Project Zomboid’s grueling zombie-survival experience isn’t quite for the faint of heart, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for you to make it through to the end of the month (in-game).
As with everything else, knowledge is the key to victory. If you’re starting out on a new Project Zomboid adventure, taking the time to learn about the 4 starting maps can be the difference between multiple restarts and a steady beginning.
This guide offers some insights about each starting location, including specific landmarks or place-of-interests (POIs).
To have a better bearing of your location, the North direction is ALWAYS towards the TOP-RIGHT CORNER of the in-game map/world.
Riverside – Beginner-Friendly Views
When you’re forced to live in a world teeming with bloodthirsty zeds, the ideal place for you to make your new home is typically one that is close to abundant natural resources, safe from dangerous zombie mobs, and easy to build your own fortified base.
Well, Riverside is arguably the most beginner-friendly map there is in Project Zomboid. The town is widely known for its accessibility to the nearby river, and the infected population isn’t as large as other neighboring towns in Knox Country.
Riverside shows many signs of commercialization prior to the virus outbreak. Many residential districts have been developed around the central parts of the town, and multiple now-defunct businesses offer valuable loot for you to pillage.
Due to the sparse segregation of buildings, many of them can safely be converted into your own, personalized base. If you want to live a peaceful post-apocalyptic life, then settling down in Riverside might be a good way to go.
These are a few notable places that you should take note of in Riverside.
Central, Primary Area
Gas Station 1 (Coordinates: 6084×5309)
School (Coordinates: 6440×5445)
Pharmacy (Coordinates: 6470×5266)
VHS Store (Coordinates: 6206×5344)
Police Station (Coordinates: 6082×5261)
Food Market (Coordinates: 5969×5392)
Gigamart (Coordinates: 6505×5346)
Hardware Store (Coordinates: 6363×5327)
West Border
Gas Station 2 (Coordinates: 3660×5957)
South-West Area
Abandoned Farmhouses (Coordinates: 5693×5740)
Factory (Coordinates: 5570×5899)
Gas Station 3 (Coordinates: 5418×5870)
Diner (Coordinates: 5424×5914)
Auto Shop (Coordinates: 5429×5964)
South Border
Country Club (Coordinates: 5755×6445)
Rosewood – Low Zombie Count
If a more rural setting suits you, then Rosewood could be ideal. The town’s zombie count is minimal, comparable to Riverside’s. Furthermore, there are fewer buildings here, which helps in attracting smaller hordes into the town.
There is more forestry as well, and the wider spread of infrastructure provides a clearer line-of-sight (LOS) for you to never be jumped by any straggling zeds out of nowhere.
Rosewood also has tons of defensible places for you to convert into a base. You can find many big estates outside the main, busy areas, and you can easily build your own fortress at any of the empty lots of land abandoned on the outskirts of town.
Rosewood’s general layout is simple to memorize, so you won’t have difficulty finding your way around, walking past the undead. Being a solo survivor, the town can be a nice place to settle for the long run.
Central, Primary Area
Gas Station 1 (Coordinates: 8164×11267)
Auto Shop (Coordinates: 8154×11325)
Diner (Coordinates: 8075×11456)
Bookstore (Coordinates: 8087×11512)
Rosewood Medical (Coordinates: 8089×11526)
Food Market 1 (Coordinates: 8136×11485)
Police Station (Coordinates: 8063×11735)
Fire Department (Coordinates: 8138×11741)
West Area
Rosewood Penitentiary (Coordinates: 7752×11886)
West Border
Military Base (Coordinates: 5564×12476)
South Area
Gas Station 2 (Coordinates: 8297×12225)
Bus Station (Coordinates: 8244×12239)
South-East Area
Food Market 2 (Coordinates: 9074×12186)
East Area
Army Quarters (Coordinates: 9118×11814)
Warehouse (Coordinates: 9202×11840)
Muldraugh – Good For Looting
Unlike the previous locations, Muldraugh has a more structured, organized town design. Every significant building, like the Police Station, is easily accessible from the main road, making it convenient for you to quickly move from one place to another, gathering high-value loot.
The residential districts are also adjacent to each other, providing a lot of options for you to crash for the night. These can then be secured as small safe houses in the event of hordes, but you might want to consider the larger, abandoned properties on the North side of the town if you really want to stay here for longer.
That being said, all these niceties come with one major drawback: more infected! Muldraugh’s great town planning might have attracted many people to settle in the region before the zombie apocalypse, but that’s likely why the infected masses are bigger here, too.
If you find life too boring and dull at Riverside or Rosewood, you can always test your survivor’s mettle by moving in at Muldraugh instead.
These are a few noteworthy places that you might want to visit once here.
North Area
Relay Station (Coordinates: 10277×8749)
North-West Area
The McCoy Logging Corp. (Coordinates: 10317×9290)
Central, Primary Area
Abandoned Farmhouse (Coordinates: 10834×9076)
Warehouse (Coordinates: 10611×9308)
Auto Shop (Coordinates: 10605×9406)
Gas Station 1 (Coordinates: 10624×9761)
Gas Station 2 (Coordinates: 10668×10625)
Storage Lots (Coordinates: 10684×9829)
Electronics Store (Coordinates: 10614×9881)
Elementary School (Coordinates: 10619×9967)
Food Market (Coordinates: 10849×9761)
Cortman Medical (Coordinates: 10876×10028)
Police Station (Coordinates: 10631×10405)
VHS Store (Coordinates: 10610×10452)
East Area
Railyard (Coordinates: 11655×9985)
West Point – Hardest Starting Point
Some of us breathe for the challenge, especially Project Zomboid veterans who love to live on the edge. Well, West Point is the perfect location for you to begin a new life constantly in danger, but it comes with a lot of valuable yields in return.
West Point is the hardest starting map in the game, and it offers more precious loot and high-tier equipment to find. Besides that, the town was developed along the vast river, allowing instant access to natural water, which can be a godsend.
West Point is also the nearest town to the metropolitan city of Louisville. You can schedule a few quick visits there throughout the end game, running back to town when things get out of hand (Louisville is a zombie-plagued nightmare).
At West Point, the concentration of commercialized estates lures you in, promising tons of invaluable items to salvage. However, you can quickly find yourself trapped and surrounded by zeds if you’re not careful, each infected potentially hiding behind every corner of every building.
One clean bite is enough to end your life in Project Zomboid, so you might want to make sure you’re mentally prepared for the difficulty spike at West Point. If you’re up to it, though, you’ll find the town very eventful and exciting during these end times.
Look out for these places covered below to simplify your initial stay.
Central, Primary Area
School (Coordinates: 11345×6784)
Elementary School (Coordinates: 11740×6923)
Convenience Store (Coordinates: 11659×7067)
Gas Station 1 (Coordinates: 11819×6865)
Gas Station 2 (Coordinates: 12069×7140)
Hardware Store (Coordinates: 11831×6912)
Auto Shop (Coordinates: 11898×6807)
Pharmacy (Coordinates: 11935×6802)
Police Station (Coordinates: 11898×6940)
Furniture Shop (Coordinates: 11931×6941)
Food Market (Coordinates: 11978×6911)
Gun Shop (Coordinates: 12064×6758)
Storage Lots (Coordinates: 12137×7024)
Warehouse (Coordinates: 12140×7084)
West
Abandoned Farmhouse (Coordinates: 11132×6852)
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