Mods

1. Core helpers

Antibodies
Skill Recovery Journal
[B41/B42] Homebound: Spawn Point

2. Maps / Radar 4. MinimapZ 5. Limitless Map Zoom-In [B42] (explicit MinimapZ companion)

3. Inventory & world QoL 6. Proximity Inventory [B41/42] 7. Has Been Read

4. HUD & info 8. [B41/B42] Mini Health Panel 9. [B42] Minimal Display Bars 10. [B42] Moodle Descriptions Expanded 11. [B42.11] Detailed Descriptions for Occupations & Traits 12. Combat Text

5. Cheats / emergency tools 13. [B42] Cheat Menu Rebirth (or just keep it disabled until needed)

That order keeps foundational systems first, visual overlays later, and the nuclear button at the bottom.

Sandbox

1. Where to set this up

From main menu:

Solo → Custom Sandbox

At bottom, choose preset Builder as a base (more forgiving than Apocalypse) and then edit to match the settings below. Builder uses the same underlying sandbox system that Custom Sandbox exposes. ([PZWiki][1])

2. Starting town

Pick: Riverside (primary) or Rosewood (backup)

Why:

Riverside: 2nd-lowest zombie population + very solid loot = widely recommended as ideal beginner town. ([PZWiki][2])
Rosewood: absolute lowest pop, slightly less loot; also fine if you like smaller towns. ([PZWiki][3])

Either works with this easy-mode preset. If you’re unsure: choose Riverside.

3. Zombie Population (super safe)

Population tab

Zombie Count: Low
Zombie Distribution: Urban Focused
Population Peak Day: 1
Population Peak Multiplier: 1.0
Respawn Hours: 0
Respawn Unseen Hours: 0
Respawn Multiplier: 0.0
Redistribute Hours: 0 (no migration)

This gives you:

Light initial population
No magical respawns behind you
Clearing an area = it stays calm (perfect with MinimapZ). Based on how population/respawn sliders work in official docs. ([PZWiki][1])

4. Zombie Lore (make them soft & dumb)

Zombie Lore tab

Set Proper Zombies: Off so you can edit sliders. ([PZWiki][1])

Speed: Shamblers
Strength: Weak
Toughness: Fragile
Cognition: Basic navigation
Memory: Short
Sight: Poor
Hearing: Poor
Crawl Under Vehicle: Rare (or None if allowed)
Day/Night Activity: Both (fine with your radar; no spikes)
Drag Down: Off
Zombie House Alarm Triggering: Off

Infection settings

For true first-run comfort:

Transmission: None
Infection Mortality: Never
Reanimate Time: Never

That fully disables Knox infection lethality; it’s supported directly by sandbox options. ([PZWiki][1])

You also have Antibodies in your stack: once you’re comfy, you can switch Transmission back to Blood + Saliva and let Antibodies make it forgiving-but-manageable instead of lethal.

5. World & Meta (no troll events)

Time

Day Length: 1 hour (vanilla feel, but you can bump to 2 hours if you want very long days)
Start Month: July (best weather/foraging window) ([PZWiki][1])
Start Day: 9
Start Time: 9:00 AM

World

Water Shutoff: 0–5 years
Electricity Shutoff: 0–5 years
House Alarms Frequency: Extremely Rare
Locked Houses Frequency: Rare
Food Spoilage: Very Slow
Refrigeration Effectiveness: Very High
Fire Spread: Off
Loot Respawn: None (you already have Abundant loot; no need)

These values keep logistics hilariously chill: you are not doing “desperate well-hunting Zomboid” on run one. Based on official sandbox option behaviors. ([PZWiki][1])

Nature

Temperature: Normal
Rain: Normal
Erosion Speed: Very Slow

Meta (Events)

Meta Events: Never
Helicopter: Never

Heli is explicitly described as a difficulty spike for new players; we cut it for the comfy run. ([PZWiki][4])

6. Loot (remove scarcity from the equation)

Loot Rarity tab

Set all to Abundant:

Food
Weapon
Ranged Weapon
Ammo
Medical
Survival
Mechanics etc.

