Can You Pause Project Zomboid? (Solo, Multiplayer, and Dedicated Server)
Quick answer:
- Solo play: Yes. Open the Esc menu and the game pauses.
- Multiplayer (peer-to-peer co-op): Only the host can pause; pressing Esc pauses for everyone in the session. The game cannot be paused if the host is offline.
- Dedicated server: Cannot pause manually. Use the
PauseEmpty=trueserver config to freeze the world automatically when no players are online (covered below).
The three settings that actually control server time
PauseEmpty is one of three, and people change it while the other two quietly undo the
point. All three are servertest.ini keys, and these are the types our own
configuration layer enforces across the Project Zomboid servers we run:
| Key | Type | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
PauseEmpty | true or false | Whether the world clock stops when the last player logs out. |
SleepAllowed | true or false | Whether players may sleep at all on a multiplayer server. |
SleepNeeded | true or false | Whether tiredness accumulates and must be slept off. |
SleepAllowed and SleepNeeded are the pair people miss. Turning sleep on in multiplayer lets one player fast-forward the clock for everybody, which is the opposite of what someone enabling PauseEmpty usually wants. If your goal is a world that only moves while you are playing, you want PauseEmpty on and sleep off.
Worth knowing if you are editing files by hand: these two are frequently written into
the sandbox file by mistake, where nothing reads them. They belong in
servertest.ini alongside PauseEmpty.
The clock settings live in a different file
Day length and the world's start date are not in the .ini.
They are sandbox variables, in <servername>_SandboxVars.lua, and every
one of them is a numbered preset rather than a plain value. The game annotates them in the
file itself:
| Variable | Values |
|---|---|
DayLength | 1 is 15 minutes, 2 is 30 minutes, 3 is 1 hour, 4 is 2 hours, 5 is 3 hours, 6 is 4 hours, 7 is 5 hours, 8 is 12 hours, 9 is real time |
StartTime | 1 is 7AM, 2 is 9AM, 3 is 12PM, 4 is 2PM, 5 is 5PM, 6 is 9PM, 7 is 12AM, 8 is 2AM, 9 is 5AM |
StartMonth | 1 is January through 12 is December |
StartDay | the day of that month, 1 to 31 |
StartYear | a year counter, 1 is the first year. It is not a calendar year like 1993. |
DayLength is the real multiplier on how fast your world rots, and it is the one to look at before PauseEmpty. Setting 9 makes an in-game day take a real day, which is a completely different game from the 1 hour that setting 3 gives you.
The start date matters for a reason that is easy to miss: the Life and Living TV broadcasts run on the world calendar from 9 to 17 July, not on your server's age. Open a world dated after 17 July and every one of those free-XP broadcasts has already aired and is gone for good. Set StartMonth and StartDay before you open the server to players, because you cannot wind the calendar back afterwards.
Why dedicated servers don't have a manual pause
One of the biggest challenges of running a persistent Project Zomboid server is that the world continues to rot while you're at work or sleeping. If left on default settings, your crops can wither, your generators can run out of fuel, and your refrigerated food can spoil. The PauseEmpty setting allows you to freeze the world in time whenever the server is empty.
1. Freezing Time
When PauseEmpty=true, the server's internal clock and all world simulations (rot, fire spread, crop growth) stop the moment the last player logs out.
2. Crop Protection
This is essential for farmers. Without it, a rainy day while you are offline might overwater your plants or a heatwave might kill them before you can log back in.
3. Generator Fuel
Generators consume fuel based on active appliances. In a persistent world, a generator can run dry in 2 - 3 real-world days, leading to a base full of rotten food.
How to Enable Pause Empty
- Login to your Supercraft Panel and Stop the server.
- Open the Advanced Server Settings (or edit your
.inifile). - Use
Ctrl + Fto find the setting:PauseEmpty=false - Change the value to true.
- Click Save Configs and Restart the server.
Pros and Cons of Pausing Your Server
| Setting | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| PauseEmpty=true | Crops won't die; Food won't rot; Generators won't run dry. | Makes the world feel less "persistent"; Time doesn't advance for RP purposes. |
| PauseEmpty=false | A true "Living World" experience where seasons change naturally. | Requires 24/7 maintenance; High risk of base failure while offline. |
Additional Time Management: "Start-on-Join"
On some high-performance servers, owners use a script to shut down the server entirely when empty and restart it only when a player tries to join. While more complex, the PauseEmpty setting within the game engine is the most stable and recommended way to manage your world's timeline on Supercraft.
Note: Some mods that use "Real-World Time" for certain calculations (like Daily Reward mods) may behave unexpectedly if the server is paused. Always test your mod compatibility before enabling this setting on a heavily modded server.
Control the clock with absolute precision. Host your Project Zomboid server with Supercraft and enjoy a world that waits for you, ensuring your hard-earned progress is never lost to time.