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Managing Global Character Insertion

When a participant initializes a new character on your Project Zomboid (PZ) server, the engine presents a standardized selection of starting locations (e.g., Muldraugh, West Point, or Riverside). While many high-fidelity map modifications include their own technical boundaries, they frequently do not manifest in this visual list automatically. To provide your community with the ability to spawn directly into modded environments like Raven Creek or Bedford Falls, you must manually register the map’s metadata within your server’s primary spawn registry.

Difficulty

Intermediate

Time

5 Minutes

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Technical File Infrastructure

Spawn selection logic is governed by a dedicated Lua file situated within your server’s persistent configuration directory.
  • Technical Path: /Zomboid/Server/[ServerIdentity]_spawnregions.lua

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Manual Registry Management

Follow these steps to authorize a new geographical spawn point.
1

Initialize File Transfer

use the Game Panel File Manager to locate and open your _spawnregions.lua file.
2

Identify Modded Assets

Navigate to the individual map resource folder (either via the Workshop directory or your server’s mod repository). Locate the path to the spawnpoints.lua file associated with the city.
3

Update the Lua Table

Insert a new entry into the SpawnRegions() function using the standardized format identified below.
function SpawnRegions()
    return {
        { name = "Muldraugh, KY", file = "media/maps/Muldraugh, KY/spawnpoints.lua" },
        { name = "Riverside, KY", file = "media/maps/Riverside, KY/spawnpoints.lua" },
        -- Custom Modification Entry:
        { name = "Raven Creek", file = "media/maps/RavenCreek/spawnpoints.lua" },
    }
end

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Strategic Navigation & Accuracy

If your custom spawn entry fails to appear, ensure the file = string precisely matches the internal directory structure of the mod. You can verify this by inspecting the mod’s .zip archive on your local PC and tracing the path through media/maps/.
Within your server.properties file, ensure that SpawnPoint= is left blank if you wish to use the selection menu. If you define a specific coordinate in the properties file, the engine will bypass the visual selection screen entirely and force all players to a single insertion point.

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Balanced Onboarding

Providing specialized spawn regions for “Safe” areas or “High-Loot” zones allows you to manage the difficulty curve for new players. Consider adding community-built “Newbie Outposts” to the spawn list to improve retention for first-time survivors.

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Need Extra Help?

If you encounter any issues, our support team is ready to assist:

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Last Updated: January 2026 | Project Zomboid: Spawn regions registered.