Best 7 Days to Die Server Settings (V3 Defaults and Picks)

Q: What is the default 7 Days to Die SandboxCode?

AAAJABJACJADJARFBNC, which matches the old Adventurer difficulty defaults.

The best 7 Days to Die server settings for a friend group are a blood moon every 7 days with 8 to 12 zombies per player, loot respawn every 7 to 10 days, walking zombies by day and running at night, a 90 minute day, and land claims of 41 blocks with 5 claims per player. Since V3, most of these are no longer serverconfig.xml lines: blood moon, loot, zombie speed and day length live in the SandboxCode you make in the game's Sandbox Options screen. Land claims, spawn caps and view distance stay in serverconfig.xml.

What changed in V3?

V3.0 "Dead Hot Summer" (stable 29 June 2026, now on V3.2) removed about thirty gameplay properties from serverconfig.xml and folded them into one property:

<property name="SandboxCode" value="AAAJABJACJADJARFBNC"/>

That value is the default, equal to the old Adventurer difficulty. Old lines like BloodMoonFrequency are silently ignored on a V3 server, which is why so many servers suddenly felt easy after updating. V3.1 also split some density and respawn options into day and night values, so codes made on V3.0 may need regenerating. The full migration steps are in how to change 7 Days to Die server settings.

You cannot write a SandboxCode by hand. Build it in Sandbox Options when starting a new game, copy the code and paste it into the server. It applies to an existing save after a restart.

Blood moon settings

These used to be serverconfig properties. Now they are options in the Sandbox Options screen.

Old property	Old default	What it controls	Our pick
`BloodMoonFrequency`	7	Days between blood moons	7. It is the rhythm of the game. 5 for hardcore groups, 10 to 14 for builders.
`BloodMoonRange`	0	Random days added or removed	0 for friends, so everyone can plan the evening
`BloodMoonWarning`	8	Hour the day counter turns red	8
`BloodMoonEnemyCount`	8	Zombies alive at once per player	8 for 4 or more players, 12 to 16 for 1 to 3 players

The enemy count is per player, and small groups feel the default is thin. Raise it for duos and trios. For bigger groups, more zombies per player costs real CPU on horde night, see 7 Days to Die server lag fix.

Loot settings

Old property	Old default	What it controls	Our pick
`LootAbundance`	100	Percent of loot in containers	100. 150 for casual servers.
`LootRespawnDays`	7	Game days before looted containers refill	7 to 10 on long servers
`AirDropFrequency`	72	Game hours between air drops, 0 is off	72
`AirDropMarker`	true	Show drops on the map	true

Lower loot abundance looks hardcore on paper but mostly makes early days a slog for groups who can only play in the evenings.

Zombie speed and difficulty

Old property	Old default	What it controls	Our pick
`ZombieMove`	0 (walk)	Speed by day	Walk
`ZombieMoveNight`	3 (sprint)	Speed at night	Run or sprint
`ZombieFeralMove`	3 (sprint)	Speed of ferals	Default
`ZombieBMMove`	3 (sprint)	Speed on blood moons	Sprint, or run for casual groups
`GameDifficulty`	1 (Adventurer)	Damage you take and deal	Adventurer or Nomad for friends
`XPMultiplier`	100	Percent XP	100 to 150

The speed values were 0 walk, 1 jog, 2 run, 3 sprint and 4 nightmare. Walking by day and fast at night is the core of the game. Making zombies sprint during the day turns every loot run into a fight, which is fun for a week.

Day length

Old property	Old default	What it controls	Our pick
`DayNightLength`	60	Real minutes per game day	90 for groups who play long sessions, 60 for short ones
`DayLightLength`	18	Hours of daylight per day	18

A longer day means fewer blood moons per evening of real time. At 60 minutes, a blood moon comes every 7 real hours of play. At 90 minutes, every 10.5 hours.

