FAQ

Serverboid is a Project Zomboid server directory. Browse public listings by region, playstyle, mods, and activity, or list your own server so players can find it.

Yes. Browsing, creating an account, favouriting servers, and submitting or claiming a listing are free. Sponsored placements (if offered) are separate and called out clearly when available.

No. Serverboid is an unofficial fan-made directory. Project Zomboid and related marks belong to their owners. See our legal notice for details.

Rank reflects objective popularity: the total player time Serverboid has tracked on a listing over the preceding 7 UTC days. Ranks are recomputed on a schedule (typically daily). We do not use votes for rank. Tie-breakers can include current players and listing views. Browse still lists recently offline hosts in that rank order, and hides listings that have been offline for 3 or more days. The Online filter shows only hosts that answered the last check.

When the scheduled status job queries a server, we read the live player list via Steam A2S. We record the growth in each player’s session between polls. Time already on the clock when we first see a player is banked when that session ends, so full sessions count toward rankings without a one-time dump on first sight. A single missed A2S check does not count as everyone leaving. Listing pages show the last snapshot and may refresh it in the background.

Online shows each player’s current A2S session clock (how long they’ve been in this session). Most played shows current session plus prior time tracked on that listing — the same playtime pipeline that feeds ranks over time.

The bars estimate latency from your location to the listing’s host using geographic distance, not a live ping. Three bars is likely close, two is playable, one is a long haul. It is not your in-game Steam ping. A listing’s A2S snapshot still shows round-trip milliseconds from Serverboid’s hosting server.

Playtime accumulates whenever servers are queried. The global rank numbers are recomputed on a schedule (about once per day) so the leaderboard stays stable between refreshes.

Create an account, then use Add Server from the dashboard. New submissions may need approval before they appear publicly.

We periodically discover public Project Zomboid servers from Steam’s master list. Eligible servers (real name and description, reachable over A2S) can be added as unclaimed listings. You can claim yours to take ownership and edit the page.

Open the listing while signed in and use Claim server. You’ll get a short token to place in your server’s public description (PublicDescription / A2S description). After it appears in the live query, verify the claim on Serverboid. Tokens expire after about an hour. Submitting an address does not make you the owner.

Yes. Owners manage name, description, tags, images, and more from the dashboard. Admins may still moderate abusive or misleading content.

Status comes from public A2S queries on a schedule. Listing pages show that snapshot so they load quickly; a stale check may refresh in the background. If a running server stays offline, confirm the query port is reachable from the internet, firewall rules allow Steam queries, and the IP/port on the listing match your dedicated server.

If you’re signed out, use Forgot password on the login page — we’ll email you a reset link. If you’re already signed in, change your password under Account settings in the dashboard.

Signed-in users can message us via Contact; replies appear in your dashboard inbox. Without an account, email contact@serverboid.com.

See the Privacy section on the legal page, along with terms of use and trademark notices.