Zombie
Zombies are the primary threat of 7 Days to Die and are found all around the world, especially in the game world of Navezgane County, Arizona. An unknown virus is transforming human beings into relentless Zombies.
There is no explanation on the causes of the virus, how it spread the world, why it ravaged the world, and no way of stopping it is known to anyone, nor is the date of when it started known, although according to calendars it's possible that this takes place in 2034. Most of the human population turned into Zombies from what can be seen in-game.
Note: Information provided using default game settings on Nomad difficulty.
Humans
Human Zombies are divided into a number of classes, which share roughly the same base health, attack damage, and movement speed.
All human Zombies have a +/-15% health variance. Zombie health does not change with Difficulty, only the damage inflicted by them and to them.
Slim
Slim Zombies have lower health (typically 150 base), low damage, and faster movement speed. Most of them lack an Infernal variant.
- Arlene
- Marlene
- Party Girl
- Nurse
- Businessman: Has an Infernal variant.
- Joe
- Steve
- Tom Clark
- Burnt Zombie: Common in the Burnt Forest, can spawn in burnt building POIs in any biome. Has an Infernal variant.
- Spider Zombie: Less common, has distinct sounds and a leaping attack. Has an Infernal variant.
Normal
Normal Zombies have average health (typically 200 base), damage, and movement speed.
- Boe
- Moe: Does not have a Charged variant.
- Yo
- Janitor
- Inmate: A reskin wearing an orange prison jumpsuit.
- Utility Worker: More common in utility and construction POIs, has 20% damage resistance, and increased block damage.
- Darlene
- Lab Worker
- Hazmat Zombie: Increases Infection when infected by 10x more compared to other Zombies.
Fit
Fit Zombies are similar to Normal Zombies, but have slightly higher health and movement speed.
- Thug
- Soldier: Has 50% damage resistance, making them tougher than a Fit Zombie would otherwise be.
- Wight: No standard variant exists. Has an unusually large amount of health, though their movement speed classifies them as Fit.
Strong
Strong/Sturdy Zombies have higher health (typically 450 base) and damage but slower movement speed. They lack a Charged variant.
- Biker: Has 20% damage resistance.
- Lumberjack
- Tourist
- Bowler: A reskin wearing a bowling jacket.
- Big Mama
- Cop: Spits acid and explodes at low health if not killed first.
Special
Special Zombies have unique abilities and spawning conditions. Their health, damage, and movement speed varies.
- Screamer: Spawns in areas where excessive Heat is generated. Calls in a horde by screaming when spotting the player. Has the same base health as Normal Zombies, but its variants have lower health than usual.
- Demolition Zombie: Mostly spawns in Blood Moon Hordes at high Game Stages. Has very high block damage and explodes if the C4 on its chest is triggered.
- Rancher: Only spawns in the Desert and Blood Moon Hordes. Spits Insect Swarms.
- Chuck: Only spawns in the Snow and Blood Moon Hordes. Throws high-damage boulders.
- Mutated Zombie: More common in the Wasteland. Sprays radioactive acid around itself.
- Crawler: Spawns as commonly as a Normal Zombie, and has similar health.
Animals
Zombie Animals exist in the world along with the traditional human zombies. Killing and harvesting them is one of the ways to get Rotting Flesh which is important for Farming.
- Zombie Dogs are very fast and are not affected by daylight, making them a dangerous predator at any time. They typically spawn in packs, and can thus maul a survivor into shreds.
- Zombie Vultures fly around and attack the player from above, and will attempt to make range after it successfully attacked the player to avoid retaliation. They may spawn in every biome, but are mostly prevalent in the Desert and to a lesser extent the Wasteland. They are easily avoided by taking shelter, though they do have the ability to break blocks. Driving a Vehicle during a Blood Moon Horde spawns an excessive amount of them. Its Radiated variant has the ability to spit acid.
- Dire Wolves are larger and tougher than the Wolf.
- Zombie Bears have more health and are stronger than regular Bears. They are covered in blood and will attack anything on sight. In later days, Screamers can call them.
- Grace: A large zombified Boar only found in certain POIs.
Removed Zombies
See Removed Zombies for more details.
Variants
Most zombies have a chance to spawn with a special trait - Feral, Radiated, and new in V2.0: Charged and Infernal. Variant zombies appear more frequently as the player's Game Stage progresses, showing up more often in certain Points of Interest and during Blood Moon Hordes.