Death and drops

Old property	Old default	Our pick
`DropOnDeath`	1 (everything)	Backpack only for casual groups
`DropOnQuit`	0 (nothing)	0
`BlockDamagePlayer`	100	100
`BlockDamageAI` / `BlockDamageAIBM`	100 / 100	100. Lower makes bases much easier to hold.

Settings still in serverconfig.xml

These are server properties, edited as normal lines in serverconfig.xml with the server stopped.

Land claims

Property	Default	What it does	Our pick
`LandClaimCount`	5	Claim blocks each player can place	5 for friends, 1 to 3 on public servers
`LandClaimSize`	41	Protected area in blocks	41. Raise it for big co-op builds, it is the area your claim protects.
`LandClaimDeadZone`	30	Minimum gap between other players' claims	30
`LandClaimExpiryTime`	7	Real days offline before a claim stops protecting	7 for public, 30 or more for friends who take breaks
`LandClaimDecayMode`	0	How protection fades after expiry. 0 slow, 1 fast, 2 none	0
`LandClaimOnlineDurabilityModifier`	4	How much harder blocks are to break by other players while the owner is online. 0 is invulnerable.	4
`LandClaimOfflineDurabilityModifier`	4	Same while the owner is offline	4 for PvP, 0 on PvE friend servers
`LandClaimOfflineDelay`	0	Minutes after logout before offline protection starts	0

Players, spawns and performance

Property	Default	Our pick
`ServerMaxPlayerCount`	8	Your group plus one or two
`PlayerKillingMode`	3 (kill everyone)	0 (no killing) for PvE friend servers
`PartySharedKillRange`	100	100
`MaxSpawnedZombies`	64	64. Do not raise on a busy server.
`MaxSpawnedAnimals`	50	50
`ServerMaxAllowedViewDistance`	12	8 to 10 if the server lags
`BedrollDeadZoneSize`	15	15
`BedrollExpiryTime`	45	45

World

Property	What it does	Our pick
`GameWorld`	`Navezgane` or `RWG`	RWG for replay value, Navezgane for a first playthrough
`WorldGenSize`	RWG size	6144 for small groups, 8192 for 8 or more
`WorldGenSeed`	RWG seed	Anything you like
`GameName`	Save name	Change it to start a fresh save

Changing the seed or size means a new map. Back up first.

Crossplay limits

If PlayStation and Xbox players join, your settings must stay inside the ranges The Fun Pimps allow for crossplay, with EAC on, no mods, at most 8 players and a world size of 8192 or smaller. Very high blood moon counts or extreme loot values make the server PC only. The exact ranges are listed in our settings change guide.

Setting this up on GamezServers

The Sandbox code setting in the panel takes your SandboxCode, and World, World seed, World size, Save name and Join password are panel settings too. Land claims, spawn caps and view distance are lines in serverconfig.xml in the Files tab. Press Backup first, edit, and Restart.

For console friends, pick the Crossplay server type. For overhauls, pick PC and turn off Easy Anti-Cheat. Plans and server types are on 7 Days to Die server hosting, and the quick start covers the first setup. Need admin commands for testing your settings? See 7 Days to Die admin commands.

FAQ

What are the best blood moon settings for a small group?

Every 7 days with no random range, and 12 to 16 zombies per player for 1 to 3 players. Set it in Sandbox Options and paste the code into the server.

Where is LootRespawnDays in V3?

It moved into the SandboxCode. Set loot respawn in Sandbox Options, copy the code and paste it as the SandboxCode value.

Do I need a new world to change these settings?

No for the SandboxCode and land claims, they apply after a restart. Yes for the world, seed or size.

What is the default 7 Days to Die SandboxCode?

AAAJABJACJADJARFBNC, which matches the old Adventurer difficulty defaults.

How do I make zombies walk at night?

Set night speed to walk in Sandbox Options and paste the new code. The old ZombieMoveNight line no longer does anything in V3.