Server Rules
These are the actual #rules, why they are in place, and any other information around them as needed.
- #1 - No racism, hate speech, harassment, or discrimination.
- #2 - English only in Discord and /all chat.
- #3 - No intentional griefing.
- #4 - No hacks, cheats, item dupes or any other such exploits.
- #5 - Exploiting pathfinding for safety is not allowed.
- #6 - No combat logging.
- #7 - Loot cycling onto the ground is allowed.
- #8 - Up to 5 claimed cars incl. trailers per player
- #9 - Admins will not step in for personal issues
- #10 - Do not direct message or ping staff for admin tasks.
- #11 - Your Discord nickname must be your player name.
- #12 - Limitations for Player Built Structures
- #13 - Updates to Sanctuary and Bus Stops
- #14 - Updates to safehouses
- #15 - Discord Etiquette and you
#1 - No racism, hate speech, harassment, or discrimination.
We have a ban first, appeal later policy. Don't test it.
This also applies to political talk or anything that is clearly intended to get a volatile or hostile reaction from others.
In general, APA is for playing a zombie game, not channeling the inner keyboard warrior or insulting/offending our members.
#2 - English only in Discord and /all chat.
We welcome all players of all backgrounds, but we can only moderate English. Other languages are not accepted in public channels.
You are free to use any language in your /faction, /safehouse, and /whisper conversations, provided you have confirmed the other person(s) knows the language.
While we do not monitor those chat channels, any complaints made regarding those channels can be brought up and reviewed.
#3 - No intentional griefing.
This includes using sound, zombies, vehicles, blocking, or destruction to cause intentional harm or inconvenience. If you have been griefed, make a ticket - do not grief them back!
#4 - No hacks, cheats, item dupes or any other such exploits.
Friends of a cheater will also be banned, report them!
If you are suspicious of any member of your group or the server being a cheater, you can raise a ticket in confidence with us and we will investigate.
#5 - Exploiting pathfinding for safety is not allowed.
Project Zomboid is very exploitable and there are many ways to achieve invulnerability or otherwise be unkillable. The use of any such method is banned.
The commonly known "kill boxes" and "sandwich walls" (fence/crate/fence) will not be allowed. If found, these will be destroyed and a warning will be issued to the player doing it. This includes doing it for your base as well.
Here is a list of commonly used exploits as a demonstration for what is a bannable offence:
- Using a car as a barrier outside a wall or fence.
- Destroying the staircase to your upper floor so access is only via sheet rope.
- Building a bridge to avoid zombies when moving around/looting.
- Using invulnerable containers for blocking pathing such as Composters.
- Placing containers next to an invulnerable wall (i.e. a crate behind a map-made metal fence) in order to lure in zombies.
- Using wooden wall frames to confuse zombie pathing.
- Using any seat or situation to be out of reach e.g. "god seats"
- Doing this during an event will result in a no-warning kick from the server by admins.
#6 - No combat logging.
Combat logging violates the spirit of the game. A player found to be combat logging will receive a warning. Second time you will be killed upon log in. Further instances risk a permanent ban.
Combat logging is forcing the game to close or disconnect (e.g. Alt + F4) so that an impending death does not happen to you. We have login protections in place to ensure players can login safely, we expect you will take your deaths as and when they come to you.
#7 - Loot cycling onto the ground is allowed.
While not a rule per se, we allow and encourage loot cycling to the ground on APA. Do not stack up loot in a nearby container for future players, just chuck them to the ground and let the cleanup work as intended.
For more info about loot spawning in general, see FAQ
#8 - Up to 5 claimed cars incl. trailers per player
Do not hoard unclaimed cars in your safe zone.
Every vehicle you have must be claimed. Any unclaimed vehicles can be repossessed by the Repo Rangers and sold at auction. This rule is purely for performance reasons, we just added a lore spice to what happens when the vehicles are removed from your area.
