Server rules

1.0Play area

The play area for Season 3 is split into zones. The Safe Zone is centered on Brandenburg, the main hub. Around it lies the High Risk Zone (HRZ), and beyond that the Death Zone (DZ), the most dangerous region on the map. Scorched areas past the Death Zone are inaccessible.

• No permanent habitation or residence is possible inside the Death Zone, because of the risks and threats there.

1.1High Risk Zones

Beyond Brandenburg and its surroundings, survivors find hazardous areas filled with the infected and other dangers. These places have been the tombs of many reckless or unlucky wanderers.

1.1.1 How to find them

You enter a High Risk Zone by leaving the Safe Zone. A warning flashes above your head when you enter and when you exit one.

1.1.2 What a High Risk Zone is for

The world is no longer safe, and places like Brandenburg act as beacons where survivors can rest. In game and in the rules, this means that if your character mechanically dies inside a High Risk Zone, whether fighting the infected, succumbing to the elements, or any other mechanical death, you must roll on the Death and Injury System (DIS).

1.1.3 Death in the High Risk Zones

If your character mechanically dies, open a ticket immediately with a screenshot of the death screen. An instant death result means the character is permanently dead, and their corpse is added to the scene for future wanderers to find. The DIS may have additional details pending Storyteller input, so stay involved in that ticket for everything about your character’s fate.

1.1.4 The two kinds of high-risk area

Where your character dies decides which DIS table you roll on.

• High Risk Zone. Normal DIS rules apply: a 25% chance of death, otherwise you may suffer a major injury. See Normal Risk DIS.
• Death Zone. A more severe table applies: a 33% chance of death, and a guaranteed major injury otherwise. See Death Zone DIS.

1.1.5 Death audits

We regularly audit our logs for deaths in high-risk areas. If you do not open a ticket, we will open one for you. Open it before we get to it: honesty is the best policy.

If a player keeps engaging in storylines or in-character activity after dying in a high-risk area without opening a death ticket, and is found by an audit, any of that roleplay may be retconned depending on the DIS result and how it would have affected the roleplay had it been rolled on time. This roll may be made at disadvantage, at staff discretion.

1.2Expeditions

Expeditions are staff-led, high-risk missions that take players beyond the safety of Brandenburg and the relative safety of its surroundings. They are curated, story-driven experiences that let players scavenge, investigate, or complete objectives while facing the infected, hostile survivors, and the harsh reality of the outside world.

You can request an expedition for any of these reasons:

• Narrative expeditions. Staff-driven events that move the world’s story forward, uncover lost information, or stage unique, story-heavy encounters. These are also announced as events.
• Player-driven expeditions. Players can apply for expeditions to secure supplies, scavenge for specific resources or relics of the past, or pursue personal character goals, as long as they accept the risks.

Expeditions offer unique opportunities for character development, world-building, and high-stakes roleplay, and they carry a real risk of injury or death.

• Staff-run. A Game Master oversees each expedition, narrating events, managing dice rolls, and introducing encounters. Every expedition has player-driven outcomes.
• High risk, high reward. Survival is never guaranteed. Players face unpredictable threats, from hordes to traps, ambushes, and moral dilemmas. Staff decide the loot and supplies. Success is not only about fighting; it is about making smart decisions. Looking for particular information? You can risk everything to get it.

1.2.1 Who can join an expedition

• Players must apply for an expedition and accept the risks involved.
• Characters need an in-character reason to take part, such as needing medical supplies or looking for information.
• There is no guarantee of survival. If your character suffers a mechanical death on an expedition, you roll on the Death and Injury System.
• Expeditions are not a way to settle your character in the area they visit. You can visit, but nobody can stay permanently.

1.2.2 How to request an expedition

Open a ticket under the Expeditions category in #ticket-support. In your request, include:

• Expedition type: narrative, player-driven, or contract.
• Objective: what you are trying to accomplish.
• Group size: up to 6 players.
• Justification: why your group is taking the risk.

Staff will review your request and arrange a time. Injuries and deaths are enforced.

1.3Outposts

The world beyond Brandenburg is harsh, unforgiving, and relentlessly hostile. At the start of the season, the High Risk Zone presses right up against the Safe Zone. Through coordinated, collective effort, players can establish new strongholds and gradually push the High Risk Zone back. Outposts must stay within reasonable support distance of Brandenburg or of another established outpost to remain sustainable and connected.

1.3.1 What an outpost is

An outpost is a location where a dedicated part of the active playerbase has put significant time and coordinated effort into rehabilitating, reinforcing, and fortifying a pre-existing structure on the map. Once established, an outpost expands the Safe Zone radius from the nearest connected point, whether that is Brandenburg or another outpost.

