7 Days to Die: maps, seeds, and Random World Generation

• Navezgane: the game's handcrafted map. Familiar layout, well-stocked points of interest, and it starts in a couple of minutes. The safe default.

• Pregen 6K (1), Pregen 6K (2), Pregen 8K (1), Pregen 8K (2): random maps the game ships pre-built, in 6144 and 8192 block sizes. You get a map nobody has memorized without waiting for generation, so they start as fast as Navezgane.

• Random World Generation (RWG): your server builds a unique map from a seed you choose. This is the only option that takes real time on first startup.

Want a fresh map and do not care about the seed? Pick a Pregen map and skip the wait entirely.

Switching World to a different map means your server starts a brand new save on that map. That is a 7 Days to Die rule, not ours: a save belongs to one map, so your bases and progress cannot move to a different one.

Nothing is deleted. That includes switching to Random World Generation and setting its World Seed and World Size in the same save: it is an ordinary save, and the server builds that map at its next start. Your old save is still on the server under its own map name, and it is inside your backups, so it is there to go back to as long as you have not started a new world in between (New World clears the saves of every map on the server).

Player levels and skills live in the world save too, so a map change means everyone starts over. Worth a heads-up in your Discord before you press save.

Pick Random World Generation and two more fields appear: World Seed and World Size.

The same seed plus the same size always builds the same map, so sharing a seed gets you and a friend identical worlds. Any text works as a seed.

Size sets how long the first startup takes:

6144, the default, is plenty for most groups. Bigger maps use more disk space and load slower for first-time joiners.

If console players are part of your group, keep the size at 8192 or below: bigger worlds are reported to lose crossplay, a game-side limit the dashboard does not enforce. See crossplay, EAC, and mods.

That is expected on the first boot of an RWG map: the server builds your map before it can accept anyone.

The badge reads Powering up for two minutes, then Preparing for the rest of the wait: a label change, not a stall.

There is no time limit on this first start: your server keeps generating until the map is done, however long your size takes.

Check back after the generation time for your size. Once the map exists, restarts take the normal minute or two.

The game names a random map after its seed and size, so a new seed or size is a different map, and it needs a new world. To build it:

1. Set your new World Seed or World Size on the Details tab and press Start New World in the save popup. Or press New World beside World Seed on the Basic tab and type the seed there.

2. In the Start a new world window, check the seed and size, then press and hold Start New World.

Haptic powers the server down if it is running, saves your current world as a backup, clears it, and starts the server, which generates the new map.

If you change WorldGenSeed or WorldGenSize in serverconfig.xml on the Files card instead, the server builds that map at its next start, and your old world stays in the saves folder under its own map name. Put the old seed and size back and it loads again.

More in Start a new world and pick its seed.

Gameplay settings, difficulty, zombie settings, loot abundance, blood moon frequency, day length, XP, apply to your existing world on the next restart and never regenerate anything. Only World, World Seed, and World Size change the map itself. (Latest Experimental has a caution of its own: your world is kept, but switching back to stable can break a save the experimental build changed, and the dashboard says so when you tick it.)

One extra world setting worth knowing on a long-running server: Chunk Reset Age (days) resets a chunk to its original state, loot included, if nobody has visited it in that many days. It is -1 (never) by default; 30 to 90 days suits an active server.

Reach us on Discord or at support@haptic.gg. Include your server name and which map, seed, and size you selected.