Project Zomboid's Unstable branch updated to Build 42.15.0 today, continuing the steady cadence of fixes and changes that The Indie Stone has been pushing through the Build 42 testing cycle. If you're on the Unstable branch, you already know the drill: treat every update as a potential save-breaker.
The devs are once again recommending a fresh save with no mods before jumping in. That's standard advice for Unstable, but it's worth taking seriously here, especially if your current save predates the last patch. Older saves carry more risk with each successive update, and finding that out three hours into a new run is not a good time.
To access the Unstable branch, right-click Project Zomboid in your Steam library, go to Properties, and select 'Unstable' under Game Version & Betas. The full patch notes are live on Steam if you want the official word straight from The Indie Stone. Full patch notes below.
As always it is recommended that you create a new save with no mods after updates. Updates fix bugs and introduce new changes that may not be compatible with any older saves, especially ones older than the last patch.
How do I subscribe to the Unstable beta branch?
Right-click PZ in your Steam library.
Select "Properties".
Under "Game Version & Betas" select "Unstable".
NEW
- New Game Mode Defaults: Game Modes have been rebalanced and updated, with all but Apocalypse and Custom Sandbox replaced with new versions. Each includes a pre-set in Custom Sandbox to view/modify all specific mode settings. Expect future adjustments based on playtesting feedback.
--"Apocalypse" is intended to serve as the 'Lore Canon' game mode, representing what REALLY happened on July 9th, 1993. Core changes including removing Zombie Respawn, reduced impact of Muscle Strain and Discomfort, more realistic Animal growth rates, adjusted Loot levels, and more.
--"Outbreak" is designed for players desiring an accellerated play experience, with an overal focus on less time investment for advancement.
--"Extinction" is focused on a brutal hardcore experience, and is intended for veteran players who want more of a challenge. BEWARE SPRINTERS.
--"Rising" is intened for players who want a little more breathing room to explore, build, and create.
--"Custom Sandbox" remains to allow players to customize settings to their desired play style, and remains a 'core' and valid way to enjoy Project Zomboid.
- New Firearms (including relevant magazines, loot distributions based on rarity/appropriateness of firearms, and repair recipes)
-- JS-14 Rifle - 5.56x45mm
-- JS-3T Tactical Shotgun - 12 Guage
-- L92 Carbine - .357 Magnum
-- L94 Rifle - .30-30
-- MSR7T Tactical Rifle - 7.62x51mm
-- Trapper Carbine - .45 ACP
- Character now recieves a reading speed boost when sitting.
- New gun store loot story prototype at Stendo's.
- Added new map symbols for animals.
- Gamepad Aiming Tech prototype - Work in Progress
-- Implementing basic aiming reticle handling for Gamepad aiming. Uses aim axis to place target reticle relative to player.
-- Added reticle slow-down when over active target for more precise targeting.
- Added option to toggle Livestock Zone visual overlay on/off
- Shift + Click allows user to select multiple items in workstation menus
- Renamed Game Option "Pause when focus is lost" to be more clear, enabled by default on new game installs.
- New SFX for Large Containers:
-- Small Metal Door
-- Clothes Rack
-- Carboard and CardboardLarge
BALANCE
- Tool Usage Balance Changes
-- Removed tool requirements from several tiles when picking them up
-- Removed tool degradation for screwdrivers in electrical-related recipes
-- Reduced the durability drain on tools designed to chop trees, when chopping trees
-- Garden hoes now have the ability to remove stumps
- Loot Table Updates:
-- Updated missing Distributions Entries & Incorrect Roomdefs
-- Added 'policeswat', 'prisonlocker' and 'swatlocker' roomdefs. Removed forced merge for 'policestorage' and 'policegunstorage'
-- Added GunStoreAmmunition to military lockers in gun stores. Added 'metalfabrication' and 'metalfabricationstorage' roomdefs. Added CrateMetalBars and CrateMetalPipes to 'metalshop' and 'metalshipping'
-- Added 'sewingfactory' roomdef. Added fabric rolls to sewingstore. Added CrateWallpaper to crates and cardboard boxes in furniture store storage.
-- Added ButcherFish to seafoodkitchen display counters.
-- Integrated new firearms into the loot lists. Added 'gunStorage' modifier to containers to ensure approropriate magazines and ammo spawn with the correct guns. Removed unused modifiers from Distributions.
-- Updated maximum displaycases that can spawn items in gunstore roomdef
-- Created a room definition for Music school.
-- Microwaves now have ability to spawn Cup of Coffee and TV Dinner
- Decreased penlight light cone size, increased vehicle headlight light cone size
- Made the head turning while sitting on furniture a bit more gradual.
