PZ ManualPROJECT ZOMBOID / BUILD 42Source scope: 42.21
An illustrated survivor base with crops, a rain barrel and a generator at dusk.

Project Zomboid / Keep the base running

Something broke.
Find your next check.

Practical Project Zomboid checks for crops, water, power and multiplayer.

Try:Crops dyingSink has no waterGenerator fuel use

Play together / Quick checks

Get your friends into the same world.

Resolve the host permission message or follow a dedicated-server setup checklist with connection and save checks.

Explore multiplayer guides

01Start with a symptom

Common problems. Straight to useful guides.

Farming

Soil / Seeds / Seasons / Disease

Water

Plumbing / Containers / Purification

Power

Generators / Fuel / Appliances

Crop triage / Observe → Check → Act

Read the plant. Check one thing at a time.

A short checklist based on what you can see in game.

Open crop triage
Decorative botanical field-note illustration of a tomato plant.

02Read the field notes

Browse all 12 guides

From the first seed to the next harvestOriginal survival illustrations

Small details can change your next move. Check the plant’s own information before changing the whole field.

Original illustration of a survivor preparing a small planting bed.
01FARMING / 4 MIN READ

Is this the wrong planting month?

Read the crop’s learned planting information and compare it with the sowing date. Check season warnings without relying on an outdated crop calendar.

Read the checks Original illustration of a survivor watering leafy crops.
02FARMING / 4 MIN READ

Water looks fine, but growth stops

Compare the water reading and displayed requirement for the same living crop. Check whether watering completed without assuming a universal dose.

Read the checks Original illustration of harvested vegetables and seeds on a garden workbench.
03FARMING / 4 MIN READ

A harvest gave no seeds

Check the harvest action and distinguish food from seed collection in Build 42. Keep crop-specific stages and unavailable information separate.

Read the checks Original illustration of a survivor walking beside a protected vegetable garden.
04FARMING / 3 MIN READ

Did walking over the farm kill it?

Official 42.21 notes clarify that player footsteps do not damage crops. Keep that separate from other traffic and unexplained crop failures.

Read the checks

03Build a dependable base

A reading route for each essential.

05Before your next check

A few things worth getting right.

Do player footsteps damage crops in 42.21?

The full official 42.21 patch notes explicitly say player characters do not damage crops by stepping on them. Other traffic and crop failures need separate checks. Read the correction and its source.

Can the crop tool tell me why a plant died?

It sorts your current observations into next checks. It cannot reconstruct a past cause of death. Water comparisons use the minimum you enter from the game, rather than a built-in crop threshold. Open the observation checklist.

Will these guides apply to my modded world?

Start with your exact patch and mod list. The crop tool keeps modded or unknown scope separate from vanilla inference. Article source notes identify what is documented and what still needs a current-game check. Check the version and evidence limits.

What should I record before changing my setup?

Keep the patch, mods, game time and the information shown by the affected plant, container or appliance. Change one condition at a time so you can compare the result. Choose a checklist for your symptom.

Independent fan guide · Patch facts and background sources are labeled.Sources & version limits