Project Zomboid map guide: Best starting locations and bases in Build 42
The Project Zomboid map is a huge, explorable world for you to survive the zombie apocalypse, with plenty of possible starting locations, points of interest, and places to barricade yourself in.
With Rosewood being one of the most popular starting locations in the game, there are plenty of reasons for you to go with this town for players looking to get a head start on their survival, but other options do exist as well.
Whether you’re looking for sanctuary across each town, or are just after some guidance regarding the best places to go for loot, safety, and vehicles, we’ve got you covered in our comprehensive guide to each part of the Project Zomboid map.
Build 42 of the game features more areas and locations than ever before, with roughly double the size of the map from previous builds. Many locations have been reworked, with some old advice no longer being applicable as of the latest update.
- Best overall starting location: Rosewood, it has the best buildings and services to equip you with decent loot from the beginning
- Best for beginners: Ekron, as it’s the smallest town in the game so you won’t become overwhelmed
- Best for loot: Rosewood, which holds decent loot in several buildings within a short distance from each other
- Best for a long-term base: Rosewood Fire Station, which has easy access to all the bare essentials for long-term survival
- Current guide version: Project Zomboid Stable Build 42.21
Read More: 8 best Project Zomboid mods to guarantee your zombie horde survival
Project Zomboid map explained: what changed in Build 42?
Build 42 Stable was released for Project Zomboid on Build 42.20.0 around two years after the Unstable release. This update focused on expanding the map, adding over 1,400 unique buildings and 20,000 new tiles.
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Three new towns have been added to the map in this update: Ekron, Irvington, and Brandenburg, while refreshes to Riverside, West Point, Rosewood, Fallas Lake, Muldraugh, and Dixie have also been implemented.
If you’re interested in exploring the map in full, we’d recommend checking out the official Project Zomboid Mapping Project, which lays out every single building and route that you can look at.
What is the best starting location in Project Zomboid?
Although The Indie Stone has balanced each town in Project Zomboid to be fairly equal in terms of survivability, Rosewood is often seen as the most popular starting location due to the opportunities with looting and easy access to places that can serve as a long-term base.
In order of best to worst, here’s a quick ranking of each location. Those ranked highest have the a decent balance of difficulty, factoring in where loot is located, how easy each place is to escape, and access to vehicles and potential bases.
- Rosewood
- Ekron
- Louisville
- West Point
- Riverside
- Muldraugh
- Brandenburg
- Irvington
Rosewood
Rosewood is the best location for new players due to the close proximity that the fire station and police stations are to residential areas. It also has a decent number of accessible routes towards Muldraugh and March Ridge.
The biggest danger of Rosewood is the main street, which is often filled with large numbers of zombies. It’s recommended that you make your way to the fire station as soon as possible. Here, you can find fire axes which provide you with an excellent melee weapon option, as well as the close proximity to the police station and bookstore for other necessary gear.
The fire station also includes a large garage area which you can use to park vehicles or grind out necessary skills. Upstairs you can access the roof, an excellent place to gather water.
Riverside
While Rosewood is an all-rounder great choice for most players, Riverside is an excellent starting location for a slower, safer start.
Riverside is on the smaller side in terms of the scale of Project Zomboid’s settlements, making it pretty easy to get a grasp of. There’s a large number of residential homes, plus the river which can you can use for fishing. Grab an abundance of food if you want to start the first few days of each playthrough with a large bag of supplies.
However, you’ll eventually want to leave for one of the larger settlements after a few days or weeks in-game, and with the town being a little isolated from the rest of the map, it can take you a while to get set up in another location.
Muldraugh
Muldraugh was the first town released for Project Zomboid, having featured in the game’s early alpha state back in 2011 when it looked dramatically different.
Muldraugh is a reliable place to survive if you’re playing Project Zomboid casually, and plan on moving between multiple settlements. Its central location in the game world means you’re equally distant from places like Louisville and Ekron.
The town features a large main strip that goes along the edge, with different residential, commercial, and industrial zones branching off from there on the eastern side. If you can secure a vehicle, this makes it a pretty reliable way to get from one area to another quickly.
West Point
West Point was the second area added to Project Zomboid, and was intended to be a more difficult option for players just starting out.