- Lowered the impact of animals corpses on vehicles when driving over them
- Balanced inconsistent Neck Muscle Strain caused by certain sewing activities
- Fluid collection properly caps at player's max carry weight
- Removed ability to sleep on toilets
MP
- Optimized Animal designation zone update
- Hid google auth and two factor for now, they will return in the future when fixed
- Reduced the sound radius for vehicles in MP
- Multple fixes for GrappleTech
-- Fixed player stuck when start/end grab corpse
-- Fixed sync when login near player, that grab corpse
-- Additional small fixes
- Fixed melee attacks passing through zombies near vehicles and animals
- Fixed multiple server-side and client-side errors
- Fixed desync with clothing. Outfits weren't updating on players in different map chunks
- Fixed a server crash
- Fixed MaxAccountsPerUser option
- Fixed the incorrect position of the remote player's character near an obstacle. Remote players would appear on wrong side of the walls
- Fixed car trunk capacity not updating after receiving damage
- Fixed clock alarm SFX playing endlessly if the watch was dismantled while playing the alarm.
- Fixed safe-to-eat mushrooms receiving the poison tag if cooked together with poisoned one.
- Fixed not being able to interact with the composter (Craftsman)
- Fixed attached animal ropes, which now break like in SP.
- Fixed remote player not playing HitReaction animation
- Fixed disappearing dirt and blood splats on clothes when character unequipped those clothes
- Fixed desync with incorrect position of the remote player's character on Z coordinate
- Fixed character getting damaged when climbing up/down on the escape rope.
- Fixed exception when attempting to remove graffiti with a 2-handed cleaning item
- Fixed Soap not being used in MP
- Fixed Propane Tank dupe
- Fixed Endless magazine loading animation
- Fixed food duping with .replaceOnCooked() if taken from a stove a few seconds before the cooking indicator becomes completely full.
- Fixed double barrel shotgun consuming 2 rounds in one shot.
- Fixed not being able to paint signs
- Fixed missing pain from disinfecting wounds
- Fixed not being able to pick up fallen zombie hats/glasses
- Fixed floor rendering built on water tiles
- Fixed items missing from zombie's corpse if they got stuck as a result of performing a backstab
- Fixed cars getting stuck mid-air again
- Fixed missing XP gain notification when crafting items.
- Fixed not being able to saw logs via RMC context menu
- Fixed damage from falling and walking through trees not syncing
- Fixed firearm not racking on insert magazine
- Fixed pressing the Back button while starting a host server not stopping the server
- Fixed inability to set a role to the user which is not in the white list
- Fixed dismantling stack of CD players consumes 2 items per action
- Fixed melee weapon held on logout preventing maintenance XP gain until re-equipped
- Fixed CookingSounds not playing when foods are cooked.
- Fixed sfx's for walking barefoot and in shoes
- Fixed Garage Doors shaking when being unlocked from inside
- Fixed cooking sounds cutting out when multiple items are being cooked.
- Fixed barbecue cooking sounds not playing in multiplayer.
- Fixed protective gear not increasing discomfort level.
- Fixed not being able to delete a user from the user list if he has a record in the user logs
- Fixed server option Drop off white list after death not working
- Fixed not being able to raise Fitness XP level through the Check stats panel.
- Fixed character was taking feet damage when driving over broken glass barefoot
- Fixed issues with in-game map shared symbols
-- Translations for the shared-symbols panel are now defined
-- Fixed the checkmark texture size in the Players panel.
-- Private symbols no longer flicker between opaque and semi-opaque while using the Sharing tool.
-- The shared-symbols panel is no longer placed overtop the legend panel.
-- Fixed map symbols flickering after disconnecting from a server using shared symbols.
- Fixed option “Username Disguises”
- Fixed missing Maintenance XP from weapons with more than 20 .conditionLowerChanceOneIn
- Fixed container put-item sounds not playing in multiplayer
FIXES
- Thank you to copiumsawsed for reporting a security vulnerability. This issue has been patched in all listed versions.
