Performance Tips
Settings tweaks, FPS mods, custom launcher and more performance tips.
Allocating RAM and the custom launcher
Allocating more RAM to the game is essential and usually resolves most issues. Dawn of the Dead also has optional performance fixes you can apply in the launcher options as -Dstorm.experimental.clientperf=true before the last --.
See the guide on adding launcher options for more info.
Some, but not all, of what the custom launcher aims to do:
- Fix a lot of vanilla bugs and potential crashes.
- Reduce hitching from loading custom UI panels.
- Reduce the range of map tiles loading in at once.
- Staggering loading of car skins.
- Gradual streaming of music files instead of one big chunk.
Client side mods
- ⚡Tempo - A Performance & FPS Optimizer
- Optimizes menus and aims to alleviate stutters and hitching.
Installation:
- Subscribe to the mod
- From the main menu, go to Mods
- Click the checkbox to enable ☑
- Click Accept
Doing the optional manual installation of Tempo FPS may result in you getting kicked for file mismatch or cause unexpected freezes.
Settings tweaks
From the main menu click on Options.
| Setting Name | Selection |
|---|---|
| Texture Compression | Ticked |
| Simple Clothing Textures | Players and Zombies |
| Simple Weapon Textures | Ticked |
| Texture Size | 512 |
| Blood Decals | None |
| Corpse Shadows | Unticked |
| Dynamic Puddles | Ground Only |
| Render Rain and Snow | Outdoors Only |
| Fog Quality | Legacy (Build 40) |
| Setting Name | Selection |
|---|---|
| UI Offscreen Rendering | Ticked |
| UI Rendering FPS | 10 or 20 |
If the above isn't enough, you can dig deeper into Display & Performance to disable things like Dynamic Skybox, Environment Reflections, Wind Sprite Effects or lower Water Quality and other aspects.
Inventory & items
- Be sure to deposit any bits of cash funds you receive via Economy window.
- If you have an item with repeating status tags such as (Bloody)(Bloody)(Bloody), right click it, select More and Rename it, to prevent corruption.
- Do not Place a large amount of items in an area.
Troubleshooting random crashes or error spam
- There is a chance that items can be corrupted, even vanilla ones like a simple wallet, causing sudden crashes. Likewise areas of the map can see chunk corruption.
After crashing or exiting the game:
- Open Run (Windows Key + R)
- Paste the following and hit enter
%USERPROFILE%\Zomboid\ - Find
console.txt
This contains recent error logs. If the source of the problem is unclear, open a ticket under Access Issues for crashes, or In-Game Help for error spam, after the ticket is opened attach the console file.
Connection problems
See the relevant page for advice.
Black screen when tabbing
If using an Nvidia graphics card:
- Open the Nvidia Control Panel
- Select Manage 3D settings
- Change Vulkan setting to DXGI
Resolution
The UI can look very small with a 4k display, and the game may force native resolution regardless of your selection when choosing Borderless.
A free utility called IntegerScaler allows you to force Windowed mode to act like Borderless Full Screen, and upscales lower dimensions with pixel perfect accuracy.
- Download and install IntegerScaler (Free)
- Right-click Project Zomboid in your Steam Library, select Manage then Browse Local Files
- Right-click ProjectZomboid64.exe, select Properties then click Compatibility tab
- Click "Change High DPI settings" button near bottom
- Make sure "High DPI scaling override" is ticked and set to Application
- Launch Project Zomboid, select Windowed mode and your desired resolution
- With IntegerScaler active, press Alt+F11
For more options check the documentation on the IntegerScaler website.
