7 Days to Die: Survival Guide

A practical guide to surviving your first week, building a horde base that holds, progressing through perks, magazines and biomes, and using the newest V3.x features (sandbox presets, Item Magnitude, chicken farming).

Researched September 2026 — current as of V3.2.0 Stable (26 August 2026). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

1. Follow the opening quest chain. The starter "Basic Survival" quests teach you to craft a bedroll, stone tools, a campfire and basic clothing, and they end by pointing you to a trader. Just do them.
2. Find a trader on day 1-2. Traders sell gear, buy loot, and hand out quests that are the fastest early source of XP, Dukes (currency) and loot.
3. Blood Moon is every 7th night by default. At 22:00 on horde night, zombies come for you wherever you are. You need a plan by day 6 at the latest. (Frequency and horde size are adjustable in world settings and the V3.0 sandbox options.)
4. Night is dangerous. Zombies run at night by default. Early on, loot indoors, craft, or stay in a secured building after dark.
5. Headshots and stealth. Crouch to reduce noise, aim for heads, and use sneak attacks on sleepers inside POIs.
6. Read magazines. Crafting recipes unlock by reading skill magazines (and by perks). Every magazine you find matters; do not sell them.
7. Water and food. Boil murky water in a cooking pot, then build Dew Collectors. Since V2.6, Dew Collectors need empty jars as input, and jar crafting no longer requires a crucible.
8. Watch the biome. Forest is the easy start. Burnt Forest, Desert, Snow and Wasteland are harder and have environmental hazards you need gear or mods for. Loot is better in harder biomes.
9. Heat attracts screamers. Forges, campfires and other workstations build up heat in an area, which can spawn screamers who call in more zombies.

Controls Basics (PC defaults)

Rebind in Options - Controls. V3.0 also added a customizable crosshair (scale, opacity, color).

First Week Plan

Days 1-2: Get established

• Punch grass for plant fibers, pick up stones and wood, craft a Stone Axe, a Wooden Club or Primitive Bow, and a Bedroll (it sets your spawn point).
• Reach the trader, sell junk, accept a Tier 1 quest (Fetch, Clear, Buried Supplies, or Restore Power once available).
• Loot houses, cars, mailboxes and bird nests (feathers for arrows). Keep an eye out for cooking pots, grills and magazines.
• Pick a starter base location near the trader: a sturdy building you can reinforce, or a spot to build your own.

Days 3-5: Tools and stations

• Build a Workbench (unlock it through the workstation magazines/perks or loot the parts), a Forge (smelt iron, lead, clay), and eventually a Chemistry Station and Cement Mixer.
• Upgrade tools: stone to iron tools. A good pickaxe or auger makes mining for iron, lead, coal, nitrate and oil shale much faster.
• Plant crops once you have seeds and the relevant perk/magazine (corn, potatoes, blueberries, mushrooms, etc.).
• Spend quest rewards on a better weapon or a vehicle part.

Day 6: Horde prep

• Craft ammo, arrows or bolts, a stack of food and water, and medical items (bandages, first aid).
• Reinforce your base or build a dedicated horde base (see below).
• Spike traps and wood spikes help early; later come electrical traps and turrets.

Day 7: Blood Moon

• Be in position before 22:00. Horde zombies spawn in waves until 04:00.
• Aim for heads, conserve durability, and repair blocks between waves.

Progression Systems

Attributes and perks

There are five attributes, each with a perk tree and matching weapon types:

Beginner advice: commit to one attribute tree for your main weapon, then take general perks such as Lucky Looter (Perception), Better Barter (Intellect), Healing Factor (Fortitude) and mining/harvest perks. Do not spread points thinly.

Magazines and crafting

Crafting unlocks mostly via reading skill magazines tied to tool, weapon, armor, vehicle, workstation, cooking, electrical and ammo tracks. Each magazine adds a point toward that track; milestones unlock new recipes. Loot bookshelves, mailboxes, and loot rooms in POIs for them.

Traders and tiers

• Trader quests have tiers (T1 to T6). Completing enough quests in one tier unlocks the next, with bigger rewards and harder POIs.
• Named traders: Rekt, Jen, Bob, Hugh, Joel. Each has a slightly different shop.
• Trader stock refreshes on a timer; check back for vehicles, weapon upgrades and mods.

Armor sets

Armor is organized into named sets with set bonuses, split into light, medium and heavy. Examples: Nomad, Scavenger, Lumberjack, Preacher, Rogue, Athletic, Enforcer, Biker, Commando, Assassin, Ranger, Farmer, Miner. Pick a set matching your playstyle (Miner for mining, Lumberjack for wood, Assassin for stealth, and so on).

