Project Zomboid Server Hosting on Your Own VPS

Pick Project Zomboid as the game of our Game Server, choose a plan and pay. We build the VPS (KVM, NVMe, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS); about six minutes after boot the panel is ready, and the server then downloads Project Zomboid's dedicated server from Steam, which takes several minutes more, and starts. You get:

• A Project Zomboid dedicated server on Steam's public branch, with an in-game admin account named admin and a random 16-character password, both in the server's Startup tab.
• Pterodactyl, an open-source (MIT) web panel, at an HTTPS address like game-k3x9q2.devoster.app, with a console, file manager, SFTP on port 2022, two backup slots and schedules. You are its admin and log in with your email and a generated password shown in the Devoster dashboard.
• Ports 16261 and 16262 (UDP) open on your dedicated IPv4 address.

The software is free; you pay only the VPS plan, with 10% off yearly. The server comes with full root, free nightly backups kept 3 days plus one snapshot, 1 Gbps with unlimited bandwidth and network-level DDoS protection from the datacenter. Already have a Devoster VPS? You can reinstall it with the Game Server from VPS Control at no charge. Other apps are on the One-Click Apps page.

Project Zomboid is a trademark of The Indie Stone. Devoster is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Indie Stone.

Project Zomboid is a Java game and a hungry one. The plan's RAM is fixed for the game and never reclaimed by the host; about 768 MB stays with the panel and Ubuntu. On every start, the server's Java heap is set to 70% of the server's memory, because the game's native code needs the rest. The game's own default asks for 8 GB or more, which would not fit smaller plans.

These are estimates, not guarantees: a long-running world with many explored cells, lots of zombies and Workshop mods needs more. After upgrading your plan, raise the server's memory in the panel's admin area; the heap follows on the next start.

• Joining: in the game, Join, then enter your server's IP address (or its devoster.app address) and port 16261, with a username and password of the player's choosing. The first time a player joins, that becomes their account on your server.
• You as admin: join with the username admin and the ADMIN_PASSWORD from the Startup tab to get admin powers in the game. The console takes server commands too, such as servermsg, save and kickuser.
• Keeping it private: the server's settings are in .cache/Server/devoster.ini in the file manager. Set a Password there, or set Open to false and add players yourself, then restart.
• Workshop mods: list the Workshop IDs in WorkshopItems= and the mod IDs in Mods= in the same file; the server downloads them when it starts, and players get them when they join.

• Game updates: the server updates itself from Steam every time it starts. We also watch Steam: when a new Project Zomboid build ships, the server announces a restart in five minutes in the game and then restarts to update, so players on the new version can still join.
• Branches: it runs Steam's public branch. To run a beta branch, set SRCDS_BETAID in the Startup tab; your players need the same branch.
• Daily restart: early each morning, with the same five-minute warning, which also keeps a long-running world fresh. Change or switch it off in the Schedules tab.
• Backups: two backup slots in the panel, kept on the VPS, so download the ones that matter now and then. Nightly VPS backups (kept 3 days) and your snapshot cover the whole server.
• Another Project Zomboid server: if you create one yourself in the admin area, set AUTO_UPDATE to 1 in its Startup tab so it updates too.

The panel can't send email, because outbound mail is blocked on our VPSes. To let a co-admin restart the server or edit its settings, create their account in the panel's admin area with a password you give them, then add them from the server's Users tab.

The server is in Utah, USA, our only location: typical round trips are under about 70 ms across the continental US and Canada. The VPS is unmanaged; you have full root, and the mods you install and the people you let in are your responsibility. Every player needs their own copy of the game.