Optimal for “I just want to learn systems + mess around,” consistent with “set all sliders to easy” approach for easy gameplay. ([Steam Community][5])

7. Player & Combat (forgiving, readable)

Character / Player

Starter Kit: On
XP Multiplier: 2.0 (levels come faster; keeps learning fun)
Nutrition: On or Off (either is fine; if “off” = one less thing to think about)

Combat

Melee Multi-Hit: On
Hit Reaction: Very Low
Rear Vulnerability: Low
Knocked Down by Zombies: Low or Never (if available)
Injury Severity: Low

Multi-Hit + weak zombies + low rear-bite chance = melee feels heroic instead of slapstick horror. These are standard newbie-friendly tweaks recommended in guides and recognized in sandbox docs. ([PZWiki][1])

8. Map & Minimap (for MinimapZ)

In-Game Map

Allow Mini-Map: On
Allow World Map: On

PZ’s docs + server guides are clear: mini-map can be disabled per sandbox; you must keep it on for MinimapZ to work.

Then in-game:

Open minimap → press S to enable MinimapZ zombie symbols (per its Workshop description).

9. Vehicles (easy mobility)

Vehicle tab

Vehicle Availability: High
Gas in Tanks: High
Car Wrecks: Low
Car Lock Frequency: Rare
Initial Gas Station Amount: High
Player Damage From Car Crash: Low
Car Damage On Impact: Low

Car = mobile base + escape button. These settings make that trivial without you wrestling with keys/RNG. Guided by sandbox vehicle options. ([PZWiki][1])

Player Build

You’re ready for “Vacation in Kentucky (With Knives).” Let’s wire up a single, no-brainer easy-mode build that fits:

1. Occupation

Occupation: Custom Occupation

Gives you 8 free points and no weird obligations. ([PZWiki][1])
You don’t need Burglar because:
- You turned the world to Easy Mode.
- You’ve got MinimapZ, abundant loot, friendly vehicles.
- Cheat Menu exists as an emergency button.

Think of it as “I was an IT guy, now I’m Batman.”

2. Core Positive Traits (the fun stuff)

Take these:

Fast Learner (-6)
- 130% XP for all skills except Strength/Fitness. You outgrow your mistakes absurdly fast. ([PZWiki][2])
Dextrous (-2)
- 50% transfer time for inventory, faster weapon shouldering, faster rope use. Less time looting = less time to get jumped. ([PZWiki][3])
Keen Hearing (-6)
- 200% perception radius, better awareness of stuff creeping up behind you. Stacks beautifully with your MinimapZ awareness to make ambushes almost illegal. ([PZWiki][4])

These three alone turn you into:

“Learns fast”
“Loots fast”
“Sees/hears danger before it’s a problem”

Total positive cost: 14 points

3. Gentle Negative Traits (basically free on your settings)

You started with +8 from Custom, spent 14, so you’re at -6. Grab very low-impact negatives that your easy sandbox + QoL stack trivialize:

Hearty Appetite (+4)
- You get hungry faster. With Abundant food this is a non-issue. ([PZWiki][5])
High Thirst (+1)
- Drink more often. You have running water for ages + sinks everywhere. It’s just “press E sometimes.” ([PZWiki][6])
Slow Healer (+3)
- Injuries take longer to heal; on easy zombies + MinimapZ + Mini Health Panel, you’re rarely seriously hurt, and Antibodies/infection-off removes the scary part. ([PZWiki][7])

Math:

Start: +8
Positives: -14
Negatives: +4 +1 +3 = +8
Final: +2 (>= 0, you’re good; leaving extra points unused is totally fine)

Why this set is newb-proof:

No anxiety traits (no claustro/agoraphobia, no smoker upkeep, no vision penalties).
No traits that secretly make zombies deadlier (no Thin-Skinned, no Weak).
Downsides are solved by “eat snack, sip water, don’t face-tank 40 zombies.”

Base Strength/Fitness: leave default.

On your sandbox + shamblers, 5/5 is plenty.
Your MinimapZ + lore settings mean you shouldn’t be endlessly kiting mega-hordes anyway.

Fun Name Ideas (pick your flavor of chaos)

A few thematically appropriate easy-mode survivors:

Jamie Softserve
Hank Heartbeat
Doug Snacksworth

mdbecker/project_zomboid_easymode.md

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