Project Zomboid: Choose When Water and Electricity Shut Off

Each dropdown gives the game a window, and the game secretly picks one day inside it. Your players never know the exact day, which is the fun.

Water Shutoff options:

• Instant

• 0 - 30 Days (default)

• 0 - 2 Months

• 0 - 6 Months

• 0 - 1 Year

• 0 - 5 Years

• 2 - 6 Months

• 6 - 12 Months

• Disabled

Electricity Shutoff options:

• Instant

• 14 - 30 Days (default)

• 14 Days - 2 Months

• 14 Days - 6 Months

• 14 Days - 1 Year

• 14 Days - 5 Years

• 2 - 6 Months

• 6 - 12 Months

• Disabled

Disabled means that utility never shuts off. Water windows can start at day 0; electricity always keeps at least 14 days unless you pick Instant.

1. Open your server's settings and go to the Details tab.

2. Find Water Shutoff and Electricity Shutoff and pick a window for each, or Disabled.

3. Save, then restart the server.

One catch: the windows count from the game's standard start date (July 9, 1993), not from when your server was created. If you set a later Start Month for a new world, part or all of a short window may already be used up on day one.

Two settings can leave a fresh world dark, and both are quick to check on the Details tab:

• Electricity Shutoff is set to Instant. Instant shuts the power off as soon as the world starts.

• Start Month is later than July. The shutoff clock counts from July 9, 1993, so a world that starts months later can already be past a short window when your players first spawn.

Whatever the cause, the fix in the next section turns the power back on without resetting anything. If neither setting above applies, use that fix anyway: it does not depend on why the power went out.

This is the one people think is impossible. It is not:

1. In your settings, find Water Shutoff Day Override and Electricity Shutoff Day Override. They are exact day numbers; -1 means automatic (the game uses the window you picked above).

2. Set the override to a day later than your world's current day, counted from July 9, 1993. Day 40 and you want two more weeks of power? Set the electricity override to 54. If your world started in a later month, count from July 9, not from your first day, or just use 9999.

3. Save and restart. The utility runs again until the new day arrives.

Set the override to 9999 and the lights stay on for the rest of the run. To undo, set it back to -1 and the window you picked takes over again on the next restart.

• Restarting, resetting, or re-uploading to bring the power back. The shutoff day is part of the world. Only the Day Override settings (or in-game generators) restore utilities.

• Setting an override of 0. Anything below 1 is treated as -1 (automatic), so 0 does not keep the power on.

• Refrigeration or spoilage settings. A fridge without power does nothing regardless of those dials; fix the power first.

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

Ask on Discord or open a ticket. Include your world's current in-game day and the values of the four shutoff settings.