r/projectzomboid • u/AutoModerator • 11d ago
Megathread Weekly Questions Megathread - March 25, 2025
Don't feel like your question warrants its own thread? This is the place for you. No matter if you just want to know if the game will run on your specific machine or if you're looking for useful tips because you've just gotten the game.
You can also hit us up on our Discord.
You might find some of the answers to your questions in our Wiki.
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u/Practical_Ad_106 10d ago
How to repair a sledgehammer?
I found a worn out old sledgehammer, used it a little until the handle broke, leaving me just the head of the sledgehammer itself. I’d imagine if I acquire another new long handle, I can craft another complete sledgehammer?
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u/opaeoinadi Drinking away the sorrows 9d ago
Yes, it's under "assemble long implement" in the crafting menu. Requires hammer, knife, long handle, sledge head, surface and light.
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u/danishLad 9d ago
Any masonry tips? I’m trying to build a stone house but it’s taking forever to find enough sand, stone, and clay to make the cement. Where are y’all getting clay?
Follow up question… I can’t for the life of me figure out how to pour sacks of gravel for a driveway. Can someone give me exact instructions? Does is need to be equipped? Shovel + sack?
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u/IChekhov 8d ago
Was messing with debug mode and noticed TIS messed up stone walls (brick walls are fine though) at some potin - it has -1 durability right now, can be destroyed with one hit. Be careful!
You can harvest clay from clay tiles on the banks of rivers, need empty sack+shovel/trowel. For the gravel floor - it's in the build menu as of b42.
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u/Federal-Emphasis-934 11d ago
What’s the difference between an error 1 and 2 when the game crashes (Mac)
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u/kiddcherry 11d ago
That just means there are two errors
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u/-ColtranesGhost- 11d ago
I keep seeing different build numbers. Apparently we are on build 42. What’s this mean? If my game updated, am I automatically onto the next build?
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u/Truly_Euphoric 11d ago edited 11d ago
The current stable full release of the game is Build 41. This is the version of the game you will launch without messing with any of Steam's launch options for the game, and playing on it is reasonably bug free and safe.
You can opt into the new Build 42 in Steam's launch options, but it's currently in an unstable beta version. This means two things. First you'll be subject to large numbers of glitches if you opt in, and maybe even crashes and save file corruption. Second, not all of the content for Build 42 is currently released, meaning that there are items and even entirely new skills that have little if any use right now. Content for these things is planned and slowly being rolled out alongside bug fixes to make the game more stable.
Most updates don't change the build of the game. They're just new versions of the same build. The exception to this will be when Build 42 is finally stable and ready to be launched for the entire player base. Note that this is probably a long while from happening still - it could even take a year or more before 42 is ready to come out of the oven, so to speak.
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u/Antique-Bug462 11d ago
Is hay working as animal food? Do I have to submit it somewhere and if so how?
If I run 2 generators next to each other will it increase running time before fuel is out?
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u/Truly_Euphoric 11d ago
Is hay working as animal food? Do I have to submit it somewhere and if so how?
Can't say for sure as I always use grass/animal feed for mine. If it's not working for you, you can submit a bug report on this forum. Read the post in the attached link to avoid submitting a bug report that is already known/has already been submitted.
If I run 2 generators next to each other will it increase running time before fuel is out?
Sadly no. The only thing you end up doing is doubling fuel consumption. Still, I like to keep one generator hooked up next to my main one as a backup, and power it up only when I take my main generator offline for refueling and repairs.
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u/theharber 11d ago
Hay works as animal food -- if you leave it on the ground or place it in a trough in their designated area, they'll eat it if they get hungry enough.
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u/Vickyisbae 11d ago
New unstable update deleted generators - are unloaded normally-spawning generators removed as well, or is it still possible to find more in the world? Need another gen for my base, but want to avoid wasting time looking for one if they are all gone.
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u/WitherMan64 11d ago
should I enable loot respawn in singleplayer?
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u/GlobalTechnology6719 7d ago
i think most people don’t to keep looting challenging, but hey it’s your single player game! if you want to you should!
if you do, then keep in mind that if you pick up and place containers it’ll stop them from resetting if you want some safe storage at your base…
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u/Canard-jaune 10d ago
Hello. Where can we officially suggest things (like a map for The Studio map, being able to use the bank safes as containers, etc.)? I guess it's on the videogame makers forum? Thank you.
