7 Days to Die Server Setup Guide
Set up your 7 Days to Die server: the settings that matter, the world options, the Sandbox Code, and how players connect.
Where Everything Is
Settings tab - every server setting, grouped by category, plus Player Management for admins, whitelist and bans.
Console tab - the live server log and a box to send commands.
Files tab - the whole server directory, plus FTP and SFTP credentials on the Overview tab if you would rather use a client.
Admin tab - game updates, automatic restarts, verify and repair, delete savegames, wipe.
Backups tab - manual and automatic backups, and restore.
Mods tab - install mods from Nexus Mods, or see what is installed.
Live Map - the map your server renders as players explore it.
Do not edit serverconfig.xml through the file manager. The copy in your server root is not the file the game reads; the live one is config/serverconfig.xml and the platform rewrites parts of it on every start. Settings is the supported path.
Connecting to Your Server
Open the Overview tab and copy the "Server Address" row from Connection Info - an IP address and a port together, such as 203.0.113.10:28100.
In 7 Days to Die: Play Game > Connect to Server > Direct Connect, and paste that in.
The port is assigned by the platform, so it is never 26900 and it always has to be typed.
With Server Visibility set to 2, the server also appears in the in-game browser a few minutes after it starts.
Console and Epic players can join once you enable crossplay in Settings - it is off by default, and it caps the server at 8 players and rules out mods. See Crossplay on GameGrid.
The Settings Worth Setting First
Server Name and Server Description (Basic) - what people see in the browser.
Server Password (Basic) - leave blank for an open server.
Maximum Players (Basic, default 8, range 1-64).
Server Visibility (Basic, default 2) - 2 public, 1 friends only, 0 unlisted.
Region and Language (Basic) - these drive the browser's filters, so set them to where your players are.
Easy Anti-Cheat (Basic, default on) - turn it off before installing DLL or overhaul mods.
Player Killing Mode (Gameplay, default 3) - the default is full PvP. Set it to 0 for a PvE server.
Server Port is shown read-only: it is assigned by the platform and cannot be changed.
World Options
These are all new-world-only. Set them before you generate the world; changing them later decides what a new world would be, not what your current one is.
Game World (default Navezgane) - Navezgane, RWG, Pregen06k01, Pregen06k02, Pregen08k01, Pregen08k02.
World Generation Seed (default "MyGame") - RWG only. The same seed and size always produce the same map.
World Generation Size (default 6144, range 2048-16384 in multiples of 2048) - RWG only. Bigger worlds take longer to generate and use more memory and disk.
Savegame Name (default "MyGame", letters and digits only) - the save folder. Changing it starts a separate save and keeps the old one.
To start over on the same settings, use "Wipe Server" on the Admin tab.
Gameplay Settings and the Sandbox Code
Difficulty, blood moon frequency and size, loot abundance, XP rate, day length and the death penalty are not individual settings. They are encoded together in one string, the Sandbox Code, in Settings under World.
It is a text field. Leave it blank for Nomad - normal difficulty with every option at its default, which is what a new server ships with.
The six official difficulty presets are Scavenger, Adventurer, Nomad (blank), Warrior, True Survivalist and Insane; their codes are in the SandboxCode System Guide.
For anything else, open Sandbox Options in a single-player game, set what you want, and copy the code it gives you into the field.
Sandbox Code is restart-required - saving it on a running server restarts the server for you.
Full detail: SandboxCode System Guide.
Making Yourself Admin
Settings > Player Management > Admins > Add Admin. Enter your SteamID64 as the Player ID with the platform on Steam, your in-game name, and Level 0.
To get your SteamID64, join the server once and run "lpi" in the Console tab.
The whitelist is in the same place, and it is active whenever it has at least one entry. Add your regulars before you add the first name, or you will lock everyone else out.