Quick answer
What to do first
Choose Rising if you want a gentler introduction, Outbreak for faster progression, Apocalypse for the standard survival challenge, or Extinction for a harsher run. If only one part is stopping you from learning, start from a preset and change that part in Custom Sandbox rather than changing every setting at once.
Check your game conditions
- Current Stable
- 42.20.4 Stable
- Play mode
- Singleplayer / Multiplayer
- Vanilla / Mods
- Vanilla baseline; mods may replace rules
- Sandbox / server settings
- World presets and Custom Sandbox choices apply to this world; hosted-server settings are controlled by its owner.
Choose by the skill you want to learn
| Your goal | Starting choice | Adjustment to consider | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learn movement and looting | Rising | Reduce pressure from zombie population if you still cannot practice | An easier start is less representative of a harsher world. |
| Learn a system sooner | Outbreak | Keep most defaults while learning its faster progression | Progress timing will differ from Apocalypse. |
| Learn standard survival | Apocalypse | Change one setting only if it prevents useful practice | Expect more demanding decisions than the gentler mode. |
| Create a deliberate challenge | Extinction or a custom preset | Read the changed rules before starting | A difficult run is not a useful baseline for diagnosing default mechanics. |
| Build with friends | Agree a shared preset before creating the world | Record population, transmission, loot and utilities decisions | The host owns the rules; a client's solo preset does not change the server. |
Change a goal, not a hundred numbers
Decide what you want the next run to teach. If fighting is the barrier, reduce combat pressure without also making food, cars and every skill trivial. If you want to practice building, arrange a longer setup window and supplies instead of assuming your usual survival world will give you time.
Save or record your custom choices. When a guide disagrees with your experience, those differences are useful evidence: transmission, utility shutoff, nutrition and respawn settings affect different systems.
Do not confuse a new preset with your existing world
Changing your choices on the new-game screen is not a promise that an existing save will adopt them. Check which world or server configuration you are editing, and preserve a backup before altering an established run.
For multiplayer, discuss the rules before inviting players. Explain changes in plain terms: whether loot returns, how infection works and how forgiving progression is. Avoid describing a highly modified preset as the game's default.
Version notes & limits
The current modes are Outbreak, Rising, Apocalypse and Extinction. B41 screenshots using Builder or Survivor are not the current preset menu. Exact defaults can change with patches.
World and character learning choices only. This is not a graphics/performance setup or a universal server configuration.
Last verified means the linked documentation was reviewed, not that this guide was tested in-game. PZwiki is maintained by community contributors.
Version & sources
Sources & what may change
- Applies to
- 42.20.4 Stable; Singleplayer / Multiplayer; Vanilla baseline; mods may replace rules
- Last verified
- 2026-09-04
- When to check again
- A relevant Stable patch, changed world setting, mod update or correction to the cited instructions.