Mod Load Order and Custom Maps
Project ZomboidGuideReorder your mods right in the dashboard, and install custom map mods the reliable way: tile packs first, map folder on the Maps list, vanilla map last.
How load order works in Project Zomboid
Mods load top to bottom in the order the server lists them.
Libraries and frameworks first. Things like shared frameworks or tile packs must load before the mods that depend on them.
Later wins on conflicts. If two mods edit the same item or recipe, the one loading later overrides the earlier one.
Requirements you install through our Mods panel are ordered after the mod that needs them automatically.
If a mod’s Workshop page says "load this after X" or "put this at the bottom", that is what the order editor is for.
Reorder your mods
1. Open your server’s Mods panel.
2. Click the Load order button (it shows how many mods are enabled).
3. Move mods into place, then hit Save. The new order applies on the next restart.
Install a custom map mod
Map mods (new towns, new regions, vehicle interiors like RV Interior) ship a map folder on top of the mod itself. Two steps:
1. Install the mod from the Mods panel like any other mod. If the map needs tile packs (the Workshop page will say so), install those too and put them before the map mod in the load order.
2. Add the map folder name to the Maps setting. When we can detect the map folder from the mod’s Workshop page, the mod’s row shows a Map chip and an Add to map list button that does this for you. Otherwise, look at the bottom of the Workshop description for a line like Map Folder: map_distanciado and add that name to the Maps field in your settings, before the vanilla entry, separated by a semicolon, and always keep Muldraugh, KY last:
map_distanciado;Muldraugh, KYSave and restart. Several maps chain the same way: NewTown;OtherPlace;Muldraugh, KY.
Adding a map to a world you already play
New map areas appear where they belong in the world, and your existing progress stays. Two honest limitations, both Project Zomboid rules:
Areas you have already explored are baked into your save. A new map that overlaps explored ground will not appear there.
Some maps only fully work on a fresh world. The mod’s Workshop page usually says which kind it is.
Your world is backed up automatically before restarts, so trying a map is safe: if you do not like it, remove it from Maps and the mod list, and restore the backup if needed.
Things that will NOT fix it
Installing the map mod without touching the Maps setting. The mod loads, but the game never mounts the map, so nothing appears. This is the number one reason "the map mod does nothing".
Putting the map before its tile packs. Tiles must load first or the map shows broken squares.
Removing Muldraugh, KY from the list. The vanilla map stays last in the list unless a mod’s page explicitly says to replace it.
Load order changes and Maps changes both take effect the next time the server starts.
