The complete guide · 4 min read
Night of the Dead Server Hosting: The Complete Guide
A practical guide for the person running the group's Night of the Dead server: what the game asks of a server, where it stands after 1.0, how to size the server, setting it up, moving a world across and keeping your fortress safe for the long haul.
By Matthew Griffin, Owner, Gaming DeluxePublished · Updated
In this guide
- Day Building, Night Defending
- Why a Group Wants a Dedicated Server
- Night of the Dead After 1.0
- Choosing a Slot Count and Memory
- Setting Up Your Server
- Moving a World From Your PC
- Protecting the Fortress
- What to Compare Before You Rent a Night of the Dead Server
- Night of the Dead Server Glossary
- Night of the Dead Server Help and Next Steps
Day Building, Night Defending
Night of the Dead puts you on a zombie-overrun island with diverse biomes, hidden dungeons and a story to uncover. During the day you explore, gather resources, craft equipment and expand your base. Every night, a wave of zombies swarms the fortress, from common walkers to giants and zombies with special abilities, and your walls, traps and turrets decide whether you see morning.
Two systems make the game feel different from other zombie survival titles. Followers fight and survive alongside you, and automation lets you hand production over to machines so you can spend more time on defence. Vehicles round it out: Steam describes them as moving fortresses, and the armoured car and armoured boat both appear in the patch notes.
Why a Group Wants a Dedicated Server
In a hosted game, the world only exists while the host is online. Night of the Dead rewards long campaigns, with bases that grow over weeks, so that becomes a problem quickly: one player holds the save, and everyone else waits.
- The island is always there: any member can log in, repair walls or run production.
- No host advantage: everyone connects to the same remote server.
- The host's PC is free: the server's load no longer competes with someone's game.
- Backups off the PC: the save lives on our servers with offsite copies.
Night of the Dead After 1.0
The game spent its Early Access years on version 3.x builds before leaving Early Access with version 1.0, The Final Story, on 31 May 2024. That release added the last part of the story, a Snowfield dungeon and a new unique zombie, and reset the official server. Later updates added fast travel in July 2024, FSR settings in May 2025 and, in version 1.2.0.0 on 13 October 2025, the Hydrogen Generator and new equipment.
On 14 October 2025 the developers announced War of Banners, a medieval real-time strategy RPG, and they have posted no Night of the Dead update since. We are not aware of any end to the game's servers, and a dedicated server keeps running on the current version. The practical effect for an admin is stability: no surprise updates to chase.
Choosing a Slot Count and Memory
Most Night of the Dead groups are a handful of friends, and the 10 slot plan covers them with room to spare. Pick 14 or 20 if you want guests or several bases on one island, and 30 for a community server.
| Plan | Memory | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Slots | 8GB | One squad, one fortress |
| 14 Slots | 8GB | A bigger group or two teams |
| 20 Slots | 8GB | A few bases sharing the island |
| 30 Slots | 16GB | Community servers and big automation |
The order form sells any slot count from 10 to 120. Memory is the thing to watch as a world grows: large bases full of automated production and many players use more of it. If the server starts to struggle late in a run, move up a memory tier from the client area; the world stays as it is.
Setting Up Your Server
- Name and password: Set the server name players will see and, for a private island, a password.
- Difficulty: Agree the difficulty with the group. The lower settings reduce common zombie damage and unique zombie health.
- Team kill: Leave 'No TeamKill' on for co-op, or turn it off for a PvP server.
- Restart and join: Restart the server, then have one player join and check the settings in game before everyone piles in.
Moving a World From Your PC
Many groups start on one player's PC and move to a server once the base gets serious. The developers' support notes give the local save folder as %LocalAppData%\LF\Saved\SaveGames. Copy the save from there, stop the server, upload it over SFTP to the matching save folder and restart.
Keep the original copy until the group has checked the world on the server. If the base, inventories and followers look right, you are done; if not, our support team can help line the files up.
Protecting the Fortress
A run can end badly: a wall left open, a generator out of fuel, a giant that walks through the gate. Take a snapshot in the Backup Manager before nights you are worried about and before big rebuilds. We also keep offsite backups of the last 7 days, restorable from the panel.
For a server that runs all week, schedule a restart at a quiet hour. Give co-admins their own sub user login instead of sharing your account, and keep the password private if the island is meant for friends only.
What to Compare Before You Rent a Night of the Dead Server
Points that matter more than the headline price.
- Enough memoryThis is a heavy server; check what RAM the price actually includes.
- Save file accessYou need SFTP to bring a world across or keep your own copy.
- Backups you can restoreMake sure you can roll back yourself after a disastrous night.
- Slots sold by countA small group should not pay for a 50 slot server.
- Location and pingTest from your own PC first.
- Billing termsLook for setup fees and minimum terms.
Night of the Dead Server Glossary
- Wave
- The zombie horde that attacks your base every night.
- Follower
- A survivor who fights and lives alongside you.
- Unique zombie
- A stronger named zombie with its own kill quests.
- The Final Story
- Version 1.0, released on 31 May 2024, which ended Early Access.
- No TeamKill
- The setting that stops players damaging each other, on by default since June 2024.
- Automation
- Production buildings that keep making items without a player.
- Hydrogen Generator
- A power building added in version 1.2.0.0 that can only be built on water.
Night of the Dead Server Help and Next Steps
Useful links for your server.
How this guide was made: researched from Night of the Dead's Steam store page and Jackto Studios' update posts on Steam, drafted with AI assistance, checked against our live order form for every plan, price and location, and reviewed by Matthew Griffin before publishing. The developers publish no official player limit for dedicated servers, so we do not claim one. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Sources, checked 23 October 2026:
- Night of the Dead on Steam (Jackto Studios; full release 31 May 2024; Windows; co-op and PvP online and LAN; 16GB RAM minimum)
- Jackto Studios, v1.0 The Final Story - Out Now! (31 May 2024) and Alpha Hotfix #085 (5 June 2024, No TeamKill default)
- Jackto Studios, Development Update #20 (15 July 2024), Hotfix #087 (21 May 2025) and Development Update #21, v1.2.0.0 (13 October 2025)
- Night of the Dead development team, A New Announcement (14 October 2025, War of Banners)
- Gaming Deluxe order form, Night of the Dead (slots 10 to 120, one at a time; memory from 8GB)
