Everyone runs the same modset. If your mods do not match the server's, you get kicked or land on a black screen — so please do these steps in order, and start well before game night. The modpack is about 8.5 GB.
You will not find us by browsing the public server list. The server is unlisted on purpose — you have to add it directly, as in step 6.
Build 42 is the default now. If you previously opted into a beta branch for Build 41, switch back:
Steam → right-click Project Zomboid → Properties → Betas → set Beta Participation to None. Let it update.
Your Build 41 characters and worlds do not carry over. B42 changed the save and map formats and there is no converter. Fresh start for everyone.
This matters more than it sounds. Leftover Build 41 mods are the most common cause of failed joins, and B41 and B42 versions of the same mod conflict.
Steam → Workshop → Project Zomboid → Your Subscribed Items → unsubscribe from everything (there is an "Unsubscribe from all" option).
Open it and click Subscribe to all:
Eldradia B42 Collection → ~11.5 GB
That is our own collection — it mirrors exactly what the server loads, so there is nothing else to subscribe to.
Do not use Sophie's collection directly: it is missing a dependency the pack needs, and it changes whenever the author updates, which would put you out of step with the server.
Start well before game night and let Steam finish completely — it downloads in the background, and a half-finished modset will not connect.
Steam's "Subscribe to all" is unreliable on collections this big. It is widely reported to stall part-way through and quietly subscribe you to only some of them. You will not get an error — you will just get kicked at join time with no useful explanation.
Download Sync-EldradiaPZ.ps1 19 KB · PowerShell
Save it anywhere, then right-click it → Run with PowerShell. If Windows blocks it, open PowerShell in that folder and run:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\Sync-EldradiaPZ.ps1
It compares what you actually have against what the server actually
loads, and tells you exactly what is missing. Add -OpenMissing and it will open those Workshop pages in Steam for you to click Subscribe
on:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\Sync-EldradiaPZ.ps1 -OpenMissingIt only reads your Steam folder and writes one text file to your Desktop. It cannot subscribe for you — Steam provides no supported way to do that, and the unsupported way risks your account.
Keep re-running it until it says READY.
The script is generated from the server's own mod list. If the modpack changes, download a fresh copy from this page rather than reusing an old one.
By default Project Zomboid only lets itself use 3 GB of RAM, and there is no in-game setting for it. That is not enough for 346 mods; you will get long loads, stutter, or an outright crash. This is the single most common cause of "the modpack does not work for me".
ProjectZomboid64.json in Notepad.
vmArgs section find the line -Xmx3072m.
-Xmx8g — or -Xmx6g if you have 16 GB of RAM or less.
To confirm it took: launch the game, quit, then open C:\Users\<you>\Zomboid\console.txt and look near the top for Memory max:. If it still reads 3000-something, the edit did not save — check
you edited the file in the game folder, not the config folder.
This trips people up, so to be explicit: do not go into the Mods menu and try to turn 285 mods on. The server sends its mod list when you connect and enables them for you.
The only thing that can stop you joining is a mod you have not downloaded — the game says Mod "..." is not installed and refuses the connection. That is precisely what the checker in step 3b
catches.
The preset the checker copies to your clipboard is only useful if you want to play the same modset in single player.
Launch Project Zomboid and let it sit at the main menu for a minute. With 285 mods the first launch takes noticeably longer than vanilla — this is normal, not a freeze.
Join → Favourites (or Internet) → Add server, then fill in the details from the card at the top of this page.
Save, then connect. Your first connection is slower than later ones while the game checks every mod.
The pack went from 341 to
The hostile-NPC mod changed on 22 September. Bandits is out; the server now runs Project A-Life instead. Its encounters are switched off while we shake it down on a live world, so you should not meet armed NPCs at all right now. This page will say so when they are switched on.
The server swapped its NPC engine on 22 September. Bandits is gone; Project A-Life replaces it — survivor factions that patrol, hold territory, and keep moving around the map even when nobody is near them.
Currently on standby. Encounters, raids, robbery and faction fighting are all switched off while we test it against a live save, so nothing should be shooting at you yet. We will turn them on gradually.
The Whennyago Initiative — a full motorhome you can drive, with a walkable interior you can furnish. Look for them at campgrounds, junkyards and parking lots in areas nobody has explored yet.
We also fixed the anti-cheat kicks people were getting when walking around inside RV interiors. If you were avoiding them because of that, they are safe now.
Nothing here changes how the world works — it is all quality of life, and none of it is compulsory. You do not need to enable anything; as always, just subscribe and the server does the rest.
Unrelated, but worth knowing: Build 42 lets you pack skill books into sets. Right-click Volume 1 of any skill book (or open the crafting window and find the Packing tab) and you can bundle a whole skill's set into one item. Enormously less inventory weight on a long run. It works for all 24 skills.
The server may simply be down, or restarting for a mod update. Restarts take a few minutes. If it persists, say so in Discord rather than reinstalling anything.
Check you typed home.dehaven.info and port 16261 exactly. The server is unlisted, so browsing the public list will never find it.
Almost always a modset mismatch. Re-download the checker from step 3b and run it again — an old copy is generated from an old mod list and will tell you that you are READY when you are not.
You have a mod the server does not, or a stale Build 41 mod. Work through step 2 again and unsubscribe from everything, then re-subscribe to the collection.
Same cause as above. The server only accepts the exact modset it runs. Anything extra you have subscribed to has to go.
Give it several minutes on first launch — 285 mods is genuinely slow to index. If it never finishes, you almost certainly skipped step 4: the default 3 GB memory limit cannot load this pack.
Post the last 40 lines of C:\Users\<you>\Zomboid\console.txt in Discord. That file names the actual failing mod, which no amount of guessing will.