How to Change the Difficulty on Your 7 Days To Die Server

7 Days To Die lets you control how tough the world is for your survivors. Whether you want a relaxed base-building experience or a brutal horde-every-night survival challenge, you can change the difficulty level at any time from the RiverHosting panel without touching any config files manually.

Before you start

• You need an active 7 Days To Die server with RiverHosting. If you do not have one yet, visit riverhosting.com to get started.
• Log in to the RiverHosting panel at panel.riverhosting.com.
• Make sure your server is stopped before changing the difficulty. Changing settings while the server is running may cause the change to not take effect properly.

1. Open Server Config for your 7 Days To Die server

Once you are logged in to the panel, find your 7 Days To Die server and click on it to open the server page. In the left-hand menu, click Server Config.

The Server Config page is a built-in editor that gives you access to the most common server settings, including difficulty, in a clean interface without needing to edit files by hand.

2. Find the difficulty setting

On the Server Config page, look for the difficulty option. It is usually labelled something like Game Difficulty or similar. This setting controls how tough enemies are, how much damage they deal, and how much loot you find.

7 Days To Die uses a numbered difficulty scale. The values typically range from easiest to hardest:

• 0 - Scavenger (easiest)
• 1 - Adventurer
• 2 - Nomad
• 3 - Warrior
• 4 - Survivalist
• 5 - Insane (hardest)

3. Change the difficulty value

Click on the difficulty field and enter the number that matches the level you want. For example, enter 2 for Nomad or 4 for Survivalist.

Once you have made your selection, click the Save button on the Server Config page to apply the change.

4. Restart your server to apply the change

After saving, go back to the main server page and start your server again. The new difficulty level will be active when the server finishes starting up.

You can confirm the server has started successfully by checking the Console from the left-hand menu and watching for the startup messages.

Troubleshooting

• The difficulty did not seem to change in game. Make sure you stopped the server before saving, then started it again after. If the server was running when you saved, the old value may still be loaded in memory.
• I cannot find the difficulty field in Server Config. Try scrolling down on the Server Config page, as settings are sometimes grouped by category. If you still cannot find it, you can check the file serverconfig.xml in the File Manager as a fallback, but the Server Config page is the recommended method.
• The server is not starting after the change. Open the Console tab and look for any error messages. An invalid value in the difficulty field (such as a letter instead of a number) can prevent the server from loading. Go back to Server Config and correct the value.
• Players are not seeing the new difficulty. Ask connected players to fully disconnect and reconnect after the server restarts so their session picks up the updated settings.

Need help?

If you run into any issues changing your difficulty setting or your server is not behaving as expected, the RiverHosting support team is happy to help.