7DtD Common Issues

Cannot Connect to Server

Check the server is running - the status badge is at the top of every server page.

Check the address. Copy the "Server Address" row from the Overview tab exactly; it is an IP address and a port together, and the port is assigned by the platform rather than being 26900. Players must include it.

All the ports your server needs are opened automatically when it starts. There is nothing for you to forward.

If you set a Server Password in Settings, players must enter it exactly.

If Server Visibility is 0 the server is unlisted and players have to use the address rather than the browser.

Check the server is not full - Maximum Players is in Settings under Basic, and defaults to 8.

Console and Epic players need crossplay turned on before they can join, and it is off by default. Turning it on caps the server at 8 players and rules out mods. See Crossplay on GameGrid.

RWG World Generation Fails

Symptoms: the server sits on "Generating World" for a long time, or dies during generation.

A large World Generation Size needs a lot of memory. Try 6144 or 4096. The setting accepts 2048 to 16384 in multiples of 2048.

Check the Console tab for the actual error. Some seeds fail; changing World Generation Seed and starting again is a valid fix.

If generation keeps failing, use Navezgane or one of the pregenerated maps instead. Game World accepts Navezgane, RWG, Pregen06k01, Pregen06k02, Pregen08k01 and Pregen08k02.

Generation happens once. After the world exists it is loaded from disk and startup is quick.

Game World, Seed and Size are new-world-only settings. Changing them does not regenerate a world you already have - wipe from the Admin tab, or change Savegame Name to start a new save.

Blood Moon Not Happening

Blood moon frequency and horde size are not separate settings. They are encoded in the Sandbox Code, in Settings under World.

Check what is actually in that field. A preset can set the frequency to zero, which turns horde nights off completely.

Sandbox Code is restart-required, so saving it restarts the server for you. If you set it through a config file instead, it may not have survived the last start - set it in Settings.

Check Max Spawned Zombies (Performance, default 64). Set very low, a horde night looks like it did not happen because the server-wide cap trims it.

To test, use the settime console command to jump to a blood moon day rather than waiting.

Server Lag with Many Zombies

Lower Max Spawned Zombies (Settings > Performance, default 64, range 0-500). This is the most effective single change.

Lower Max Allowed View Distance (Performance, default 12, range 4-20). Fewer chunks per player means less to simulate.

Reduce the blood moon horde in the Sandbox Code itself, rather than only capping it. A capped horde is still being asked for.

Check the Dynamic Mesh settings under Performance. Dynamic Mesh Land Claim Only should be on - it keeps the expensive structural physics inside player claims.

None of these are restart-required, so the panel will not restart for you. Save them, then restart the server yourself.

7 Days to Die is single-thread bound in its main loop. Beyond a point, more players simply cost more than any setting can recover.