Outposts become pockets of stability: places where players can rest, regroup, refuel, and recover with a measure of peace, however temporary.

1.3.2 Outpost limitations

Outposts are not faction bases, hubs, or personal safehouses. They are community locations meant to benefit humanity, and the server, more broadly. Major factions are welcome to operate and live within an outpost, but they get no special treatment or extra protection for doing so. Inside an outpost, raid protections work as they do in the Safe Zone: a keypad plus an in-character or out-of-character note marking the space. Only private areas, such as personal quarters or armories, can be secured this way.

Other players can sabotage outposts, but only under strict requirements and with strong in-character justification. Outposts are meant to be organic tools that let players shape and evolve the server’s story, so we cannot list every possible outcome. If players abuse outposts for personal gain, powergaming, or other unfair advantages, staff may issue warnings or punishments.

1.3.3 Outpost requirements

Requirements, expectations, and material costs vary by location. When a group or faction leaders open a ticket to establish an outpost at a specific site, staff first confirm the location meets the player requirements and limitations above.

Once approved, staff work with the players to set the materials, workload, and expectations. Come prepared with a clear plan for the space, ideally a rough blueprint and an outline of how you want the area to function. As this comes together, the build team gradually reinforces and decorates the site to match the materials, the planned roleplay, and the blueprints.

2.0Property

2.1Safehouses

Players are limited to one safehouse. Safehouses must be a reasonable size for the number of occupants and must be in residential areas only.

Claiming inside the Safe Zone

There are no mechanical safehouses in the Safe Zone. To claim a building, place a keypad on the main door and leave a roleplay marker outside.

• An in-character marker should be something that exists in the world: a sign, a carving, a note.
• An out-of-character marker should be a floating exclaim that would not exist in character.

A keypad claim inside the Safe Zone counts the same as a claim outside it. A player who keypads a residence in Brandenburg owns that residence, and may not own any other residence, inside or outside the Safe Zone.

Claiming outside the Safe Zone

To claim a safehouse outside the Safe Zone, open a ticket. Solo players and small groups (fewer than 4) should choose realistic locations: if you cannot defend or consistently use the space, the claim may be denied. Boundaries, including fenced or gated areas, must stay reasonable. Excessive land claims will be restricted.

As a baseline, a reasonable safehouse starts as a 10×10 radius circle with the player in the middle, and scales with additional residents. You can visualize this with the chat’s speaking-radius indicator set to Low. This is a guideline, not a strict boundary: not every building fits a circle, and staff will adjust based on the layout and materials involved.

• A player can be listed as an occupant of only one safehouse, and only counts toward that safehouse’s allowed size.
• Once a safehouse is claimed, loot in that building stops respawning. If its protections expire, it becomes free to loot. If you expect to be inactive for 10 or more real-life days, tell staff to avoid losing your property.
• Unrealistic constructions, such as floating bases or excessive fortifications, are prohibited and will be removed.
• Safehouse doors and gates are always considered roleplay-locked unless you have explicit permission to enter.

2.2Vehicle claiming

Players may claim one vehicle with the claim system.

Additional vehicles are not protected from theft through staff-overseen raid tickets. An unclaimed vehicle parked outside a safehouse without a gate, garage, or wall around it is free to steal or loot. During a safehouse raid, any vehicle inside the safehouse boundary, claimed or unclaimed, can be stolen from.

It is your responsibility to check whether a vehicle is claimed before acting:

• Right-click the vehicle and look for the “claim” option in the context menu.
• If you cannot right-click the vehicle at all, it is protected by safehouse rules and needs an approved raid ticket.

2.3Dismantling

Dismantling means disassembling, destroying, or removing furniture, appliances, flooring, and other map objects to level skills or furnish a base. To keep the world intact for everyone, dismantling is restricted. Instead, we use a Tile Token system for taking furniture and objects from outside your safehouse or the season’s designated safe zones.

Every character starts with 20 Tile Tokens. A token lets you take an item without removing it from the world: it creates a duplicate for you. Tokens regenerate over real-world hours, so you can keep exploring and bringing back furniture and decor.

Tiles taken with tokens carry the same removal requirements as picking up the item itself, and keep their original weight. For example, a double bed costs four tokens and produces four pieces at 20 encumbrance each. Transporting them is your responsibility. Do not leave scraps or abandoned furniture in the world. Token use and tile interactions are logged, and littering will be punished.

