Tools / Project Zomboid Recipes / Vanilla Plus (Build 42)

Vanilla Plus (Build 42)

Stock servertest.ini with comfortable co-op defaults for a 4-8 player vanilla server. No mods required.

warning · Project Zomboid 42 · verified 2026-05-25 · vanilla, build-42, co-op

Settings to apply

Values to set in each file, one per line, grouped by the file they belong in. This is not the file's own format: copy the values across rather than pasting the block. Dotted names are nested, so visibility.public means a public key inside a visibility object.

[servertest.ini]
MaxPlayers=8
PauseEmpty=true
PVP=false
SafetySystem=true
ShowSafety=true
DisplayUserName=true
ServerWelcomeMessage=Welcome to our PZ server.
PingLimit=400

Download serverpack.json Host this preset

Install steps

Download the generated serverpack.json for a portable copy of this preset.
Copy the config values above into the matching dedicated-server config file.
Restart the server and test a fresh connection before inviting players.

Notes

Verified against Build 42 before it reached Stable. Build 42 went Stable on 29 July 2026 and hotfixes ran to 42.20.4 on 26 August, which removed the Lua loadstring and loadstream methods and broke any mod that used them. Re-test this recipe on 42.20.4 before relying on it, and check the modpack through the Workshop Importer, which flags items untouched since that date.
Designed for friend groups, not random PUGs.
PauseEmpty saves CPU when no one is online.
Set ServerPassword via your hosting panel or systemd Environment, not in the file.

serverpack.json

{
  "schema_version": "0.2",
  "game": "project-zomboid",
  "game_version": "42",
  "source": null,
  "compat": {
    "min_game_version": "42",
    "max_game_version": null
  },
  "provenance": {
    "tool": "recipe:vanilla-plus-build-42",
    "generated_by": "tools.supercraft.host",
    "generated_at": "2026-10-08T16:55:10.215821+00:00"
  },
  "install": {
    "requires_restart": true
  },
  "mods": [],
  "configs": {
    "servertest.ini": {
      "MaxPlayers": "8",
      "PauseEmpty": "true",
      "PVP": "false",
      "SafetySystem": "true",
      "ShowSafety": "true",
      "DisplayUserName": "true",
      "ServerWelcomeMessage": "Welcome to our PZ server.",
      "PingLimit": "400"
    }
  }
}