1000000001
The number of the item on the Steam Workshop: it is at the end of the item's link (…?id=1000000001). It tells the server what to download.
How it works
Knox Safehouse does the boring part of hosting a server for you. Here is what happens behind the buttons, in plain words.
The path to your friends
Four stops, from your PC to a friend's game. The app looks after the first three.
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Your PC
Knox Safehouse runs here. You press the buttons; it does the rest.
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Steam
The official SteamCMD tool from Valve downloads the server and the Workshop mods. No Steam account needed for this.
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Your server, on the air
The game's own dedicated server, with your settings and your mods. It listens on UDP ports 16261 and 16262.
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Your friends
They open Project Zomboid, choose Join and type your address and port. They don't need the app.
What the app does for you
All of this can be done by hand. It just takes an evening, and one typo is enough for the server not to start.
Task
By hand
With Knox Safehouse
Install the serverDownload SteamCMD, write the right commands, wait and hope.One button. It checks Valve's signature and resumes if the internet drops.
Server settingsEdit a file with hundreds of lines.A 5-step wizard that shows exactly what will change, with a backup first.
ModsFind each Workshop ID and Mod ID, the mods each one needs, and the right order.Paste a link or pick it in the Workshop. The rest is done for you.
Let friends inFirewall rules, ports, your IP, an invite message.A firewall rule for the game only, router steps and an invite to copy.
When something breaksRead long logs and guess.Errors in colour, a mod history to go back, world copies to put back.
Workshop IDs and Mod IDs
These two numbers and names are the reason most servers don't start. The server needs both, and they are not the same thing.
SoundLib
The name inside the mod's files. It tells the server what to switch on. One Workshop item can hold several mods, each with its own Mod ID.
Example with made-up names and numbers. The app reads the real ones from each mod for you.
The order of the mods
Some mods use pieces of other mods. Those pieces must load first, or the server stops with an error. Press the button to see the app sort an example list.
Mod list (example)
What the app writes for the server
- Libraries (mods that other mods need) go first.
- Maps also need a line of their own, before the game's main map.
- Drag a mod in the app to change the order; it warns you if something goes before what it needs.
What goes over the internet
The app has a closed list of places it talks to, always over HTTPS. Nothing about you is sent, and there are no servers of ours.
- Valve and SteamDownload SteamCMD, the server and the mods. Read the public Workshop information and show the Workshop inside the app.
- Your public IPOnly when you press “Show my public IP”, to put it in the invite.
- New versionsOnly if you ask (or turn on the daily check): reads the list of published versions on GitHub.
- PasswordsNever leave your PC. They are kept by Windows (Credential Manager); the server password also goes in the server's settings file, because the game reads it from there.