Using dismantling to level skills is prohibited. Characters already start at the key levels for their professions. Characters with no background in a skill (levels 1–4) must learn through an in-character instructor or develop it through other crafting methods. Skills learned in character cannot exceed level 4.

Structural modifications

• You may only destroy or dismantle walls, fences, gates, and doors that are directly part of your safehouse.
• To change or remove structures near your safehouse but outside its zone, open a ticket or get staff approval first.

Breaking this rule is a violation of Roleplay Rule 4.2: Griefing.

3.0Exclaim etiquette

We use roleplay descriptors to bring written detail to the world around us. Place them through the right-click > Investigation menu, which offers sticky notes, papers, floating exclamations, question marks, and more.

Blue exclaims are player-placed. Exclaims in other colors are staff-placed. Notes and sticky notes can be placed by players or staff. All descriptors, of any type, are canon and can be referenced in character.

React to the content of exclaims accurately and treat them as canon, even when staff are not watching. Ignoring them is FailRP and may be penalized.

3.1Logout exclaims

Not required, but highly recommended: place an exclaim where you log out so other players know how to play around your character. Nobody is online all the time, and we would never expect you to be. Exclaims show what your character is doing while you are away and keep the space feeling alive. Some examples:

• “Jane rests here.”
• “John moves about the room, tidying things as needed.”
• “Jerry is leaning against the wall, spaced out for the moment. (Ping @MyDiscordName for RP!)”
• “Janice is guarding this door.”

Logout exclaims may not always be enforceable during active events. “James is sleeping in front of the door” cannot be used to stop someone leaving a room. Write exclaims that guide interaction with the space, not ones that block roleplay or restrict other players.

3.2In-game timestamps

When you place an environmental exclaim, put the in-game date in the title. This matters most for temporary changes to the environment, such as tire tracks, footprints, or broken windows. The date tells other players how fresh the scene is and whether, and how, they should react to it.

4.0Factions

Survivors often find strength in numbers. When a group becomes large or organized enough, it may form a faction. To request approval, open a General ticket to start the discussion with staff.

A faction needs approval from at least three staff members who are not part of it. Without three approvals, the request is denied. Approval considers, among other things:

• Adherence to established lore, setting, and themes.
• The overall reasonability of the concept.
• The planned narrative direction.
• Community interactions and past behavior.

Militaristic or antagonistic factions are reviewed with extra scrutiny. Approved factions get a dedicated lore post in The World and their own faction noticeboard channel.

4.1Audits

Factions may be audited at random for their goods, resources, structures, and active members. Audits cannot be opted out of. Honest mistakes happen, and minor discrepancies are expected and generally not an issue.

Any deliberate attempt to hide the number of players or resources tied to a faction to avoid an audit will be punished, up to and including a ban. Bad-faith actors and repeat offenders get closer scrutiny.

5.0Raiding & theft

Raiding or stealing from a safehouse requires a ticket and staff oversight. Being discovered during a raid is a hostile action and grounds for PvP to begin.

5.1Raid ticket requirements

To raid a safehouse or a claimed vehicle, open a raid ticket on Discord.

• Raids follow a 1:2 ratio: for every defender, up to two attackers may take part.
• Defenders do not need to be inside the safehouse, but they must be online at the time of the raid.
• Scene sanctity applies. Only players who are online and within shout range may join the defense.

Larger raids, such as raids between factions, may need changes to these rules. Discuss them in the raid ticket.

5.2Raid loot

Loot is limited by duffel bags:

• The first attacker gets one duffel bag.
• Every two additional attackers add one more duffel bag.
• Once the bags are full, no more loot can be taken.

If an unclaimed vehicle is inside a safehouse being raided, only one vehicle may be stolen per raid.

5.3Raiding your own safehouse

Having safehouse permission does not entitle you to take everything inside without in-character consequences. Theft from within requires a raid ticket unless the owner agrees. If you were not given explicit permission to take items, open a ticket before stealing.

5.4Player theft

Robberies follow the Comply & Demand rules and must escalate proportionally. A robbery starts with a clear display of hostile intent, either spoken or by brandishing a weapon. When a character complies, the robbery succeeds and you may take either their belongings or their vehicle.

Once a theft is over, the robber must disengage promptly. Victims cannot be targeted again immediately to keep looting. Scene sanctity applies for the whole theft: attackers must be allowed to leave before reinforcements arrive, unless those reinforcements were within range when it began.

6.0Player conflict (PvP)

We are a dice-first server: every PvP encounter is resolved with dice unless everyone involved explicitly agrees otherwise. These rules keep conflict fair and natural. Mechanical combat may be used in large-scale events or raids at the discretion of both sides. The full combat rules are in the dice guide.