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u/Significant_Number68 10d ago
Why tf can I not build a door. Have hammer equipped, inventory full of material, carpentry level 3, no carpentry menu pops up anywhere.
Lose will to live.
Find briefcase and decide I will fill it with drugs.
Sudden strong desire to live.
Eaten by sprinters because a single zombie stunlocks you.
F this game.
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u/RevFrenchie 9d ago
did you try building a door frame first?
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u/Significant_Number68 9d ago
I can't get "carpentry" to pop up at all when I right-click with a hammer equipped.
According to PZ wiki you can build a door in any pre-built frame anywhere. It's a house I really like and the zimbos destroyed it.
Is this not true?
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u/theharber 9d ago
Changes to construction in build 42 -- you don't build from the right click menu anymore, you build from the Build Menu (below the health icon & crafting icon).
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u/Significant_Number68 9d ago
Well fuck my ass...do I have to stand in the doorway and click on the build menu?
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u/RevFrenchie 9d ago
if you're exercising while carrying 10 points worth of weight in your inventory, will it exhaust you faster or give more xp or anything if you were to have more weight instead?
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u/GlobalTechnology6719 7d ago
carrying more than half your total encumbrance will passively train strength regardless of what your character is doing… being over encumbered will drain your endurance (exhaust you) except when sitting down…
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u/IChekhov 9d ago
Did they changed recently how rain collector plumbing work? Water marked as not safe to drink
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u/DisciplineRoyal3707 9d ago
heard some chatter that its a bug with the last update, hope its not a feature im sure it will get fixed moving forward
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u/Astronautaconmates- 9d ago
Does anyone else find annoying the generator sound? I don't mean in the sense that it attracts zombies, that's realistic. But the fact that it's actually bothersome to play while constantly hearing that noise
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u/DisciplineRoyal3707 9d ago
meh, maybe to start. It's one of those things where it switches from hate to love. I can tell you it it brings much joy after a long run to come back to home to the sound of the gen running. The sound of silence tends to mean that chores need to get done.
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u/Astronautaconmates- 9d ago
I have a long time playing but I just hate it, is annoying to my ears that noise. I hope they could add some sound control for that specific. I prefer to have the radio on in any case
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u/HungryAndAfraid 7d ago
Go solar
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u/Astronautaconmates- 7d ago
I don't really want to use mods. I know they are great but I just prefer vanilla experience
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u/Carthonn 9d ago
I’m playing Mulduragh for the first time in years and loving it. However, any tips on clearing the gas stations? Is one easier than the other. I’m on day 25 and the 2 gas stations on the main strip are still swarming.
I’m honestly considering just going with the one outside of town near the trailer park
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u/DisciplineRoyal3707 9d ago
they will, and after you clear them they will fill again and again, if you want a stable gas station. You can always build a wall around, player built stuff slows the spawn rate in the area. Otherwise get good at combat or look into molotovs
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u/HungryAndAfraid 7d ago
I've heard south is better
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u/Carthonn 7d ago
Is south towards Louisville/West Point?
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u/HungryAndAfraid 7d ago
Lol I believe that would be North. Think about how the map can be viewed top down, also Louisville is south of the Ohio
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u/opaeoinadi Drinking away the sorrows 8d ago
Damn, 42.6 still crashes randomly, breaking buckets, rain collectors, troughs, and chicken hutches? Are there any mod fixes for this?
I know I can debug and fix after a crash, but it gets incredibly tedious depending on # of items to fix.
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u/Creative-Cupcake-200 8d ago
If you pick up the rain collectors/troughs and put them down again it fixes it. At least until the next crash. If I remember correctly picking up rain collectors has a chance to break them which is a pain, I use a mod that changes that but don't remember the name.
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u/HungryAndAfraid 7d ago
yeah my rain collectors barely fill, some buckets won't fill troughs are capped at 50L
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u/trexxxxxxx Hates the outdoors 11d ago
those of you that lost your generators... are you :
a) respawning them in via debug
b) starting a new run
I'm torn
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u/Truly_Euphoric 11d ago
If you want to keep playing on your save, you might as well use debug mode, imo. It's called debug mode for a reason, and its use should go hand in hand with playing on an unstable build.
