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Project Zomboid Dedicated Server Set up Guide
Project Zomboid has been out for a while, but how do you start a server to play with your friends? This guide will show you how to set up a Project Zomboid Dedicated Server using SteamCMD and get you on your way to playing Project Zombod!
Hosting your own server will require you to make changes to your router, this can interfere with normal operation, proceed with caution.
Step 1: Server Requirements
- Make sure you are running Windows 10
- 10GB of storage is available
- Make sure that you have at least 4GB of RAM to run the server.
- (Preferably) A wired internet connection. Wifi can get unstable and can cause issues with people connecting to your server.
- A Static IP address on your computer (Not sure how to do this? check out this guide!).
Step 2: Installing SteamCMD
The following steps will guide to through the SteamCMD installation:
- Download the Latest SteamCMD Zip file.
- Create a folder for SteamCMD. (In this guide, we will use C:\steamcmd)
- Extract the contents of the steamcmd.zip to the folder you have created
- You should now have something like the screenshot below:
To make sure that you’ve done everything correctly, please do the following:
- Press + R to open a run window.
- Type CMD and press enter.
- Execute the following 2 commands:
cd C:\steamcmd
steamcmd
If an output is shown as the example above, good job! You’ve now got SteamCMD up and running! For now exit this window by typing:
quit
exitStep 3: Preparing the folder
Now you’ve got SteamCMD up and running; it is time to prepare the folder. This step is quite simple.
- Open up windows explorer with + E.
- Navigate to the Desktop folder
- Create a folder called ProjectZomboid (you can name this folder anything you want, but for the sake of clarity, we’ll use this name)
- Go into the ProjectZomboid Folder
- Take note of the path you are currently in by clicking on the navigation bar:
Now you are almost ready to start your server. We will use two batch scripts for this guide, one to install/update and the other to run the server.
The install/upgrade script
- In the ProjectZomboid folder, you’ve just created, open up a notepad.
- Copy and Paste the following in that file:
Note:
Be sure to change the "C:\ProjectZomboid" to match where you put the ProjectZomboid folder.
"C:\steamcmd\steamcmd.exe" +login anonymous +force_install_dir "C:\ProjectZomboid" +app_update 380870 validate +quit- Click on Save As
- Give it the same name and type as the image below:
- Save the install_server.bat in the Project Zomboid folder.
Step 4: Running the Project Zomboid Dedicated Server
Now all files are in order and we are ready to move forward and start the server!
- Right Click the install_server.bat and select “ Run as administrator“
- This will install the server in the right directory (the process can take a while depending on PC speed).
Now, if you’ve done everything correctly, your folder should now look like this:
- Start the Project Zomboid Dedicated Server by Double Clicking the StartServer64.bat
Now the server is running! Let’s move forward with connecting to the server.
You’ll be prompted to set the Administrator password of the server when you start it for the first time:
Note:
The server logs will show some errors, most of them can be safely ignored and will not impact gameplay.
Enter a secure password and share that password with your friends so they can join the server.
Step 5: Firewall Rules
Before you and your friends can connect to the Project Zomboid server, you’ll need to make changes to your firewall to allow connections on specific ports.
By default, a Project Zomboid server uses the following ports:
| Default Port | Port Usage | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 16261 | Client Port | This port must be opened for client connections. |
| 16262 | Direct Connect | Table Body |
Now you can add these port exceptions to the firewall by hand, but let’s not; that takes way too much time. Let’s do something different:
- Press + R to open a run window.
- Type PowerShell and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to run it as administrator.
- Type the following three commands:
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="ProjectZomboid Port 16261" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=16261
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="ProjectZomboid Port 16262" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=16262And now your firewall has been magically configured!
Step 6: Port forwarding
Now, let’s move forward by port forwarding. Before doing that, you would want to set a static IP address on your computer.
After you’ve done that, you can move forward with the actual port forwarding:
First, you’ll need to know what the IP addresses of your computer and router are. This can be done by doing the following:
- Press + R to open a run window.
- Type CMD and press Enter. (This should open a black window.)
- Please type “ipconfig” and press enter.
You’ll see some information about the network settings:
You’ll want to make a note of the “Default Gateway” & IPv4 address; in my case, it is:
- Default Gateway: 192.168.2.254
- IPv4 address: 192.168.2.202
You’ll need to enter this address in your browser and log in to your router. Visit this site to find your specific model and were to find the Port Forward settings.
Once you’ve navigated to the Port Forwarding rules, please enter the following information:
| Rule Name | IP Address | Port Range | Protocol |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Zomboid Client Port | -Your IPv4 Address- | 16261 | UDP |
| Project Zomboid Direct Connect | -Your IPv4 Address- | 16262 | UDP |
Now hit save, and your Project Zomboid server is open to the public!
But your friends still don’t know where to find you. For that, you’ll need your public IP address. You can use a site like www.whatismyip.com to get your public IP address.
Step 7: Connecting to your Project Zomboid server
Woohoo! You’ve made it to the last step! You’re in the home stretch.
Now you can finally boot up Project Zomboid.
Once in the main menu, click on Join.
This will pop up a new window.
In this window, you can enter the following:
Only YOU can use "localhost" as the address, your friends will need to enter you public IP address.
You can find your public IP address on www.whatsmyip.com
- Favorite Name: A name you can easily recognize your server by.
- IP: The IP of your server (You need to enter “localhost” your friends need your public IP).
- Local IP: You can leave this empty
- Port: 16261
- Server Password: The server password set in step 4.
- Description: Optional, you can leave this empty for now.
- Account Username: Zomboid Account Username.
- Account Password: Zomboid Account Password
That’s it! You now have a running Project Zomboid server using SteamCMD!
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By Thijs van Loef
Posted on: 01/12/2022
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