 Days To Die server be able to run, you will also have to download and install some third-party tools in order to easy create and deploy your server. There are some optional applications and tools to help you on this task, find below a list of all required and optional applications and tools and choose the ones you will need and suit better for yourself.

(3.1) Windows server - Create server using Steam Client

In this section, you will learn how to easily create an 7 Days To Die server using Steam client. Download and install Steam client from the (2.b)Prerequisites - Hardware section, once you have it installed on your computer, log in with your steam account or create a new one.

If you follow the steps below one by one carefully and you will have an 7 Days to Die dedicated server created and working soon you get into the last step.

STEP 1

Create a folder called SteamCMD on your C:\ drive, download SteamCMD and place it in that folder.

Server setup screenshot

STEP 2

Create a folder called 7 Days To Die on your C:\ drive, inside create a new Text Document file with the following SteamCMD command and save it as Update.bat

C:\SteamCMD\SteamCMD.exe +login anonymous +force_install_dir C:\7DaysToDie\ +app_update 294420 +quit
Server setup screenshot

STEP 3

Inside 7 Days To Die folder on your C:\ driver and execute the startdedicated.bat file to start your server.

Server setup screenshot

STEP 4

You should see the server console opening, give it a few minutes for server to start and generate the map.

Server setup screenshot

STEP 5

Open your Steam, go to menu View > Servers, and change to Favourites tab, add your server exactly like the image below.

Server setup screenshot

STEP 6

Open 7 Days To Die game on your Steam, go to Play Game menu, on the filters change to Favorites, your server will show up, just double click it to join it. Head over to (5) Firewall and port forwarding section to make your server visible to the public internet.

Server setup screenshot

STEP 7

If you want to customize your server settings edit the following file serverconfig.xml and inside you can add your custom 7 days to die settings, you can find an explanation in the official wiki

Server setup screenshot