ProjectZomboid:DedicatedServer

lastmod 2025-02-14created 2023-02-1518 edits

renegademaster/zomboid-dedicated-server

This image is a "rootless" image, so it must not be run as the root user. Minimal instructions for running the server:

First, create a dedicated folder.

mkdir $HOME/ ZomboidSelfHosting
cd $HOME/ZomboidSelfHosting

Create two empty folders.

mkdir ZomboidConfig ZomboidDedicatedServer

Then copy the contents of "Project Zomboid Dedicated Server" downloaded from Steam into the ZomboidDedicatedServer folder as is.

ZomboidConfig can be empty. (It is generated automatically on first run.)

Pull and run the renegademaster/zomboid-dedicated-server docker image:

# Pull the latest image:
docker pull renegademaster/zomboid-dedicated-server:latest

# Run the server (with bare minimum options):
docker run --detach \
    --mount type=bind,source="$(pwd)/ZomboidDedicatedServer",target=/home/steam/ZomboidDedicatedServer \
    --mount type=bind,source="$(pwd)/ZomboidConfig",target=/home/steam/Zomboid \
    --publish 16261:16261/udp --publish 16262:16262/udp \
    --name zomboid-server \
    docker.io/renegademaster/zomboid-dedicated-server:latest

Ports

The server can use three ports in total, but only two are required.

Name	Default port	Description	Required
DEFAULT_PORT	16261	Port used by the server to listen for connections.	yes
RCON_PORT	27015	Port used by the server to listen for RCON connections/commands.	no
UDP_PORT	16262	Additional port used by the server to facilitate client connections.	yes

Optional environment variables

Argument	Description	Values	Default
ADMIN_PASSWORD	Server Admin account password	[a-zA-Z0-9]+	changeme
ADMIN_USERNAME	Server Admin account username	[a-zA-Z0-9]+	superuser
BIND_IP	IP to bind the server to	0.0.0.0	0.0.0.0
GAME_VERSION	Game version to serve	[a-zA-Z0-9_]+	public
GC_CONFIG	Specifices Java GC to use	[a-zA-Z0-9_]+	ZGC
MAP_NAMES	Map Names (e.g. North;South)	map1;map2;map3	Muldraugh, KY
MAX_RAM	Maximum amount of RAM to be used	([0-9]+)m	4096m
STEAM_VAC	Use Steam VAC anti-cheat	(true\|false)	true
TZ	Set the timezone for the container	[A-Z]+	UTC
USE_STEAM	Create a Steam Server, or a Non-Steam Server	(true\|false)	true

Docker-Compose example

version: "3.8"

services:
  zomboid-dedicated-server:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: docker/zomboid-dedicated-server.Dockerfile
    image: "docker.io/renegademaster/zomboid-dedicated-server:latest"
    container_name: zomboid-dedicated-server
    restart: "no"
    environment:
      - "ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme"
      - "ADMIN_USERNAME=superuser"
      - "AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL=15"
      - "BIND_IP=0.0.0.0"
      - "DEFAULT_PORT=16261"
      - "GAME_VERSION=public"
      - "GC_CONFIG=ZGC"
      - "MAP_NAMES=Muldraugh, KY"
      - "MAX_PLAYERS=16"
      - "MAX_RAM=4096m"
      - "MOD_NAMES="
      - "MOD_WORKSHOP_IDS="
      - "PAUSE_ON_EMPTY=true"
      - "PUBLIC_SERVER=true"
      - "RCON_PASSWORD=changeme_rcon"
      - "RCON_PORT=27015"
      - "SERVER_NAME=ZomboidServer"
      - "SERVER_PASSWORD="
      - "STEAM_VAC=true"
      - "UDP_PORT=16262"
      - "USE_STEAM=true"
      - "TZ=UTC"
    ports:
      - target: 16261
        published: 16261
        protocol: udp
      - target: 16262
        published: 16262
        protocol: udp
      - target: 27015
        published: 27015
        protocol: tcp
    volumes:
      - ./ZomboidDedicatedServer:/home/steam/ZomboidDedicatedServer
      - ./ZomboidConfig:/home/steam/Zomboid/

Script I used

#!/usr/bin/env bash

MOD_NAMES="CombatText;FRUsedCarsNLF;FRUsedCarsNRN;FRUsedCars;FRUsedCarsFT;MinimalDisplayBars;modoptions;PlayersOnMap;fastkeys41;firearmmod;TheStar;"
WORKSHOP_ITEMS="1510950729;2004998206;2169435993;2184990011;2256623447;2286124931;2619072426;2732804047;"

docker run -d \
    --mount type=bind,source="$(pwd)/server",target=/home/steam/ZomboidDedicatedServer \
    --mount type=bind,source="$(pwd)/config",target=/home/steam/Zomboid \
    --publish 16261:16261/udp \
    --publish 16262:16262/udp \
    --name zpserver \
    -e "ADMIN_PASSWORD=yourpassword" \
    -e "ADMIN_USERNAME=yourname" \
    -e "AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL=15" \
    -e "BIND_IP=0.0.0.0" \
    -e "DEFAULT_PORT=16261" \
    -e "GAME_VERSION=public" \
    -e "GC_CONFIG=ZGC" \
    -e "MAP_NAMES=Muldraugh, KY" \
    -e "MAX_PLAYERS=8" \
    -e "MAX_RAM=4096m" \
    -e "MOD_NAMES=${MOD_NAMES}" \
    -e "MOD_WORKSHOP_IDS=${WORKSHOP_ITEMS}" \
    -e "PAUSE_ON_EMPTY=true" \
    -e "PUBLIC_SERVER=true" \
    -e "SERVER_NAME=yourZpServer" \
    -e "SERVER_PASSWORD=0000" \
    -e "STEAM_VAC=true" \
    -e "UDP_PORT=16262" \
    -e "USE_STEAM=true" \
    -e "TZ=UTC" \
    docker.io/renegademaster/zomboid-dedicated-server:latest

Mods

See Project Zomboid#Mods for the list of mods to add.

Just edit two variables in the server.ini file: Mods and WorkshopItems.

# Enter the mod loading ID here. It can be found in \Steam\steamapps\workshop\modID\mods\modName\info.txt
Mods=

#...

# List Workshop Mod IDs for the server to download. Each must be separated by a semicolon. Example: WorkshopItems=514427485;513111049
WorkshopItems=

Note that if you added mods with the docker.io/renegademaster/zomboid-dedicated-server:latest docker image, the required data is downloaded automatically, so there is nothing to worry about.

When other players connect to the server, the related files are downloaded automatically.

WARNING
However, enabling mods that the server does not use will crash the game, so disable other mods whenever possible

Examples

Mods=CombatText;FRUsedCarsNLF;FRUsedCarsNRN;FRUsedCars;FRUsedCarsFT;MinimalDisplayBars;modoptions;PlayersOnMap;fastkeys41;firearmmod;TheStar;
WorkshopItems=1510950729;2004998206;2169435993;2184990011;2256623447;2286124931;2619072426;2732804047;

Note that when applying maps, they seem(?) to be applied to the map in the order they are listed first.

To add Raven Creek to the existing Muldraugh, enter it as follows:

MAP_NAMES="RavenCreek;Muldraugh, KY"

Favorite site

author Zer0 sitemap