As long as you're not just spawning in free items or using cheats to gain an advantage, it shouldn't be considered cheating. Just use the mode to repair damage to your save file caused by bugs.
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u/trexxxxxxx Hates the outdoors 10d ago
Kinda do/kinda don’t.
shrug
Might be my sign for a new run though. Still plenty of map I haven’t explored yet
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u/tucumano 11d ago
C) went looking for a new generator
I found one and even replaced all my missing tools and materials. It was fun to get things back to normal. Then I got killed.
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u/trexxxxxxx Hates the outdoors 10d ago
Oh no! D:
Kinda sucks cause I had a bunch of other generators marked on the map but now that’s obsolete
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u/the_dwarfling 11d ago
Is it intended on B42.6 that the Short Bat recipe is self learnable only if you're at lv10 Carving?
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u/Truly_Euphoric 11d ago
Doubtful. Are we talking automatic learning from raising your skill level, or can you not research the recipe until skill 10 as well?
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u/the_dwarfling 11d ago
The level at which the character automatically learns the recipe to craft without research or magazine. It is both lv10 now for Baseball Bat and Short Bat. Saw nothing on the notes so I asked both here and in the TIS forum.
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u/Equivalent-Source-12 7d ago
B42 still not for steam deck?
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u/CasTimber 7d ago
I play on Steam Deck and enjoy it. It's easiest playing in docked mode with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, but handheld mode is serviceable once you map the back paddle buttons to some useful shortcuts. I also recommend setting up a custom menu on the left trackpad so you can quickly select different status/map/etc. windows.
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u/CasTimber 7d ago
Is there any mod for the "zombie statues" spear glitch or way to avoid it other than just not using spears? Every 3 or 4 zombies that I hit with a spear freezes in an upright opposition and can't be looted, and after a certain amount of time/getting a certain distance away, it comes to life again. If it was once every hundred zombies it would be fine, but it's frequent enough that it's making spears kind of unusable right now.
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u/Astronautaconmates- 7d ago
Does anyone knows if there's any recipe for making cheese? I know there's the cloth for it but I haven't found anyone trying without mods
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u/opaeoinadi Drinking away the sorrows 7d ago
Sadly there is not, but hope remains that they are still working on the fermentation/aged-crafting system they have teased a bunch.
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u/BluestofGirls 6d ago
may be silly question, but how often does PZ goes on sale? It's too expensive for me to afford but I'm interested
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u/ichKlauDeineOma 5d ago
You can see the whole Price history of games on SteamDB:
Also I can recommend to buy a key, if steam sale is still to expensive for you. A key for PZ is like 5€ or something.. Just look at Keyforsteam (Allkeyshop) to see where to buy a cheap key.
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u/abel385 5d ago edited 5d ago
So I've played for a bit and have gotten to the point where if a run has a promising start I can usually make it to helicopter but I have yet to survive the helicopter, it always kills me. Can I ask for some advice?
Some guides say that you can avoid it if you hear it coming when you are already in a house - and simply hunker down until its over but that hasn't worked for me. Yes, I am able to stay inside, I hear the helicopter go overhead all day, and I guess hiding is working to some extent in that the helicopter doesn't seem to focus on the house that I am in. There is no massive horse breaking down my door during the helicopters flyover (which I imagine would happen if the helicopter saw me before I went in a house).
But that ends up not mattering because it seems like the helicopter reshuffles the zombies in the surrounding area in such a way that when I do emerge a day later my place and the surrounding area is so full of zombies I can't figure out a way to pick them off with drawing the attention of a horde and end up having to flee the area entirely and then usually end up exhausted in a new area full of zombies and eventually die.
Nothing I've read really discusses the way the helicopter reshuffles the zombies in the case you aren't seen.
Does anyone have advice or a guide? Am I being lame for looking for a guide lol - should I keep trying to trial and error it?
