Fix mods
Enable Project Zomboid mods on an existing save
A subscription downloads a mod; it does not necessarily enable it on an existing world. Back up the save, then use Load → select the save → More → Choose Mods to review that world’s list. For Viewpoint, also complete ZombieBuddy’s separate local setup and approval checks.
On this page
Check which list you changed
PZwiki’s Mods article, marked for unstable Build 42.12, distinguishes the main-menu mod selection used for new worlds from the selection attached to an existing save. This documented route is not an end-to-end test of every later Build 42 menu or save.
- Workshop subscriptions: what Steam should download.
- Main-menu Mods: the selection for a new world.
- Load → More → Choose Mods: the selected existing world.
- A multiplayer server: the administrator’s separate configuration.
If your menu differs, stop and record the actual build and menu before editing files. For a server world use the server ID guide; changing a local save’s list does not change your friend’s server.
Make one reversible change
- Exit the world and game. Follow the complete-save backup workflow and retain an untouched copy outside live folders.
- Wait for the intended Workshop downloads to finish. Reopen the game if a newly downloaded item is missing from the mod list.
- Select the intended save in Load and open its mod chooser. Record its current selection before changing it.
- Enable the intended module and its required items. For the camera, keep ZombieBuddy and Viewpoint together; an optional companion does not replace either.
- Keep required dependencies enabled, confirm the changed selection and test a separate world with that same stack first.
Do not remove a map, item or gameplay mod from the only copy of a valuable world just to see what happens. Read its author’s save-compatibility instructions; the presence of a checkbox is not a promise that the change is safe for old world data.
Confirm the feature, not only its checkbox
In your test world, verify the intended feature: O should switch the Viewpoint camera; an optional model or input companion needs its own check. If the module is enabled but the Java file is blocked or absent, continue to Java loading status rather than repeatedly changing the world list.
Java approvals belong to the local installation and can change when a JAR changes. Review the original author’s file and use the single-approval recovery guide only for the intended item. A world list cannot approve it for you.
Keep the old backup and a note of the selected modules. If a fresh test works but the old world fails, capture the failed run’s log and report that difference. We have not verified conversion of every existing save to Viewpoint.
Sources & version
Based on author documentation and community instructions, not our own gameplay test. Later updates may change defaults.