Project Zomboid Server Hosting Australia

What Is Project Zomboid Server Hosting?

Project Zomboid server hosting is a managed service that runs a Project Zomboid dedicated server on professional hardware in a datacentre, around the clock, so your group can keep looting, building and surviving in the same world whether or not you are online. Every GTX Gaming Project Zomboid server includes up to 10GB of RAM, up to 100GB of NVMe storage, automatic backups, enterprise DDoS protection and a web control panel, so jobs like changing the sandbox rules, adding Workshop mods or uploading a world take a few clicks instead of an evening of config files.

People search for it as a Project Zomboid dedicated server, a PZ server or simply a Project Zomboid server to rent, and they all mean the same thing: a private, always-on home for your own Project Zomboid server, with your world, your mods and your rules.

What Is Project Zomboid?

Project Zomboid is the open-world zombie survival game from The Indie Stone, who develop and publish it. Alone or in multiplayer, you loot, build, craft, fight, farm and fish to survive the outbreak in Knox Country, a quarantined corner of Kentucky. It has been in Early Access on Steam since 8 November 2013 and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Build 42: What It Means for Your Server

Build 42 went to the Stable branch, the default build on Steam, on 29 July 2026 as version 42.20. The Indie Stone's official Build 42 features overview lists, among much more:

• A crafting overhaul: selectable crafting inputs, workstations, and new crafting methods such as masonry, carving, knapping and blacksmithing.
• Animals and husbandry: sheep, chickens, pigs, cows, rats, rabbits and deer to raise, track and hunt.
• A bigger, darker world: a lighting overhaul with darker nights, basements, bunkers and much taller buildings, three new towns (Ekron, Irvington and Brandenburg), a map surface twice the size and randomised wilderness at its edges, set by world seeds.
• New ways to play: the Rancher occupation and new traits, a new firearm aiming system and 3D item placement for decorating your base.
• Fairer multiplayer: inventory, loot and all TimedActions now run on the server, with a full anti-cheat suite (Speed, Hit, NoClip, Inventory and more) on top.

Updates have continued since. Patch 42.20.3, on 17 August 2026, improved how servers handle their player limit, let administrators in when a server is full and fixed memory leaks. The latest Stable build when we wrote this in October 2026 was 42.21, released on 28 September 2026, which tackled zombie duplication and zombies disappearing, changed how the extra-large trees cut away and switched the loadstring and loadstream Lua methods back on for modders. Steam Update in your control panel installs each new version.

B42 Stable vs B41 Legacy: Which Should Your Server Run?

For a new world, run Build 42: it is the build every new player gets from Steam. Build 41 lives on as the legacy41 beta branch, still patched (the latest Legacy hotfix was 41.78.21, on 26 August 2026), for old worlds and Build 41 mod lists. We sell both as separate servers at the same prices:

• B42 server: Build 42.21 Stable, for new worlds and Build 42 mods. Players join with the normal Steam version.
• B41 server: Build 41 Legacy, for existing Build 41 worlds and mods. Players switch their game to legacy41 under Properties, Game Versions & Betas in Steam.

Two rules decide the rest. Your players must run the same build as your server, or they cannot join. And worlds do not move between builds: The Indie Stone says Build 41 savegames will not be compatible with Build 42, so moving from B41 to B42 means a fresh world. Our Build 42 upgrade and migration guide walks through every path.

Why Rent a Project Zomboid Server Instead of Self-Hosting?

The Indie Stone makes the Project Zomboid dedicated server free through SteamCMD, so you could run it on a spare machine at home. Most groups rent one instead:

• Always online: the world keeps running 24 hours a day, so anyone in your group can log in, tend the farm and reinforce the base without waiting for the host.
• Nothing to run at home: no ports to forward on your router and no PC left on overnight. The official start script reserves 16GB of memory for the server unless you change its -Xms and -Xmx values.
• Proper hardware: high-frequency CPUs and NVMe storage in a datacentre, with DDoS protection at the network edge.
• Backups and support: automatic backups and a 24/7 team turn a broken mod into an inconvenience, not the end of your run.

How to Set Up & Join Your Project Zomboid Dedicated Server

Your server is set up the moment you order. From there, getting your group into the world typically looks like this:

• Order: choose the B42 or B41 server, your plan and your location, and your server is ready within seconds.
• Name it: stop the server, set the server name, password and welcome message in GTXGaming.ini, then start it again.
• Join: in Project Zomboid, open Join, enter your server's IP address and port and connect, then type the password if you set one.
• Make yourself admin: once you are in, use the Web Console to give your account admin rights.

The game's default ports are 16261 and 16262 UDP, but GTX gives every server its own port, so always copy the full address from your control panel. Crossplay works across the Windows, macOS and Linux versions on Steam; Project Zomboid has no console version.

GTXGaming.ini, Sandbox Settings & Spawn Points

Your server's rules live in Configuration Files in the control panel, each with the Config Editor and most with the Text Editor too. Stop the server before you change them, then start it again:

• GTXGaming.ini: your server's main settings file, the same file the game calls servertest.ini. It holds the server name, server password, welcome message, PvP, the player count, whether the server is open or whitelisted, and the WorkshopItems=, Mods= and Map= lines for mods.
• GTXGaming_SandboxVars.lua: the world rules, such as zombie population, loot and day length. Sandbox changes need a world wipe to apply, so settle them before your group starts.
• GTXGaming_spawnpoints.lua and GTXGaming_spawnregions.lua: custom spawn points and spawn regions.
• Start.bat: sets the admin password.
• Backup.bat: the server's automatic backup system and log rotation.