- Fixed multiple RMC entries for Toilets
- Fixed Ragdoll zombies flipping before getting up when being ran over
- Fixed jumping zombies when shooting at them
- Fixed spamming Crouch speeding up magazine reload
- Fixed players getting stuck in vehicles when entering an open car door while aiming
- Fixed fuel pumps resetting
- Fixed TV Remotes having a 1.67% chance of returning a battery instead of a 60% chance
- Fixed invisible View Cone on Mac
- Fixed Caffeine Pills restoring 100% of fatigue instead of 4%
- Fixed holding ALT drastically increasing gun damage
- Fixed infinite shoves
- Fixed Lemongrass & Ginger Root not reducing Food Sickness
- Fixed getting different amount of Logs from trees in SP and MP
- Fixed not being able to drop items out of car windows when the item wasn't held in main inventory
- Fixed being unable to reload while the game tried to get ammo from an unequipped container in the player's inventory
- Fixed error that occurred when taking Engine Parts while a Wrench was in an unequipped bag
- Fixed error spam when certain actions were performed in LiveAnimationTrackEntries
- Fixed error when building stairs over fire
- Fixed blood splatters appearing where an animal was picked up and not where it was killed
- Fixed not being able to read when "Minutes per Page" sandbox option was set to the minimum of 0.0
- Fixed brick texture overlaying shutters
- Fixed being unable to click on Garage Doors when they are transparent
- Fixed invisible fire / incendiary burned tiles
- Fixed wrong depth map for many items, tiles and stacks of Crates
- Fixed tiles with snow overlay spawning indoors
- Fixed chicks only dropping heads when butchered, they now drop meat as well
- Fixed tooltip stating Medium Leather Drying Rack could be used for Deer Leather
- Fixed Wet Bath/Dish Towels drying in the rain
- Fixed disassembled Trough parts collecting water
- Fixed multiple issues with Soap consumption
- Fixed multiple issues with Washing character
- Fixed character repeating drinking action when selecting multiple times before the first completed
- Fixed disassembling electronics in inventory giving less XP than placed ones
- Fixed characters continuing to accrue Fitness / Running XP when they fell asleep while running into a bed
- Fixed incorrect Random Electricity Shutoff settings
- Fixed Fishing Net with Chum producing too much fish
- Fixed floating barricades when a wall is destroyed
- Fixed wrong window being barricaded when attempting to barricade N/W corner windows
- Fixed the cutaway-wall window outline for one window not being rendered when there is both a west and north window on the same tile.
- Fixed odd wall cutaway when there is only a single tile gap between buildings
- Fixed being unable to build shelves/wall-mounted objects overtop player-built floors
- Fixed not being able to build shelves on corner walls
- Fixed Saucepans being destroyed when using the last remaining Rice to make food (ex: Sushi; Cabbage Roll)
- Fixed Eggs not freezing
- Fixed some Prescription Glasses not removing the foraging search radius penalty
- Fixed parked cars not moving when bumping them with another car
- Fixed mannequins not updating visually in raided houses
- Fixed characters not having a cold in A Realy CD DA challenge
- Fixed Hay Bale duplication bug
- Fixed dragging a VHS tape from the floor into a VCR leaving a duplicate VHS on the ground
- Fixed animal info for male Raccoons. Male raccoons shouldn't attack each other
- Fixed Crafting/Building UI text not being spaced out
- Fixed ZombieClawChainlinkFence, ZombieClawMetal, and ZombieClawGarageDoor sounds not playing
- Fixed missing container sounds for crafted_05 small metal cabinets
- Fixed looping SFX from Noise Makers
- Fixed Metal Pole Fences playing incorrect SFX
- Fixed Snare Traps not displaying properly on new renderer
- Fixed not being able to sit on North-facing toilets
- Fixed some glass were walls hiding character's model
- Fixed rendering for vents
- Fixed not being disassemble some pianos
- Fixed being able to walk through fence to sit on Base.Mov_RedChair
- Fixed small boulders blocking vision
- Fixed small stones having collision
- Fixed sometimes being fireproof (more to be fixed in the future)
- Fixed animal skeletons in containers yielding endless bones
- Fixed corpse sickness not decreasing near corpses while wearing a Gas Mask / Respirator
- Fixed Gas Masks / Respirators still providing 100% corpseSicknessDefense after filters have been removed
- Fixed not being able to pick up corpses when "Very Low Weight" or below
- Fixed crash when killing animals with a Pipe Bomb. Note: In MP, animals are currently not receiving damage from bombs
- Fixed Fire Officer using Police Officer profession icon in character creation screen
- Fixed Forged Buckets not being available for Bucket Mauls due to missing "METAL_BUCKET" tag
TECHNICAL/DEBUG
- Localization clean-up. Translation files are now in json
- Updated Mac and Linux libs
- Fixed world context-menu error in debug mode when the debug option UI.HideDebugContextMenuOptions is enabled
- Updated Console txt file. Now PC specs are always listed
- Fixed hardcap for Fitness when player enabled GodMode
MODS
New modding guide/changelog.
- Fixed COMMON/VERSION folders not being detected correctly in the mod directory. Game now only requires one of the two folders
- Fixed mod translation, modID, client-server files check logic
- Fixed translation loading order
- Added translation support for mod.info (title, description)
- Fixed incorrect mod file comparison between client and server
- Fixed ModID, WorkshopID logic
- Fixed bug with Mod null check
- Fixed mod info panel
- Fixed mods display menu in Pause menu
- Fixed icon/poster file path for mods on Linux
- Added .glb for model file watcher
- Improved error message when clients are missing a mod from the server
- Fixed WorkshopItem description generation, added support for 512x512 mod image preview
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