This area has a lot of high-value loot, which makes it excellent for those who want to be strong quickly. However, be aware that this does not mean the area is friendly to beginners. The whole town is a lot denser, with a higher zombie population, which can also make it a newbie trap for those who go there unprepared.
However, it does also provide you with easy access to Louisville, which is a good late-game option for players who manage to survive for many months.
If you’re starting from West Point, we’d recommend going to the Metal Shop located on the south end of the town, which has some decent gear to get you started, and then start collecting food from nearby buildings like the Gas Station and Burger Joint.
New Build 42 locations worth visiting
Build 42 Stable of Project Zomboid adds three new towns into the mix: Brandenburg, Ekron, and Irvington. Each of these towns offer their own strengths and weaknesses, and are played very differently from the settlements released previously.
It’s not possible to spawn in these towns currently, and they must be visited later on. Make sure you’re fully prepared when visiting one of these settlements, as they each pose their own dangers.
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is located up the river from Riverside, and can be a challenging location to visit for players who plan on leaving Riverside in the early-mid game.
Here, the buildings are a little more spread out, which can be useful when trying to lose zombies that are hot on your tail.
However, beware that the place can also be swarming with zombies on regular settings. Presumably due to the fact there’s a bridge there, which means more people would have fled there to escape the hordes, only to meet a grisly fate.
If you’re in Brandenburg, make sure you’re stocked up on as many weapons and medical supplies as possible, as you will most certainly need them. In particular, you may want to bring firearms, as there is a large amount of ammunition here compared to other towns in Project Zomboid.
Ekron
Ekron is the smallest town in Project Zomboid, which makes it a decent place to loot as you won’t be covering much ground to visit each point of interest. However, do not mistake that for the town being relatively easy to clear.
The population density is very high here, which can catch you unexpectedly, so be sure to keep clear of any dense areas, and avoid being boxed in. High School in particular is best recommended to avoid unless you really want to feel the pressure.
Irvington
Out of the three new towns in Build 42 Stable, Irvington is a decent location with reliable spawns for weapons, food, and other supplies. However, it lacks variety in commercial and industrial buildings, while residential areas are overwhelmingly large.
If headed here, go to the far west side of the town where the commercial district is located. Here, you’ll find a few restaurants, a grocery store, sporting goods shop, and a gun store which will provide you with necessary supplies should you need them.
Best base locations in Project Zomboid
The best location to build your base in Project Zomboid will ultimately depend on your needs.
Beginner bases are better suited in town areas due to their proximity to other buildings with supplies that you need, while late-game bases are better in isolated areas once you’ve become self-sufficient, and don’t need to rely on scavenging nearby locations.
Best beginner base
The best beginner base in Project Zomboid is easily the McCoy Logging Company Warehouse in North Muldraugh, as it’s large and features a lot of resources to collect. It’s also an excellent place to grind out Metalworking, which is useful for crafting weapons and armour.
Best long-term base
The best long-term base in Project Zomboid is a hot debate within the community, but many recommend the large log mansion that is located next to a lake north of Muldraugh.
It’s isolated in the forest, and you have access to water for fishing, crops, a garage, plus plenty of space to experiment with other mechanics. It also has its own generator, should you need power.
In terms of survival, you should be able to last for a long time here. The only issue might be that it becomes boring after a while, as there is very little zombie activity unless the migration mechanic kicks in.
Best high-risk, high-reward base
Twiggy’s Bar on the edge of West Point is an excellent high-risk, high-reward base. The location itself has enough nearby resources to cover your basic needs, with easy access to wood, food, and water.
The bar is near a gun shop and grocery store, plus it also has a decent enough space for crafting or grinding, as well as an outside area for growing food.
However, as with many places in West Point, the bar is also susceptible to zombie attacks either through roaming strays, or hordes migrating from elsewhere. If you’re stocked with plenty of weapons and supplies to deal with zombies, you can easily make this place into a cosy home, but remember to stay on alert at all times.
Best early loot routes
When starting out, your biggest priority for the first few days is to find medical supplies and weapons. Finding a car is also a high priority, as it’ll be useful for ferrying supplies around, as well as travelling across or between different towns.
While food is also important, it’s incredibly abundant at the very beginning of the game and can be found in most locations, so it doesn’t need to be a priority. You’ll likely come across a lot of food as you’re searching for these other items.
