The best Project Zomboid mods can fulfill a wide range of needs. The vanilla experience of the zombie apocalypse survival game is already complex enough, and the modding community knows it. Amidst thousands of mods available via Steam Workshop, it can be hard to know what to pick.

If you think about what you might see in a zombie apocalypse, there’s a chance that there’s a Project Zomboid mod for it. From the addition of vehicles based on real-life models to an array of touches that further expand the game’s pursuit of realism, the community has been iterating on ideas for over a decade.

Our list provides a jack-of-all-trades collection of Project Zomboid mods to get you started. It’s worth mentioning that the game continues to be in early access, meaning that certain mods might only be compatible with older patches until they’re updated. But if you’ve been on the lookout for the best Project Zomboid mods to shake up the ever-evolving experience, here are our top choices gathered in one place.

• Creator: KI5
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

If you’re a fan of cars, trucks, or even street sweepers, modder KI5 has a collection with dozens of options to pick from. The vehicles, which are inspired by their real-life counterparts, aren’t just fancy skins–they have chassis variations, fully animated parts, customization parts such as armor plates, spoilers, and tires, and more. From a ’69 Chevrolet Camaro to an ’84 Mercedes Benz W460, you’re bound to find several favorites in the collection.

• Creator: Rocco
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Some Project Zomboid mods have the sole purpose of improving the existing experience with tweaks you didn’t know you needed, and Clean HotBar fits the criteria. With this mod, you’ll now have a clear view of your weapon and item statuses, including weapon condition and sharpness, ammo counters, toggleable items, and even liquid types. It’s a handy way of having better visibility on the current state of the tools that might save your character’s life.

• Creator: RobRendell and Maxwelt
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Hunkering down in one static place in Project Zomboid might sound like a solid strategy at first, but there’s always the risk of a zombie ambush. The RV Interior allows you to have a moving home, repurposing specific RVs or even a school bus. The power of your new home will be tied to the car battery, so it’s not exactly an addition meant to break the game, but rather give you a new option to take into consideration. You’ll be able to cook, sleep, and take part in leisure activities as if it were an actual house–with the advantage of being able to drive away if things go south.

• Creator: SP4RTAN and hehehemann
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Speaking of vehicles, if you’re frustrated about the shortage of options available in the game, the Vehicle Repair Overhaul mod is an all-encompassing addition. You’ll be able to repair parts with duct tape, glue, and a blow torch, as well as salvage parts. Rather than leave helpful parts out on the open road, you’ll be able to get useful materials used in crafting. The nice touch is that some of these actions are tied to your character’s skills in metal working or mechanics, which makes it a nice pairing to your existing save or a fresh game without disrupting the overall flow.

• Creator: Undefined
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

A straightforward yet useful change. Generator Time Remaining is one of the best Project Zomboid mods available, and it’s based on the simplicity of showing the days and hours left before a generator runs out of fuel. Considering how much information there is to consider in the game at all times, the clearer you can make it for yourself, the better.

• Creator: Afyrmo
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Eat Smart is not only a good real-life motto, but also a useful Project Zomboid mod. When enabled, you’ll see the exact level of hunger for your character, as well as the calories needed for that day. Once you’ve gotten accustomed to it, you can opt for an integrated version, which makes it so these new stats show up alongside the “Eat” action menu. The specific numbers are all tied to your character’s traits and metabolism, but you can customize the parameters at will. We recommend pairing it up with Drink Smart, also from Afyrmo, which adds specific thirst thresholds to hit.

• Creator: hea
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Whenever you start a new game in Project Zomboid, you’ll have to choose different positive and negative traits for your character. These can shape the entire experience, and while there are multiple options in the base game, the More Simple Traits mod shakes things up with a few more additions. The ‘Sniper’ trait gives you +3 aiming, while ‘Optimist’ makes you less prone to being bored while resisting depression for a longer time. On the negative side of things, ‘Slack’ penalizes your strength and fitness stats, while ‘Weather Sensitive’ causes your character to get a headache when it’s raining, or when the weather changes. If you want to customize your character in new ways, this mod is a good option.

• Creator: Aiteron and Alabeo
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Few things signal a zombie apocalypse more than a stream of crashed cars on a highway or a long, empty street. The Crashed Cars mod replaces the burnt car models that you often see in Project Zomboid with actual vehicles, meaning that you’ll now be able to loot them for parts, as well as check if the owner left anything of interest inside the trunk or glovebox. Their loss is your gain–for as long as you can survive out there, that is.

• Creator: Myself
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

The classic action movie sequence of jumping through a window can now be part of your toolset. Dive Through Windows does what it says on the tin: When sprinting, your character will automatically use the fence-hop animations to break the glass and make a swift escape from any undead pursuers. There are some additional details to it–if you build up a lot to the dive, you’ll reduce injury risk from smashing through glass, while training your nimble skill or using the graceful trait will reduce your chance of falling and rolling. The mod is a successor to Jump Through Windows by AbraxasDusk, which sadly hasn’t been updated in a while.

• Creator: tealera
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Tired of the inventory screen? The Inventory Reinvented mod is a slick replacement for it, adding an icons-only user interface. You can drag-and-drop loot into your backpack with ease, do quick scrolls across tabs when you’re around several loot areas, and have a smoother experience overall. There are also visual effects when you’re hurt or fatigued for some extra immersion.

• Creator: DRAGO1212
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

The change of seasons affects multiple aspects of Project Zomboid, from the attire your character should wear to the humble farm in your base’s backyard. If you want some extra immersion when it comes to the lingering effects of the passage of time, the Project Seasons mod is a great addition. Cars will rust with time, you’ll see more dry and pink leaves on roads at their respective times of the in-game year, and there’ll be more varied vegetation. House interiors will also become dirtier, adding the option to use a broom to clean the erosion on the surfaces. If you’re usually somebody who sticks to long-term playthroughs, the visual overhauls added with this mod will be a nice touch.

• Creator: BOBcat
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Has the default sneaking animation in Project Zomboid ever seemed off to you? Modder BOBcat had a similar thought, addressing it with True Crouching. Now, you’ll have an assortment of proper crouching animations when idle, walking, running, turning, and shooting.

True Crouching doesn’t affect the experience significantly, but if you’re into the idea, iLusioN’s True Crawl makes for a great pairing. With the mod, your character will be able to crawl anywhere, even under vehicles. Similar to True Crouching, you can also aim and shoot while in this position, making it perfect for stealth escapades or surprise attacks.

• Creator: Space Donuts
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Tents in Project Zomboid are mostly used for storage or sleeping outdoors. Modder Space Donuts, alongside a few friends of theirs, came up with Camp in the Rain. This mod allows you to protect your character from the rain one tile away from the tent. It adds to the overall ambience, sure, but also makes tents more practical, allowing you to spend some time resting or performing activities like reading a book without suffering from the penalties of getting soaked, such as catching a cold.

• Creator: PePePePePeil
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Reading is an essential task in Project Zomboid to improve your character’s skills. Spend a few dozen hours accumulating a book collection, however, and it might be hard to remember if you’ve already read something and exhausted its benefits as a result. The Has Been Read mod addresses this, adding distinct icons to unread books and those you’ve only read halfway. If you see one that you’ve already finished, you’ll only see the original book icon without any special indicator. It sounds simple on paper, but it’s a lifesaver in practice.

• Creator: Braven
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

A list of the best Project Zomboid mods wouldn’t be complete without Common Sense. While we’ve included individual quality of life changes, this mod packs an array of them in one single install. Some of the features include attaching hand flashlights to your toolbelt, using alcohol to sanitize dirty bandages, prying open doors, windows, and vehicles using crowbars, and more. Most additions might seem as subtle tweaks, and that’s what makes this mod so enticing. It’s not looking to completely overhaul the game, but rather hone in on the push for realism with actions that would make sense in a zombie apocalypse.

While a console port of Project Zomboid might be a tough endeavor for developer The Indie Stone, we have lists covering the best PS5 games and the best Xbox Series X|S games, in case you don’t want to sit at your desk after a long day’s work.

• Creator: Slayer
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Water is a huge commodity in Project Zomboid, and by default, it can be difficult to come by, regardless of how much play time you have. Fortunately, the Water Pipes mod takes care of all your water needs. The mod allows you to establish a plumbing system in your base that connects to any water source, near or far. With the newfound water pumped into your base, you can fill up barrels for drinking, supply sprinklers for crops, and manage the pipes in any way you need.

• Creator: ThereforeAliens
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Looting is one of the most rewarding aspects of Project Zomboid, as you get to bask in the fruits of your labor after a long expedition. However, when you gather an inventory full of loot, you might often dread having to head back to your base and sort it all into containers, one item at a time. To simplify things, you can download the Unpack mod, which makes sorting loot far less time-consuming. The mod lets you press a button while standing next to a container and quickly dump all your loot into it. No more manually going through your entire inventory and bouncing back and forth between containers at your base.

• Creator: Mxswat The Helicopter
• Downloadlink: Steam Workshop

Killing zombies and looting their corpses is one of the main gameplay activities in Project Zomboid. However, if you just laid waste to dozens of zombies in one area, trying to loot each individual corpse can get extremely frustrating. Luckily, the Proximity Inventory mod exists. This mod brings up a menu of every piece of loot in a given area, allowing you to easily sift through everything and pick what items you want to take with you. Gone are the days of guessing which zombie corpse you haven’t attempted to loot yet.