Project Zomboid: Set the Day Length and Start Date

1. Open your server's settings and find Day Length.

2. Pick one of the 27 values, from 15 minutes per day all the way up to real-time. The game's default in Build 42 is 1 Hour, 30 Minutes.

3. Save, then restart the server.

A few common picks from the list:

• 30 Minutes: fast and deadly, the calendar races

• 1 Hour: a brisk survival pace

• 1 Hour, 30 Minutes: the Build 42 default

• 2 Hours to 4 Hours: relaxed evenings with time to loot and build

• Real-time: one in-game day per real day

Longer days give your group more real time per in-game day: more daylight per session, more time before food spoils in real-world terms, a slower-feeling apocalypse. Shorter days do the opposite. This is safe to change mid-playthrough as often as you like.

Start Month, Start Day, and Start Time set the calendar and clock for a newly created world. A December start means winter from day one: cold, short days, dead crops. The standard start is July 9, 1993.

These are what the game calls world-baked settings: they are read once at world creation. Changing them on a world you already play does not time-travel that world; its calendar just keeps advancing from wherever it is. If you want a winter start, set these before creating the world (or reset the world, which starts a fresh one).

• Changing Start Month on an existing world to change the season. The season comes from the in-game calendar as it advances. To see winter, either keep surviving until it arrives or start a fresh world.

• Changing Day Length to make food last longer in-game. Day length changes real time per in-game day; spoilage runs on in-game time. For spoilage itself, see the food article below.

• Restarting without saving. Settings apply on restart, but only after you hit Save.

Ping us on Discord or email support@haptic.gg. Tell us the session rhythm of your group and we will suggest a day length that fits.