If you run a 7 Days to Die dedicated server and moved to V3, your old serverconfig.xml habits can quietly break things. Here are four things worth checking before the next blood moon.
1. Gameplay settings now live in SandboxCode
Since V3.0 ("Dead Hot Summer", June 2026), legacy properties such as GameDifficulty, BloodMoonFrequency, LootAbundance and DropOnDeath were folded into a single SandboxCode property. Build your rules in the in-game Sandbox Options menu, copy the generated code, paste it into the config and restart. V3.1 later split enemy and animal density into day and night values, so re-check older preset codes: a code in the old format can fall back to defaults.
2. Crossplay and mods don't mix
PS5 and Xbox Series players can join dedicated servers, but only unmodded ones that pass The Fun Pimps' crossplay checklist (ServerAllowCrossplay, EACEnabled, IgnoreEOSSanctions and a set of gameplay ranges). A crossplay server is capped at 8 concurrent players and needs Easy Anti-Cheat on. A PC-only group can ignore that list and run code mods with EACEnabled set to false.
3. Size the server on zombies and world size, not slots
ServerMaxPlayerCount defaults to 8, but MaxSpawnedZombies (one cap for the whole map) and GameWorld / WorldGenSize matter more for performance. Two servers with the same slot count can be very different workloads. A rough guide: about 6 GB RAM for Navezgane or a modest random world with a small group, around 10 GB for bigger generated maps and higher zombie caps, and more for large worlds running an overhaul like Darkness Falls.
4. Update day: everyone on the same branch
Server and clients must run the same build. If friends can't connect after an update, they're often on a different Steam branch; switching to the Default Public Version usually fixes it. Take a backup before any major version jump, since the game warns when loading saves from an older version.
Bonus: V3.0 added a server command that resets every unprotected chunk, handy for restocking a looted map without wiping the save.
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