How to Add a Custom Spawn to a Project Zomboid Server

To add a custom spawn to a Project Zomboid server, create servertest_spawnpoints.lua in Zomboid/Server/ with your coordinates, for example unemployed = { { posX = 10606, posY = 9474, posZ = 0 } }, and add { name = "Our Base", serverfile = "servertest_spawnpoints.lua" } to servertest_spawnregions.lua in the same folder. Use your server's name instead of servertest. Stop the server first, and keep SpawnPoint=0,0,0 in the ini, because any other value forces everyone to one spot and hides the spawn list.

What you are working with

Before you start

• Stop the server. It reads these files on start, and edits made while it runs are ignored.
• Back up the ini and the lua files in Zomboid/Server/.
• Know your server name. Home servers default to servertest. Every file name starts with it.
• Check the build. This guide uses the Build 42 format. Build 41 notes are at the end.

Step 1: Find the coordinates

Open the community map at map.projectzomboid.com, choose the right build, and hover over the spot. It shows the world tile coordinates x, y. The third number, z, is the floor: 0 outdoors and on ground floors, 1 for the first upstairs floor, and so on.

Pick an open tile, not a wall or a locked room. To check a spot in game, an admin can type /teleportto 10606,9474,0.

Step 2: Write the spawnpoints file

Create Zomboid/Server/servertest_spawnpoints.lua:

function SpawnPoints()
    return {
        unemployed = {
            { posX = 10606, posY = 9474, posZ = 0 },
            { posX = 10612, posY = 9480, posZ = 0 },
        },
        policeofficer = {
            { posX = 10863, posY = 10247, posZ = 0 },
        },
    }
end

Each key is a profession, written as its lowercase ID: unemployed, policeofficer, fireofficer, doctor and so on. A profession with no list of its own uses the unemployed list, so always include unemployed. Several points in one list spread players out, and the game picks one at random.

Build 42's own spawn files use these absolute posX, posY, posZ world coordinates, the same numbers the map shows.

Step 3: Add it to the spawn regions

Open Zomboid/Server/servertest_spawnregions.lua. It looks like this, with the default towns:

function SpawnRegions()
    return {
        { name = "Muldraugh, KY", file = "media/maps/Muldraugh, KY/spawnpoints.lua" },
        { name = "Riverside, KY", file = "media/maps/Riverside, KY/spawnpoints.lua" },
        { name = "Rosewood, KY", file = "media/maps/Rosewood, KY/spawnpoints.lua" },
        { name = "West Point, KY", file = "media/maps/West Point, KY/spawnpoints.lua" },
        { name = "Our Base", serverfile = "servertest_spawnpoints.lua" },
    }
end

Note the two keys. file points into the game's media/maps folder. serverfile points to a file in Zomboid/Server/, by file name only. Every entry ends with a comma.

To make your spawn the only choice, delete the town lines and keep yours.

Step 4: Check SpawnPoint in the ini

Open Zomboid/Server/servertest.ini and find:

SpawnPoint=0,0,0

Leave it at 0,0,0. Then start the server, make a new character and check that Our Base is in the list.

Spawns for map mods

Map mods usually ship their own spawnpoints.lua. With the mod installed and its folder in the ini's Map= line, add a region pointing to it:

{ name = "My Map Mod", file = "media/maps/<MapFolder>/spawnpoints.lua" },

<MapFolder> must match the mod's map folder name exactly, the same name you put in Map=, which you will find in the mod's files or Workshop description. Getting the map mod itself running is covered in how to add map mods to a Project Zomboid server.

The gotcha: SpawnPoint wins over everything

The ini has one line that silently overrides all of this. When SpawnPoint= holds anything other than 0,0,0, every new character spawns on that exact tile, the spawn region list is skipped, and your carefully written spawn files appear to do nothing. Server owners often set it once for an event or copy an ini from someone else, then forget it. If your custom region never shows up, check SpawnPoint first.

The second trap is old tutorials. Build 41 spawn files used a cell format: worldX and worldY for the cell, then posX and posY inside the 300 tile cell. Build 42 changed the map's cell size, so numbers worked out the old way land players in the wrong place, sometimes inside walls or in the void. On Build 42, use the plain world coordinates from the map, like the vanilla Build 42 files do.

Common problems

• Custom region not in the list: SpawnPoint is not 0,0,0, the file name in serverfile is wrong, or a Lua error (often a missing comma) stops the file loading.
• Players spawn inside a wall or fall: wrong coordinates or the wrong z floor. Check with /teleportto.
• Only some professions use it: fine if intended. Otherwise put the points under unemployed, which every profession falls back to.
• Edits did nothing: the server was running when you saved, or you edited files for a different server name.
• Map mod spawn missing: the map is not in Map=, or the folder name in file does not match.

Custom spawns on GamezServers

On a GamezServers Project Zomboid server, the save name is GamezServers unless you changed it, so the files are .cache/Server/GamezServers_spawnregions.lua, GamezServers.ini, and your own GamezServers_spawnpoints.lua in the same folder. Stop the server, edit them in the Files tab, press Backup, and start again. Our panel rewrites a few ini lines on each start, such as the password, player count, mods and Map, but leaves SpawnPoint and the spawn files alone. More ini settings are in best Project Zomboid server settings.

FAQ

Where is the spawnregions file in Project Zomboid?

In Zomboid/Server/ next to your server's ini, named <servername>_spawnregions.lua, for example servertest_spawnregions.lua.

How do I make everyone spawn in one place?

Either set SpawnPoint=x,y,z in the ini, which forces one tile and hides the town list, or keep a single region in spawnregions with several points in it.

Do existing players move to the new spawn?

No. Only new characters use spawn points. Existing characters stay where they logged out.

Can I give each profession its own spawn?

Yes. Add a list per profession ID, like policeofficer or doctor, in your spawnpoints file, and keep an unemployed list as the fallback.