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Getting Started in Project Zomboid

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Tactical Quick Answer

Project Zomboid is a hardcore survival simulation set in Knox Country where your eventual death is inevitable and survival is the only goal. Your first day comes down to closing the curtains, grabbing a kitchen weapon and a bag, watching the Life and Living TV channel for skill XP, and filling every container with water before the municipal supply shuts off. Walk or sneak instead of running, and never take on more than two zombies at once as a new character.

Project Zomboid is a hardcore simulation where your eventual death is inevitable. Survival is your only goal. When you spawn into Knox Country, you start with nothing. This guide covers how to survive your first few days before the water and power shut off.

The First Day Priority List​

When you spawn inside a house, immediately close the curtains, and hang sheets over any window that has none. Zombies can see you through windows, and a covered window blocks line of sight in both directions. Once secure, follow this sequence:

  1. Find a weapon: Check the kitchen for a rolling pin, frying pan, or meat cleaver. Almost anything is better than bare hands.
  2. Find a bag: Look in closets and school bags. Garbage bags work in a pinch. You need carrying capacity to haul loot.
  3. Watch Life and Living TV: Tune any television to the Life and Living channel. The default start is 9:00 AM on Day 1, and you have not missed the morning show: the game replays a broadcast from its first line when you tune in, so the 6:00 AM Cooking episode still pays out in full. The only Day 1 slot genuinely gone is the midnight Fishing episode. Broadcasts run at 6:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 6:00 PM. The morning slot teaches Cooking, noon teaches Carpentry every day through Day 7, and the evening slot rotates through Fishing, Farming, Foraging, and Trapping, apart from Day 4 whose evening episode teaches no skill at all. Day 8 runs Cooking at 6:00 AM and Carpentry at 6:00 PM with an advert at noon, Day 9 has a final Cooking broadcast at 6:00 AM, and the channel cuts to static on Day 10.
    • XP Multipliers: Experience is distributed in ticks. Read the corresponding skill book before watching to multiply these ticks and skip the early-game grind. Build 42 caps television XP at skill level 3, so it gives you a start without carrying you.
  4. Scavenge food: Prioritize fresh food like fruit and vegetables from refrigerators. Save canned goods for later when the power fails and fresh food rots.
  5. Fill water containers: Fill cooking pots, saucepans, and empty bottles with water from the sink. On default settings the municipal water supply shuts off on a random day within the first 30 days. Power lasts a little longer, because the electricity shutoff rolls somewhere between day 14 and day 30.

Managing Needs​

Your character has physical and mental needs represented by Moodles on the right side of the screen. Keep an eye on them.

  • Hunger and Thirst: Eat and drink regularly. Any positive hunger moodle makes you heal dramatically faster, on the order of seven times, and clears poisons quicker. Build 41 also gave a carrying capacity bonus for being well fed, which Build 42 removed.
  • Fatigue: You need sleep. Fighting while tired drastically reduces your melee damage and vision radius, costing you half your damage at Drowsy and up to 95% once you are Ridiculously Tired.
  • Panic: Facing zombies causes panic. High panic reduces firearm accuracy and critical hit chance, and at its worst it cuts your vision radius sharply. Beta blockers and alcohol stop panic temporarily.
  • Boredom and Unhappiness: Staying indoors too long makes your character bored, and sustained boredom turns into Unhappiness, and that is what actually slows every action you take, by up to a quarter. Boredom on its own costs you nothing. Read books, eat high-quality meals, pet an animal, or step outside to clear both.

Sneaking and Evasion​

Running attracts zombies. Always walk or sneak when exploring. Press C to crouch and reduce your noise profile. Use fences and trees to break line of sight if a horde spots you.

Fighting more than two zombies at once is a death sentence for a new character. Backpedal while swinging your weapon. Whether you can simply turn around and walk away depends on the zombie speed setting, and the Apocalypse default is Fast Shamblers and not plain Shamblers. Roughly one zombie in three gets a quicker gait that will run you down at walking pace. Plain Shamblers, which is the Initial Infection default, is the setting where walking away reliably works. Save sprinting for absolute emergencies, as it drains your endurance quickly.

Frequently Asked Questions​

What should you do first in Project Zomboid?

Close the curtains the moment you spawn, because zombies can see you through windows, and hang sheets over any window that has none. Then find a weapon in the kitchen, find a bag for carrying capacity, scavenge fresh food, and fill every pot and bottle with water from the sink.

When does the Life and Living channel stop broadcasting?

Day 9 carries the last broadcast worth watching, a Cooking show at 6:00 AM, and the channel cuts to static on Day 10. Day 8 runs Cooking at 6:00 AM and Carpentry at 6:00 PM with only an advert at noon.

How long until the water shuts off in Project Zomboid?

On default settings the water shuts off on a random day within the first 30 days, while electricity rolls between day 14 and day 30, so power usually outlasts water. Fill cooking pots, saucepans, and empty bottles from the sink while it still runs.

Can you outrun zombies in Project Zomboid?

It depends on the speed setting. The Apocalypse default is Fast Shamblers, where about one zombie in three moves quickly enough to catch you at a walk. On plain Shamblers, the Initial Infection default, walking away works reliably. Sprinting is an emergency option because it drains endurance fast.

Why does my character get depressed in Project Zomboid?

The moodle is Unhappiness, and boredom is what causes it. Staying indoors too long makes you bored, sustained boredom becomes unhappiness, and unhappiness is what slows every action by up to a quarter. Read books, eat good meals, pet an animal, or step outside.

Once you survive your first week, you need to transition to long-term survival. Check out these guides: