7 Days to Die Beginner’s Guide: 12 Tips to Survive Your First Blood Moon in 2026

This 7 Days to Die beginner's guide will get you through your first week, and your first Blood Moon. The Fun Pimps' zombie survival game has sold over 20 million copies and mixes first-person shooting, survival horror, tower defense and RPG, which is a lot to take in at the start. These 12 tips cover what matters most, updated for version 3.4.

7 Days to Die for beginners at a glance

What do you do first in 7 Days to Die?

Gather, craft a basic weapon and tools, find shelter and head for a trader. Traders buy and sell goods and offer quest jobs, and they're the backbone of your early game. Everything else is about being ready for day 7.

12 7 Days to Die tips for beginners

1. Know when the Blood Moon is coming

By default, a Blood Moon horde hits every seventh night, and it's the game's big test. Count the days, and spend day 6 repairing, stocking ammo and preparing. You can change the frequency in the game settings if you want an easier start.

2. Visit a trader and do quests

Quests take you to some of the game's 700+ locations and pay out in cash and items. They're the fastest way to get good gear early, and the trader is a safe place to sell your spare loot.

3. Loot everything

Weapons, tools and armor come in six quality levels, with thousands of combinations, and you can add mods to them. Search every container in every building you clear.

4. Be careful at night

Zombies are far more dangerous after dark. Early on, get back to your base or a safe building before night falls rather than exploring.

5. Build smart, not just big

The world is fully destructible and buildings have real structural stability, so a badly designed base can collapse. Reinforce key walls, add traps and plan where the horde will come from.

6. Read books and find schematics

Over 100 books unlock extra skills, and schematics teach more powerful recipes. Keep every book you find until you know you've read it.

7. Spend perk points on one or two attributes

Perks sit under five main attributes. Spreading points everywhere makes you average at everything, so focus on the attributes that match your weapons and play style.

8. Use the bigger backpack

Version 3.3 brought a new 8x6 inventory grid: 48 slots, with 4 rows free and 2 rows that slow you down when used. Backpacks come in Small, Medium and Large, and you can craft, loot or buy them.

9. Search your inventory

Version 3.4 added a search bar and filters to your backpack and containers, so you can find what you need in seconds, even in the middle of a horde.

10. Start a farm

Plant gardens for food you don't have to scavenge, and hunt the wild animals. Version 3.1 also added chickens you can keep in a coop for eggs and feathers.

11. Get a vehicle

Find parts and learn the recipes to build a bicycle first, then a minibike, motorcycle, 4x4 and eventually a gyrocopter. Faster travel means more quests and more loot.

12. Pick the right world

Navezgane, the hand-made campaign world, is the classic start. Randomly generated worlds of up to 100 km² give you something new every time once you know the basics. There are five biomes, and the harsher ones are more dangerous, so stay in the forest early on.

Is 7 Days to Die co-op?

Yes. You can build settlements together or play against each other and raid other players' bases. Co-op makes Blood Moons much easier, because someone can repair while others fight.

What PC do you need for 7 Days to Die?

At minimum: Windows 10 or later (64-bit), a 2.8 GHz quad-core CPU, 8 GB of RAM, a graphics card with 2 GB of memory, DirectX 11 and 15 GB of storage. Running a dedicated server on the same PC doubles the RAM you need.

How much is 7 Days to Die?

$44.99 / £37.99 / €43.99 on Steam. About 20,800 people were playing on Steam when we checked on November 9, 2026.

Watch 7 Days to Die

Official trailers play on the 7 Days to Die Steam page.

More 7 Days to Die on iGame Magazine

• 7 Days to Die 3.4 Is Out: Backpack Search, Drone Recovery and Known Issues: what's new in 3.4
• 7 Days to Die 3.0 Dead Hot Summer Update Is Live: the 3.0 summer update
• How to Reset Your Skills in 7 Days to Die: Grandpa’s Fergit’n Elixir Explained: how to reset your skills
• How to Find a Cooking Pot in 7 Days to Die: how to find a cooking pot

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