Item Magnitude and the Combine Station (V3.0)

V3.0 "Dead Hot Summer" introduced Item Magnitude: looted weapons and tools can roll with boosted stats, marked with orange stars. The Combine Station lets you merge similar items to incrementally increase their power, and doubles as an alternative way to repair. V3.2.0 redesigned the Combine Station UI: you now press a button to combine, and a plus symbol marks a successful combination. The takeaway: do not scrap or sell duplicates of good gear without checking whether combining them is worth it.

Biomes and Hazards

Harder biomes require protection (hazard gear or armor mods) before you can explore safely for long. Treat them as progression gates: tackle them when your armor and weapons can handle the spawns.

Building a Horde Base

Principles:

• Zombies take the path of least resistance. They path toward you and attack the weakest reachable blocks. Use that to funnel them.
• Upgrade blocks: wood frame to wood, then cobblestone, concrete, and steel. Higher tiers take much more damage.
• Build a kill corridor: a single path leading to you, lined with traps, where you can shoot down on them.
• Avoid building your horde base in your main base. Blood moon damage wrecks workstations and storage.
• Keep repair materials and a repair tool (stone axe early, nailgun later) with you.

Traps and defenses, roughly in unlock order:

Power: generators (fuel), batteries and solar panels. Learn wiring early if you plan to rely on traps.

Threats to Know

• Screamers spawn from heat and call nearby zombies. Kill them fast. V3.2.0 stopped screamers in screamer scout groups from calling other screamers.
• Ferals and radiated zombies appear more as game stage rises and in tougher biomes.
• Cops spit acid and explode.
• Demolition zombies explode when their chest is hit; shoot the head.
• Vultures harass you outdoors, especially in harder biomes.
• Dogs and wolves are fast; fight with your back to a wall.
• Infection from zombie hits must be treated (herbal antibiotics, antibiotics). Leaving it untreated is lethal.

New in V3.x

The Fun Pimps say V4.0 is in development in parallel with these smaller updates.

Chicken farming tips (V3.1): carrying a chicken builds stress; if it hits 100% the chicken drops and a game-stage-based event triggers (anything from angry zombies to angry chickens). Carry it home in short trips and keep the coop fed.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Sprinting everywhere at night. You will drain stamina and draw every zombie around.
• Skipping the trader. Quests are the best early XP and loot.
• Spreading perk points across all five trees. Specialize first.
• Building the horde base inside your crafting base. Separate them.
• Ignoring infection until it is too late.
• Running forges next to your bed forever. Heat spawns screamers.
• Selling magazines or duplicate high-magnitude gear without thinking. Magazines unlock recipes; duplicates can feed the Combine Station.
• Entering Wasteland or Snow too early without hazard protection.

Advanced Tips

• Loot at the right time: clear POIs during the day; use the night for crafting, smelting, and base work.
• Minibike or bicycle early: vehicles transform how fast you can quest and loot. Save quest rewards for vehicle parts or buy one from a trader.
• Farm properly: crop plots plus the farming perk/magazines give reliable food and seeds; add chickens for eggs since V3.1.
• Use the sandbox: V3.0's presets and options let you tune loot, XP, zombie speed, blood moon frequency and more. Great for a slower first run or a brutal challenge run.
• Custom rules on servers: hosts should read the patch notes before updating a long-running world; mods and overhauls (Undead Legacy, War of the Walkers and others) usually need updating after each major version.
• Trader bases: traders are protected zones, but their doors close at night; since V3.2.0 you can honk your vehicle horn to open trader doors (not every door fits every vehicle).

FAQ

What is the current version of 7 Days to Die? V3.2.0 Stable, released 26 August 2026. V4.0 is in development.

How often is the Blood Moon horde? Every 7 days by default. You can change the frequency and range in world settings and the V3.0 sandbox options.

What should I spend my first perk points on? Your main weapon's attribute tree plus a couple of general perks (for example Lucky Looter, Healing Factor or mining/harvesting perks).

How do I get clean water? Boil murky water in a cooking pot at a campfire, then build Dew Collectors. Since V2.6 they need empty jars as input.

How do I unlock better crafting recipes? Read skill magazines and put points in the relevant perks. Milestones in each magazine track unlock new recipes.

Is 7 Days to Die crossplay? The game is on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Crossplay support has been added in stages since console launch, so check the current patch notes and your server's settings; modded servers are PC-only.

Do I need a new world after an update? Major versions often recommend a new world. Check the patch notes before updating a long-running save or server.

Sources

• 7 Days to Die official site: V3.2.0 Stable
• 7 Days to Die official site: V3.1.0 Henpocalypse Release Notes
• 7 Days to Die official site: V3.0 Dead Hot Summer Release Notes
• 7 Days to Die official site: V3.0 Experimental
• 7 Days to Die official site: V2.6 Stable
• Patched.gg: v3.1.0 Henpocalypse overview