Feral
A Feral zombie will have glowing orange eyes, increased health, deal more entity and block damage, and may have a different speed depending on the game's Zombie Feral Speed setting, along with faster animations in general (waking up, attacking, recovering from a fall, etc.).
Feral zombies can be fought almost exactly the same as normal zombies since they fight exactly the same; unless their speed has been changed. Fighting feral zombies requires more caution as they can catch a survivor off guard with their speed. If their speed is a problem, dismemberment, traps, and staggering (also known as ragdolling) can help to slow them down and make them easier targets for attack.
Radiated
Radiated Zombies appear bright green and were the highest level variant above Feral before V2.0. These zombies have very high Health (often over 1000) and are less susceptible to stagger when attacked. Radiated zombies are even more resistant to dismemberment than Feral zombies are. Unlike the Feral zombies they are very easy to spot due to their bright color, even when 'hidden' in POI ambush spots.
Radiated Zombies' defining trait is their healing ability that regenerates 2.5 HP/second up to 80% of their max HP, which can be temporarily disabled with the Rad Remover Mod (this also works on the Charged and Infernal Zombies). Without the Rad Remover Mod equipped, their healing can be overcome by continuously attacking but it takes noticeably longer to kill them.
Charged
A new 2.0 higher game staged radiated blue class of zombies that turn, attack and run faster than the radiated green zombies, but they do more entity damage. They have slightly more HP than their radiated counterparts and keep the healing factor. The Charged variant zombies only come in the form of 'light' or 'normal' zombies, but they are the most dangerous doing the highest entity damage. Hiding in a base is quite effective however, as their block damage is not particularly good. They are also more resistant, but not immune, to electrical shocks from Electric Fence Posts and the Stun Baton.
Infernal
A new 2.0 higher game staged radiated orange class of zombies that are slower & tankier than the radiated green zombies, but they do more block damage. They have much higher HP than their radiated counterparts and keep the healing factor. Opposite to the Charged variant above, Infernal zombies only come in the 'heavy' variant and do more block damage than entity damage. With their high health and damage against blocks, they take the role of zombie tank onto themselves and should be a priority target during the Blood Moon Hordes. They take reduced fire damages and only ragdoll 25% of the time from a Robotic Sledge (no reduced effect from weapons).
Behavior
Zombies react to pain in certain areas. For example, if hit in the leg, they will hold their leg and be stunned for a couple of seconds. If hit in the torso, the zombie may be stunned, causing them to fall to the ground. Note that this does not kill them, and they will get up a few seconds later and resume their assault. A player should never assume the zombie is dead simply because it is on the ground, instead keep in mind that an EXP gain will be shown in the lower right corner of the screen when a zombie is killed, which is essentially a notification system that tells you if a zombie is down or will get back up.
Zombies can and will climb ladders. If a player and a zombie are on a ladder and a player is below the zombie, with the zombie having no movement options besides going up and down the ladder, the zombie will be unable to attack the player. If the zombie is below the player it will push the player up and off the ladder.
Since V2.0 zombies gained the ability to duck like the player and traverse 1x1 block spaces. Even though the animation for crouching is the same as the player, only zombies are able to use a 1x1 block space to move through.
Day
Zombies move slowly during the day and will not chase after the player if they stay far enough away. Zombies will mostly stay idle around their position but when they spot a player they will move in a straight line towards them, destroying any blocks in their way. This behavior can be changed while creating and entering a world with the setting "Zombie Day Speed".
Night
At night, zombies start running and begin to wander around. They will attempt to detect survivors at night, using proximity, sight and light. Zombies will try to occupy the space directly above or below the players' location. During the night, zombies appear to be more active the closer a player is to them, for example if a player stands directly on top of a wall, no matter the material, the zombies will destroy the blocks in the wall very rapidly. However by contrast, if the player is standing in the middle of a room, and is 15 or more spaces from all the walls, zombies will not congregate in one spot to destroy the wall and it will take them much longer. This being considered, larger bases are usually more effective than smaller ones.
Feral Sense
The Feral Sense game option gives zombies heightened senses to detect the player during the day, night or all the time depending on the setting. Not to be be confused with the Feral variant of zombie, below video explains the Feral Sense mechanic.