By the end of Day 2, you should make sure to have a backpack, a couple of weapons (steel pipe can be found easily in sheds), several bandages, painkillers, disinfectant wipes, an empty fuel can, a screwdriver and hammer, as well as a working vehicle.
Food and medical supplies
It’s recommended to start by checking residential homes for most of these supplies. Checking 3-4 homes will likely give you the medical supplies and food you need, along with a couple of weapons. Perishable food must be cooked directly in the oven as soon as you find it, unless you find a place to turn into a base which has a freezer.
Food is more abundant in supermarkets and larger buildings, which you’ll naturally find as you explore the town. Don’t spend too long here, as it’s easy to become boxed in by zombies. Make sure every building you enter has at least two more exits, and use those to leave rather than going out the way you came.
Weapons and ammunition
The best places to find weapons depends on whether you want a melee weapon or a firearm. Useful melee weapons can be found in many places, but check hardware stores and sheds to find a good blunt instrument that can be used as a weapon. Steel pipes can be found in most sheds, and offer good protection in the early game.
For guns, most towns have a gun shop you can loot from. However, upper class homes are better recommended as they can also hold several guns at once, and are much less populated by zombie threats. Be sure to also check the trunks of any police cars you find, as they often also hold guns. Police stations are also ideal, but they’re very risky to explore if you’re not fully equipped, and we’d recommend avoiding them until later on.
Tools, vehicles and fuel
Tools can be found in many places, but garages, sheds, hardware stores and warehouses are often the best places to check, especially as these places may also hold weapons you can use.
Cars are best found in commercial areas such as nearby stores and businesses. Check the car parks nearby any businesses, as cars are likely to spawn here.
To get petrol, you need an empty gas canister and a rubber hose, which you can use together to siphon petrol from any other vehicles on the road. You can also use fuel to power generators which are handy for late-game bases, so it’s recommended to have some on you at all times.
When should you enter Louisville?
Louisville is a massive city located on the far eastern side of the map, and is intentionally a late-game area recommended only for very experienced players. Not only does it have the largest surface area out of every settlement in Project Zomboid, but it also features the highest density of the zombie population, accounting for about 1/3rd of all zombies on the entire map.
As such, there isn’t really a big reason to go there at the moment unless you fancy a challenge. In terms of loot, there isn’t anything in Louisville that isn’t in any of the other towns. However, given the high difficulty of the area, the number of high-value items is increased here. Essentially, it’s a massive high-risk, high-reward location.
Given that many buildings in the city are tall high rises, you’ll also want to take extra caution when clearing these out, as it’s incredibly easy to find yourself boxed in without an exit.
If you’re keen on visiting Louisville, you should go once you’re comfortable with clearing out large areas of zombies in narrow spaces without getting hurt. We’d recommend doing it after you’ve managed to survive for more than a year across a few characters.
Make sure your vehicle is fully fuelled up and in good condition, and that you have plenty of weapons, food, ammo, and medical supplies. Be sure to always have an escape route in mind if things get tough, and don’t let yourself get low on provisions.
Project Zomboid map FAQs
How big is the Project Zomboid map?
- The current Project Zomboid map consists of around 962 cells. Each cell consists of a 300x300 tile grid. This accounts for nearly 90,000,000 individual tiles in the whole map.
What is the easiest town to start in?
- The three easiest towns to start in are Rosewood, Riverside, or Muldraugh.
Can you kill all zombies in Project Zomboid?
- With respawning turned off, it is theoretically possible to kill all zombies on the map if you have enough time and resources. With the migration feature, these zombie populations will move around the map to repopulate areas that were previously cleared by you, but with enough time, you could theoretically kill every zombie on the map.
Can you start in Louisville?
- It’s not possible to start a new character in Louisville. You can only get there by travelling from one of the other towns. The closest settlement to Louisville is Valley Station.
Is the Build 41 map still accurate?
- Build 42 adds new towns in Brandenburg, Ekron, and Irvington, and certain layouts of existing towns were also changed in the latest build. Maps from Build 41 and below may be inaccurate, so it’s recommended to use an up to date one.
Is there an official interactive Project Zomboid map?
- Yes, you can use the official Project Zomboid interactive map, where you’re able to view different elevation levels and sort by items at ease. You can also check older versions of the map too if you wish.