Steam Workshop Mods on Your Project Zomboid Server

Project Zomboid mods live on the Steam Workshop, and the Steam Workshop tool in your control panel installs them without any file editing:

• Install: stop the server, open Steam Workshop, install the mods and maps you want from the Workshop or its collections, then start the server, which downloads them.
• Automatic configuration: the installer adds the Workshop IDs to the WorkshopItems= line and the mod IDs to the Mods= line, sets up maps and their spawn regions where the map supports them, and stops duplicate entries.
• Branches and variants: where a mod offers several branches, the first one loads and the others are listed as comments in GTXGaming.ini, ready to switch.
• The right build: Build 41 and Build 42 mods are not interchangeable. On Build 42 every mod ID on the Mods= line starts with a backslash; on Build 41 there is none.

Players install nothing: the game downloads the server's Workshop mods when they join. When an author updates a mod, players with the new version cannot join a server still running the old one, so set up a Workshop Update scheduled task, for example every 12 hours. Our guides cover installing Steam Workshop mods and maps and automating Workshop updates.

Admins, Restarts & Scheduled Tasks

To make yourself admin, join your server, open the Web Console in the panel and run the setaccesslevel command with the username you joined with. The same command promotes other players, or gives them a lower level such as moderator, as our guide to logging in as admin and promoting players explains.

Scheduled Tasks keep the server healthy while you sleep. The Restart with Messages task warns players in game at 10, 5, 2 and 1 minute, saves the world, restarts the server and takes a backup; see automatic restarts with warning messages.

Moving an Existing Project Zomboid World

Already surviving in a world on your own PC or with another host? You do not have to start again:

• Back it up: keep a copy of your world before you move it, and take a backup of the server too.
• Match the build: a Build 41 save runs only on a Build 41 server, so order the B41 Legacy server for an older world.
• Upload it: copy your save folder to the server with the File Manager, or with SFTP if you prefer a desktop client, and bring its settings across into GTXGaming.ini and the sandbox file.

Our 24/7 support team can help with the whole move. Our guides cover accessing your server files and connecting over SFTP.

Backups, Updates & Switching Builds

A good routine keeps your world safe through every patch:

• Backups: Backup.bat runs the automatic backups, and scheduled restarts take one too. You can restore your server from a backup or download your backups to your own computer.
• Updates: Steam Update installs the latest version of your server's build.
• Switching builds: to move a server from Build 41 to Build 42 or back, use Switch Game Server in the Client Area, as explained in switching your server to a different game. Your current server is backed up first and the other build starts with a clean install, so download a backup if you want your own copy.

How Much Does Project Zomboid Server Hosting Cost in Australia?

Pricing is simple: you choose your slots and your memory, with up to 10GB of RAM and up to 100GB of NVMe storage included on every server:

• Basic, 10 slots and 10GB: from A$18.58/mo. A group of friends surviving together.
• 20 slots: from A$36.37/mo. Bigger groups.
• Recommended, 20 slots and 12GB: A$50.04/mo. Bigger groups and modded worlds.
• 40 slots: from A$68.84/mo. Large communities.
• Ultra, 40 slots, 16GB and High CPU Priority: A$100.09/mo. Busy community and roleplay servers.
• 100 slots: from A$146.67/mo. The most players the game allows.

The Build 41 Legacy server costs the same, from A$18.58/mo. Every slot tier is in the full plan list at the top of this page, and you can build your own mix at checkout. All plans include instant setup, DDoS protection, automatic backups and 24/7 support, with no setup fee and no contract. Billing is monthly by default, with three-month, six-month and yearly cycles at 5%, 10% and 15% off, and you can change plan or cancel at any time.

How Many Slots & How Much RAM Does a Project Zomboid Server Need?

Choose a slot for every player who will be online at the same time: 10 slots suit a group of friends, 20 a bigger group and 30 to 50 a busy community. Project Zomboid's own server settings allow up to 100 players, default to 32 and warn that more than 32 players can lead to poor map streaming and desync, so grow past 32 step by step. Memory matters as much as slots. On our own 20 slot demo server, a fresh Build 42 world used about 3.8GB of memory with nobody online, with the CPU near idle. More players, a bigger explored map and Workshop mods all raise that, so the included 10GB fits a small to mid-sized group, while heavy modpacks or 30 or more players want 12GB to 16GB or more. The control panel shows live memory use, and you can change your RAM at any time, up to 64GB.

Locations for Project Zomboid Server Hosting

Melee fights and horde escapes are no fun with lag, so host close to your players. GTX Gaming runs Project Zomboid server hosting from an Australian datacentre in Sydney plus 18 more locations worldwide: Tokyo, Singapore and Mumbai in Asia; London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Madrid in Europe; New York, Ashburn, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Los Angeles, Portland and Quebec in North America; plus Moscow. Some locations carry a surcharge, shown at checkout. Use the live ping test above to find the lowest-latency location for your group and pick it at checkout.

Project Zomboid Server Hosting Glossary

Quick definitions of the terms you'll meet across Project Zomboid, our control panel and the Project Zomboid dedicated server:

Setup Guides & Help for Your Project Zomboid Server

Once your Project Zomboid server is live, our knowledgebase covers the common tasks, and the PZ wiki's dedicated server page explains the game's own server options in depth:

• Installing Steam Workshop mods and maps
• Build 42 upgrade and migration guide
• Logging in as admin
• Automatic restarts with warning messages
• Upgrading or downgrading your player slots
• All Project Zomboid help guides

Our 24/7 support team is on live chat and tickets for anything the guides don't cover:

Have any questions? Contact Us