Combat
With the exception of the Mutated Zombie, Cop Zombie, Radiated Zombie Vulture, and Zombie Rancher & Zombie Chuck, all zombies have a single style of attack, which is a melee swipe, slash or punch (However, if both of a zombie's arms are taken off, they seem to bite the player instead). All attacks have a chance of causing an Infection, Stunned, Fatigue, Sprained Legs and Sprained Arms, Lacerations, and/or Bleeding debuffs, the latter being more prevalent when fighting against Zombie Dogs. Melee combat against zombies is relatively simple - aim for the head and walk in and out between strikes. Every hit has also a chance to dismember a limb from zombie. Dismembering the head will kill any zombie instantly, so using a weapon under the attribute the player focuses on is advisable. However, against a horde, melee combat can lead the player to be surrounded by zombies which is extremely dangerous, especially at night. This should be avoided at all costs as a single stun, bleed, or infection will most likely be fatal. Against hordes or when safety is of the ultimate priority, guns are the safest in this regard, but they rely on available ammunition. The Primitive Bow is an excellent early choice of weapon for fighting zombies as both it and Stone Arrows are easy and inexpensive to craft, and using the bow makes little to no noise, thus attracting less attention from nearby zombies.
Stealth can be used to avoid zombies and is most effective when crouching (default 'C' key, or toggled on/off by 'left-Ctrl' key). Movement while crouched is slower than while walking. Staying hidden requires moving slowly, staying out of light and trash piles, and can be invested in by spending skill points into the From The Shadows perk, under the Agility attribute. Crossbows and Bows can be used for stealth kills without drawing much attention from other zombies, and both get double damage from stealth shooting. Some objects, such as Small Stones and Snowballs can be thrown to create a distraction or to lure zombies to other areas.
Defenses
Generally, a base is never perfectly safe from zombies. Repairs are a normal duty; fixing blocks, replacing traps, etc. Even the most fortified bases can fail when under siege by wave after wave of zombies, particularly during the Blood Moon Hordes. The following tips can help extend the longevity of a base:
- Use traps, like Wood Spikes. Other forms of traps include Land mines or pitfalls, but require extensive resource investment and restocking.
- Zombies won't notice hatches or wooden poles, this is very useful for long pits to harm zombies with a clever death trap.
- Build walls at least two blocks higher than the zombies can jump (usually three blocks high) to prevent them from breaking an upper block on a two-high wall and jumping over it. Keep in mind, however, that zombies can jump on top of each other like blocks to climb slightly higher than they can jump.
- Build layered defenses to rely on should a Zombie Horde occur. This is especially true if the player wishes to fortify their base, but does not want to break down their original layer of walls.
- Make frequent repairs. It is wise for a player to always check for damage to their base whenever possible, especially after a Horde attack. The Stone Axe, Claw Hammer and Nailgun can all repair damaged blocks. Most blocks can be upgraded to be more durable.
- The high ground is your friend. This is most commonly achieved by having a balcony or roof access, making it possible for a player to shoot at zombies while remaining more or less safe.
- Have a way to attack the zombies where they can't attack you. Whether by Wood Spikes or Iron Bars and scaffolding ladders (a Building Block shape) inset into the walls, make it a one sided fight as much as possible.
- Moats and ditches. These take time and planning to build and as such should only be attempted once a base has other defenses. Combined with spike traps, these are very effective defenses, though hinder attempts to farm food or any escape routes. If building near water, the banks of the water body will cause problems for the ditch. Having a moat or ditch requires strong defenses at the bridge of your moat since this is the easiest access point.
- Have an escape route: A base should have an easy access escape route that zombies (or other players) cannot enter. A good (and easy) option is to plant some Hay Bales just outside your base to land on when jumping off a roof. They reduce fall damage and allow the player to escape from there. Another suggestion would be to build a tunnel out of the base and then block up the entrance with one layer of Dirt, thus making it inaccessible to zombies or enemy players whilst allowing for your escape. Park a vehicle, such as a Bicycle, Minibike, Motorcycle, or 4x4 Truck a short distance away from your base for a quick escape.
Zombies have no regard for their own safety and will attempt to charge even through Wood Spikes or other traps, even if it means certain death. However, as swarms of zombies die and defenses slowly degrade, it will be easier for them to clear a path to the player.
Fall damage for any zombie at any height will only reduce its health by half and will stun the zombie, making it vulnerable to triple-damage while stunned.
Zombie Table
A list of all Zombies is available on the List of Zombies page.