How to Add Mods to Your Project Zomboid Server

Updated October 27, 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 page 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.

  1. Open your game panel and click the Steam Workshop icon.
  2. Open the Browse Workshop tab and search for mods by name. You can sort by popular, newest or recently updated, switch to Collections, and filter by build (your server's build is selected by default). Click Pick on each mod or collection you want.
    You can also paste Workshop links, collection links or Workshop IDs on the Add mods tab instead.
  3. Click Review and add. Collections are expanded into their mods, and any Workshop items your mods need are added to the list. Untick anything you don't want, then click Add selected.
  4. The mods download to your server and are ticked on the Mods tab automatically.
    Some Workshop items contain several mods (for example, different versions of the same mod). These are highlighted: tick the ones you want and click Save changes.
  5. Start or restart your server. Changes apply when the server starts.

This method reads each Mod ID from the mod's own files for the build your server runs, and writes the WorkshopItems=, Mods= and Map= lines in your servertest.ini for you. Use the Load order tab to change the order mods load in.

Keeping mods updated

When a mod on your server is updated on Steam, a number appears on the Steam Workshop icon in your game panel showing how many mods have updates waiting. Your server downloads the updates the next time it starts, so restart it to load them. Until then, players who already have the new version may not be able to join.

To have this done for you, create a scheduled task with Scheduled Tasks > Update Workshop files. It restarts the server when mods have updates, and warns any players online a few minutes beforehand.

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 each mod's page on the Steam Workshop website, find the Workshop ID and Mod ID shown in the mod details section. It should look similar to this:
  5. Copy the Workshop ID into the Workshop Items field and copy the Mod ID into the Mods field of the Config Editor. Example:
  6. To add multiple mods, separate each value with a semicolon (;). Example:
    WorkshopItems=514427485;513111049
Mods=ModA;ModB

    Note: The Mod ID isn't always the name shown on the Workshop page, and some mods use a different Mod ID on Build 41 and Build 42. On Build 42, only mods with Build 42 support will load. If you're not sure, use Method 1: the Steam Workshop page reads the correct Mod ID for your server's build from the mod's own files.

  7. Click Save & Exit, then start or restart your server.

Troubleshooting

If mods are not loading after you start the server:

  1. Click the Steam Workshop icon and check Needs attention on the Mods tab. It lists every mod your server will skip and why (for example, a mod with no version for your server's build, or a mod that needs another mod that isn't installed). Click Take it out to remove mods your server can't load.
  2. If an item shows Download failed or Not downloaded, click Download missing. The server also retries downloads every time it starts.
  3. If you added or removed mods over FTP, click Read mod files again so the Steam Workshop page sees the change.
  4. If players can't join after a mod update, check for a number on the Steam Workshop icon, or Restart needed on the Mods tab. Restart your server so it downloads the updated mods.
  5. If mods still aren't loading, open a support ticket and include a screenshot of the Mods tab.