Project Zomboid: Make Loot More (or Less) Common

Each of these is its own dropdown, so you can make ammo rare while food stays plentiful:

Food, Canned Food, Melee Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Ammunition, Medical Supplies, Survival Gear, Mechanics, Literature, Other Loot

Food covers fresh food that can spoil; Canned Food covers canned and dried goods and drinks; Ranged Weapons includes weapon attachments; Other Loot is everything that does not fit the rest.

Every category uses the same scale:

• None: the category does not spawn at all

• Insanely Rare: nearly nothing (about 5% of normal)

• Extremely Rare: scraps (about 20% of normal)

• Rare: scarcity is the challenge (about 60% of normal)

• Normal: the standard loot amount

• Common: comfortable (twice normal)

• Abundant: shelves are stocked (three times normal)

1. Open your server's settings and find the loot dropdowns.

2. Set each category to taste.

3. Save, then restart the server.

The game rolls loot for a building the first time a player gets there. That roll is baked into your save, so changing rarity afterward does not re-roll explored places. Your new settings apply everywhere your group has not been yet, and the map is huge, so in practice: loot up, then push into fresh neighborhoods.

Loot respawn is off by default and separate from rarity. It can be turned on through the Sandbox Overrides box at the bottom of your settings, one line per setting, for example:

HoursForLootRespawn = 168

That respawns loot in town containers every 168 in-game hours, in containers that have been looted at least once. Buildings your players barricaded or built in are left alone by default. The override syntax is covered in Change Any Sandbox Setting; message us if you want a full respawn recipe for your playstyle.

• Restarting again and again. Restarts apply your settings; they do not re-roll loot in explored buildings.

• Setting everything to Abundant to refill looted areas. Same rule: explored places keep their contents. Head somewhere new.

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

Ping us on Discord or open a ticket and tell us how survival-y you want the run to feel. We will suggest a category-by-category spread.