How to Add Mods to Your Project Zomboid Server

Updated 10 June 2026 · By Host Havoc Technical Support Team

Adding Steam Workshop mods to your Project Zomboid server lets you and your players enjoy community content. Use the Steam Workshop panel in your game panel for the fastest setup, or edit servertest.ini directly for full control. See also add workshop maps once your mods are installed.

Before you start: Mods can cause instability or data loss. Back up your server by running Create Backup in your game control panel before installing any mods.

Method 1: Steam Workshop panel

  1. Open your game panel and click the Steam Workshop icon.
  2. Search for mods by name or mod ID.
  3. Click Install for each mod you want to add.

This method automatically adds the mod IDs to your servertest.ini configuration file. It can also install entire mod collections.

Method 2: Edit servertest.ini manually

  1. Click the Configuration Files icon in your game panel.
  2. Find servertest.ini and open it with Config Editor.
  3. Locate the Mods section in the Config Editor.
  4. On the Steam Workshop page for each mod, find the Workshop ID and Mod ID shown in the mod details section. It should look similar to this:
    Steam Workshop mod page showing Workshop ID and Mod ID fields
  5. Copy the Workshop ID into the Workshop Items field and copy the Mod ID into the Mods field of the Config Editor. Example:
    Config Editor showing Workshop Items and Mods fields filled in
  6. To add multiple mods, separate each value with a semicolon (;). Example:
    Config Editor showing multiple mods separated by semicolons
    WorkshopItems=514427485;513111049
Mods=ModA;ModB
  7. Click Save & Exit, then start or restart your server.

Troubleshooting

If mods installed via Method 1 are not loading after you start the server:

  1. Click Configuration Files and open servertest.ini with Text Editor.
  2. Search for WorkshopItems= and locate the line.
    Text Editor showing WorkshopItems line in servertest.ini
  3. Find the line that looks like WorkshopItems=514427485;513111049 and delete only that value line.
    Text Editor showing example WorkshopItems value to delete
  4. Click Save & Exit.
  5. Click the Steam Workshop (installed) icon and reinstall all mods.
  6. Start your server once reinstallation is complete.