6.1Initiation & initiative

• Before PvP, the initiating player must show hostile intent in a /meshout emote.
• The final emote before combat must be a /meloud or /meshout that clearly conveys intent without describing the result. For example: “Bobby tightens his grip on his rifle, preparing to fire.”
• Calling for backup over the radio during a hostile or tense situation starts combat turn order. Radio messages are only sent after combat resolves, to prevent dogpiling and powergaming. Using radios or RP beacons to call for help before combat ends is grounds for staff intervention or punishment, because dice combat takes much longer out of character than it would in character.
• Defenders respond with emotes describing their reaction: fighting back, surrendering, or fleeing. Once initiation is complete, everyone rolls initiative and combat proceeds in initiative order.

Stealth, ambushes, and initiative priority work as described in the dice guide’s Stealth & ambushing section.

6.2Scene sanctity

Dice combat takes time. Once it begins, no new parties may join unless they were already within fifty tiles (shout range). Combat begins with the first /meloud initiation emote.

6.3Combat resolution

When PvP combat ends, players may open a PvP/PvE Death ticket to discuss outcomes. The default outcome is the Death and Injury System. Staff oversight is not required to agree on an alternative.

Defeated players may propose alternatives, but the player who landed the final blow decides whether to accept one or enforce DIS rolls. If the losing player does not accept the alternative offered, default to DIS. Examples of alternatives:

• Your character takes the defeat as a severe beating rather than a risk of CK. It was meant to send a message, not to kill.
• An eye for an eye. Your character is the reason an ally is missing a finger, so your character loses one in turn.
• Your character knows something their opponents need. They are stabilized, then kidnapped and held for questioning. Imprisonment rules apply.

Emotes must never confirm a character’s death, or remove the possibility of survival, unless a CK ticket has been approved. CK executions happen after combat resolves and can only be carried out by the parties named in the CK ticket.

Above all, respect your opponents. Tempers may rise in character, but out-of-character interactions must stay respectful and in good faith (see Community guideline 2.0).

6.4Character kills & CK authorization

To get authorization for a character kill, open a CK ticket.

• With an approved CK ticket, the approved player can bypass the DIS roll to confirm a character’s death once that character reaches 0 HP. Only the approved player or players can do this. The final executing emote happens after combat ends.
• A CK authorization also counts as justification to raid the target’s safehouse to carry out the CK.
• A player defending against a CK may use lethal force. A player who survives combat against someone with an open CK on them may, in turn, CK the player who failed, with self-defense as justification.

6.5Comply & Demand

When characters have no history of hostility and no justifiable reason for violence against each other, a character who fully complies with demands automatically passes their DIS death and permanent injury roll.

Demands must be reasonable, clearly stated, and within server rules, and must include a consequence for not complying. Examples of valid demands:

• Bobby shakily raises his rifle, aiming at Powley. “Put your hands up or I’ll shoot!”
• With a firm hand, Powley brandishes his pistol, taking careful aim at Bobby. “Don’t do anything funny, or I’ll shoot you dead!”
• Kandi hoists her coach gun, sweeping both barrels between the pair. “Go ahead and put those guns down, boys, or you’ll be painting the pavement!”

Characters may not exploit vague or unclear demands to force non-compliance. Doing so is a rule violation.

Characters who comply cannot be met with excessive force without proper in-character motivation. Escalation should be rational unless circumstances warrant more. A compliant character can still be subject to DIS rolls if they have a history of:

• Previous non-compliance or violence against the demanding party.
• Hostile actions against the demanding party’s faction members or close allies.
• Repeated antagonism despite warnings.
• A bounty, or another justifiable reason for the demanding party to pursue violence.

Malicious compliance is not compliance. Characters who push their luck, such as backtalking after being warned to stay quiet, may be treated as non-compliant. Testing boundaries or deliberately aggravating an armed aggressor can cost you the automatic DIS pass.

6.6Mechanical throwables

Mechanical throwables, such as molotovs, noisemakers, nail bombs, and pipe bombs, may be used against zombies only. They cannot be used against players, even in dice combat, and you must take care not to hurt others by accident. Player deaths and injuries from thrown items are not in character, and irresponsible use may be punished.

In PvE events, throwables and explosives work according to their strength, potency, and how the player intends to use them, with consequences at the Storyteller’s discretion.

