7DtD Mods and Overhaul Guides

Mod Types

Modlets - small mods that add or tweak content, usually XML only. Easy to add and remove, and often work with Easy Anti-Cheat left on.

Overhauls - large mods that change the whole game. Darkness Falls, Undead Legacy, War of the Walkers. They ship DLLs and need EAC off.

Harmony mods - mods that patch game code in C#. They need the Harmony framework, which is normally bundled with the mod, and they need EAC off.

All of them go in the Mods/ folder at the root of your server, one folder per mod.

Installing Mods

Stop the server first. Mods are only read at startup and a running server will overwrite work in its own directories.

Turn Easy Anti-Cheat off in Settings under Basic if the mod ships a DLL. That setting is restart-required, so saving it restarts the server for you - do it before you upload.

Upload the mod folder into Mods/ via the Files tab, so the structure is Mods/<ModName>/ModInfo.xml. For an overhaul, use FTP or SFTP; the credentials are on the Overview tab.

The folder name does not matter - the ModInfo.xml inside is what the game reads - but keep it recognisable so you can remove the right one later.

The 0_TFP_Harmony folder ships with the game. Leave it in place.

Start the server and watch the Console tab. A mod that fails to load names itself in the error.

The Mods tab also installs mods for you from Nexus Mods, which is the marketplace source for this game. There is no Steam Workshop for 7 Days to Die.

Overhaul Compatibility

Overhauls are mutually exclusive. Never install two at once.

Most overhauls want a fresh world. Read the mod description - several say so explicitly. Wipe from the Admin tab, or change Savegame Name in Settings to start a separate save and keep the old one.

An overhaul is built for a specific game build. Check the build on the Admin tab's Game Updates card against the mod page before installing.

If the server will not start after installing one, stop it, remove the mod folder from Mods/, and start again. Then read the Console output from the top - the first error is the cause.

Take a backup before installing an overhaul on a live server. Backups tab, "Create Backup Now".

Common Mod Issues

Missing ModInfo.xml - the folder is ignored silently. Check the structure is Mods/<ModName>/ModInfo.xml, not Mods/<ModName>/<ModName>/ModInfo.xml.

XML syntax errors - one typo can break the whole game data load. The Console tab names the file.

Version mismatch - a mod for an older build. Check the mod page against your build.

Harmony patch conflicts - two mods patching the same method can crash the server. Remove one.

EAC conflicts - a DLL mod with Easy Anti-Cheat still on. Turn EAC off in Settings.

Nothing changed - the server was running when you uploaded, or it was never restarted. Stop, upload, start.