The only exception is the KSSA Stow Station which can be purchased from the Item Shop. The KSSA Stow Station is limited to one per safehouse and will not count against your claim cap.
#9 - Admins will not step in for personal issues
Generally includes lost or unclaimed vehicles, players who have permission to a safehouse and loot it, or loot removed from player corpses. If it's not claimed, it's not yours. This also includes any loot or items lost to server jank i.e. disappearing backpacks and items eaten by cleanup - we all suffer together.
This is quite a wide rule that covers a series of issues including but not limited to:
- Losing items during server restarts, typically caused by moving items between containers in the lead-up to a restart
- Losing player corpses and items during events or other times
- If two players kill a zombie in the same moment, there is a very high chance the corpse will just disappear forever
- If a player attempts to pick up your corpse to keep it preserved for later, there is a very high chance the corpse will instantly disappear when dropped later. DO NOT pick up corpses for body recovery, the best solution is for the player who owns that body to come and collect the items in person.
- Losing an unclaimed vehicle under any circumstances
- Losing items from an unclaimed safehouse under any circumstances
- Losing dropped items or Placed items to server cleanup
- Some recipes will pick up and Drop an item as part of the recipe, so while you may have initially Placed the item, a recipe could undo that tag, allowing the item to be cleaned up on next pass.
#10 - Do not direct message or ping staff for admin tasks.
For any problem, create a #ticket and a staff member will reach out to you.
Do not ask in /all chat for an available admin
Do not ping the Admin role in Discord unless the server has not been responding for 15 minutes or more. Check server-notifications for a scheduled reboot message.
We have a ticket system for all the different situations you need to speak with staff.
If you are currently under a ban appeal or some other action, messaging staff directly will seriously harm your case, no matter the reason or the message.
#11 - Your Discord nickname must be your player name.
This is so in-game players can find you in Discord and it makes all our lives easier.
The application process will automatically set your Discord username when your login is created.
As a standard user, you cannot change your own Discord nickname in the server at any time.
Choose your username wisely! If you decided to change your username, you need to reset your account and lose your current player progress for the season. We advise you do this around new seasons for the easiest time. You also will lose your progress towards the vanity roles.
#12 - Limitations for Player Built Structures
These rules are in place for performance reasons because PZ has limitations.
Following these rules will seriously help avoid problems with your safehouse and any passing player who drives near your safehouse.
Any reports of performance issues will be investigated and may result in chunk resets.
Here are our current building limitations:
- No player built structures can exceed 3 floors in height.
- From the ground, you can build 2 stairs up and no more.
- Do not build a third stair to apply a roof, this goes into the next Z layer and that forces the entire Z layer to be loaded by anyone who goes past or near, even if it's mostly empty or if you later remove the items. The only answer is a chunk reset.
- You may have a rooftop garden if you desire.
- No player made structures on the Ohio River.
- The Ohio River counts as the large river that runs around Louisville, down below Cory, above Riverside and to the West. It also includes the large river that runs through Raven Creek.
- Player made structures include houses, bridges, raised crossings (skybridges), docks, carpets, and floors.
- This also includes building bridges to access fishing locations as it still has the same server impact.
#13 - Updates to Sanctuary and Bus Stops
Due to performance problems in previous seasons, items cannot be placed within Sanctuary fences and in the area immediately around any of the Bus Stops. This is to help keep common places for players lag-free.
All buildings within Sanctuary's fences must have admin permission. See sanctuary-hoa for more information.
Player shops require a Shop Deed that will allow you to claim a shop space. Create a #ticket to start the process.
#14 - Updates to safehouses
The Custom Deed is needed for any claiming of additional safehouse territory.
No Custom Deed safehouses in urban areas. Safehouses within urban areas are limited to what the safehouse provides within its natural boundary. Urban is generally regarded as any space within the city center, but is up to admins.
See sanctuary-hoa for more information.
#15 - Discord Etiquette and you
Limit thread bumps to 4-6 hours. Keep memes, pictures, and videos to their respective channels.