7.0Imprisonment & enslavement

Imprisonment, and even enslavement, are permitted when appropriate and handled tastefully. Captors and captives must remember that we do not allow gameplay that restricts or inhibits another player’s roleplay. Captors are responsible for their captives’ roleplay experience and must keep the standard of roleplay high. Out-of-character communication is encouraged and essential.

• A captor must be present for the whole of a player’s imprisonment. Captors can be the original captor, faction members, friends, paid mercenaries, or anyone else working with the captor.
• If a player consents to a longer imprisonment, their preferences can and should override this rule.
• If a player has not agreed to a length of imprisonment and is left unattended for at least 24 hours, staff may require the captors to release them, with or without the captor present. Staff may approve or deny release tickets based on context, proof, and other considerations. If approved, the captive may be released by an NPC or escape on their own. Captors may or may not be told, depending on how it happened.

Captors and captives are strongly encouraged to negotiate out of character to make sure everyone is covered.

Above all, community standards must be met. It is the responsibility of captors and captives to make sure imprisonment or enslavement storylines do not break the Golden Rules, our zero-tolerance rules, or any other rules. If they are broken at any point, open a Concern ticket with management immediately.

We understand prison roleplay is not for everyone, but in-character actions need to be able to have in-character consequences. Captives should talk to their captors about any difficulties so a solution can be found without staff. Please wait at least 24 hours without interaction from your captor or their associates before opening a ticket.

8.0Shelving & retirement

You may shelve or retire your own characters at any time, for any reason. Open a General ticket so staff can remove the whitelist, and decide what shelving means for the character:

• Character kill (CK). The character cannot be brought back for any reason. You must write their #graveyard post, included in the ticket.
• Shelve or retire. Their fate is left open, and you may take them “off the shelf” later. No graveyard post is made, but you are welcome to add anything you like to their #character page.

Characters belonging to players who leave the server, go inactive for a long time and cannot be reached, or are banned, have their fate decided by staff, up to and including a CK. A character retired by death this way cannot be taken off the shelf. If you are leaving with the possibility of returning, retire your character yourself, in whatever way you prefer. Even banned members may be given the chance to wrap up their character’s story, depending on the ban.

If your character is part of a major storyline, staff may defer shelving until the storyline ends. A character can only be shelved when there are no major loose ends that would affect other players.

Characters being shelved cannot take world-altering actions beforehand, such as sabotage, whistleblowing (“truth nuking”), or anything else with major negative consequences for others. If your character does this as part of resolving their storyline, staff may postpone the shelving until there has been fair opportunity for consequences.

9.0Character respecializations

To allow organic growth and long-term development, each character is eligible for one free respecialization (respec) in their lifetime. Free means no questions asked beyond making sure the character stays true to their established backstory.

Respecs are not for optimizing gameplay or redesigning a character after the fact. They exist to reflect believable in-character progression from lived experience or meaningful narrative change.

9.1Eligibility & limits

A respec does not let a character fundamentally change who they are. A character consistently portrayed as unintelligent, untrained, physically weak, or inexperienced cannot suddenly gain traits without extensive, long-term justification. A respec may be permitted for:

• The one free respec. Usable at any point in the character’s life. Once used it is gone for good and cannot be reclaimed, reset, or transferred. It must stay true to the character’s background, personality, history, and roleplay, and still needs staff approval.
• Mechanical misunderstandings. A respec may fix early misunderstandings of the dice system or mechanics, as long as it stays fully consistent with the originally approved backstory and concept, and the request clearly shows the original choices were made without fully understanding how dice, rolls, or trait interactions work here.
• In-roleplay development. Characters may gain or lose traits through roleplay, such as dropping Smoker after quitting, or gaining Claustrophobic after a traumatic experience. This can be player-driven, worked through with staff in a ticket, or the result of Storyteller encounters. Player-driven changes need consistent, meaningful roleplay over an extended period.

9.2Traits and skills

Skills, especially Expert skills, get extra scrutiny when changed, just as in the application process. Expert skills represent the peak of a person’s training and lifelong dedication, and approval is based on real-world logic and comparison (for example, professional endurance training versus adjacent but unrelated disciplines).

Traits and skills are approved for the character’s story, never for mechanical convenience, quality of life, or optimizing for Project Zomboid systems after playing on the server.

9.3Justification & ticket process

Every respec goes through a ticket and must include:

• A link to the original application transcript.
• A clear explanation of what is changing.
• An in-character justification grounded in prior roleplay or documented development (for respecs that are not the free one).
• Any relevant roleplay screenshots or story references that support the change.

Approval is not automatic, even for the free respec. Staff may adjust or deny parts of a respec, or ask for more justification or roleplay.