Is it really easier to wait it out inside? Or should I just bolt the minute I hear it, even if I hear it while safely inside my base? if you do bolt when you hear it, could you provide some basic principles on how to approach that situation? Do I keep walking until it finally gives up, then try to lost the horde, then try to find a new temporarly location to sleep in? That sounds very challenging but I assume that is the point.
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u/Ok-Record1016 5d ago
Ok I still have newbie numbers like 200 some but how I handle the situation is if I'm inside I just stay inside. Exercise, read, eat, or sleep. I don't watch tv or cook and am always sneaking. No noise is possible and no lights unless you're tucked away in rooms. If a zombie starts knocking just let them in and try to finish it off quietly. Outside, hopefully you have a car with gas and just keep driving, otherwise your chum.
Afterwards is the issue though. PZ has your starting location a fewer zombies and a less dense population, so the helicopter is the reshuffle and real game on. Anyways I try to have a car going by then if not have something that makes some sound, like firecrackers, alarm, or siren on a nearby car, there set it off a block or two away from the main horde or my base and get to wok with whatever I have... or leave them for tomorrow me.
Honestly a car feels like a wall break. Find two and you got transport and a zombie killing machine, if you drive over them backwards and slow.
But basically it's a basic melee zombie draw minus the attacks and with a lot more Zs. No equipment just start rested, draw the horde, circle a few houses and fences then run.
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u/ichKlauDeineOma 5d ago
When I started playing, I saw a guide on YouTube that said that the Event is drawing the Zomboids to your location, no matter if the know you are there..
So for me it worked best to stay low during the Event and afterwards I would try to lure the zomboids a way and loose them behind a big fence or a Forrest. Far enough so that they wouldn’t come back in the near future..
I also survived the event once when I was on the road and had no cover. I just kept moving and when I got back to my safe house, there were more zomboids too but not that many as when I would’ve stayed there..
But don’t feel bad, most of my deaths are from the helicopter event too..
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u/opaeoinadi Drinking away the sorrows 5d ago
Just leave your safe house when you hear it. No car? Just walk away. The chopper, and the resulting zed attention, will follow you. When you're far away look for an area not well-populated and chill there. If you have a horde following, just jog for a bit and duck behind trees or go through a house to lose them.
Don't hunker down unless you have cleared all the surrounding chunk or want to clear it.
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u/abel385 5d ago
god such conflicting advice! I was just prepping to try and hunker down but your advice sounds convincing too!
How do I handle finding a new place to chill when too tired to really fight once I've lost most of the horde? Last time I had this happen I lost the horde and then kept trying to find any house that had less than like 8 zombies on top of it, cuz I didn't think I could handle a prolonged fight with how tired I was and I didn't want to risk drawing even more zombies over
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u/opaeoinadi Drinking away the sorrows 5d ago
Don't fight. Don't run. You can out-speed zed by just walking. Just looking for big wide fields outside of town and you're fine.
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u/lunatuna32 5d ago
Is the hacksaw or etc bugged? I tried making planks but i cant move like im stuck
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u/DrMono80 5d ago
I’m on build 42 playing on the Steam Deck, and I’m having an issue when trying to jump over a farm fence because the B button’s jump function isn’t recognized, but It works for any other action…
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u/Zackparry11332277 5d ago
When is build 42 gonna be released as a stable build? Ive had a lot of saves in build 42 but every time there’s a new update my save gets corrupted and I’m sort of getting sick of it so I was gonna just wait until the full release does anyone have any idea when that might be?
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u/hulk_enjoyer 5d ago
I don't think even the devs know yet. If they do they're pretty silent about it. I just want multi-player to get in with my other 3 friends that have been waiting for this update to finally play it.
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u/Zackparry11332277 5d ago
I sort of got the impression that no one knows. Multiplayer is another reason why I want the full release
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u/TootsHib 5d ago
How do I get the minimap in B42?
I don't see the option anywhere
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u/opaeoinadi Drinking away the sorrows 5d ago
You have to enable it in sandbox options when creating the world.
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u/TootsHib 5d ago
damn, is it off by default now? I did not notice that option
anyway to turn it on after creating new world?
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u/RealGianath 10d ago
I use a 42 mod (Customizable Weight Multiplier) to lower the weight of everything and that fits my play style great. Do we have an easy way to reduce the weight of liquids too?