Which game version Darkness Falls needs
Host guides disagree on this, so go to the author's own files. KhaineGB's repository readme says the mod is only compatible with Version 1.4. The launcher file in the same repository says 7DTD Version Required: 1.4 and Current Mod Version: 6.0.0.20, and sets its game branch to v1.4. That was the reading on 31 October 2026, and the most recent commit there is dated 18 April 2025.
Three things explain the conflicting advice elsewhere. The core ModInfo.xml has the correct version number, 6.0.0.20, but its description still says Overhaul Mod for V1.2. The download post in the forum thread stops at Alpha 21.2. And the GitHub and GitLab repositories under KhaineGB's name hold Darkness Falls builds from Alpha 20 and earlier, along with many public copies made by other people.
The current game is a different line. Steam's default branch matched V3.4.0, The Fun Pimps' latest stable release, on the writing date. In the 7D2D Mod Launcher's own lists, Darkness Falls appears under v1 and not under v2 or v3. Read the repository readme again on the day you install, because a later Darkness Falls build would change this pairing.
- Mod version: 6.0.0.20, Darkness Falls V6
- Game version required: 1.4
- Steam branch name: v1.4, on both the game and the dedicated server
- Official download: the Darkness Falls V6 repository on Azure DevOps
- Easy Anti-Cheat: not compatible, so it stays off
Put the server on the v1.4 branch
The dedicated server is Steam app 294420, and SteamCMD can install any public branch of it with the -beta option. Add validate so the files are checked as well. If the server has already run on another version, take a backup first, including the Saves and GeneratedWorlds folders from its user data folder.
On a hosting panel, look for a branch setting rather than running SteamCMD yourself. On Pterodactyl panels that use the common 7 Days to Die egg, including ours, it is the Beta Branch startup setting: enter v1.4 and reinstall the server, since that setting's own description says a reinstall is needed to switch branches properly. Do this before you upload the mod.
Then confirm the result. The game's log carries a version line near the start, in the form Version: V 1.4 (b8), and that line tells you which build is really running. Keep an eye on it after any update, because a server that moves back to the default branch moves to a game version the mod does not support.
- SteamCMD: steamcmd +force_install_dir <folder> +login anonymous +app_update 294420 -beta v1.4 validate +quit
- Panel: Beta Branch set to v1.4, then reinstall
- Check: the log's version line reads V 1.4
Download the mod and replace the Mods folder
Open the Darkness Falls V6 repository, click the three dots at the top right and choose Download as Zip, as the readme instructs. V6 is one package for single player and multiplayer, so there is no separate server download, unlike the separate client and server repositories of Alpha 19 and earlier.
The readme mentions an icon file and a serverconfig.xml beside the Mods folder. In the repository on the writing date, those files sit inside Mods, with the config named DarknessFallsServerConfig.xml. Everything the mod needs is inside Mods, so that is the folder that matters.
Stop the server, delete its existing Mods folder as the readme says for a game install, and put the Darkness Falls Mods folder in its place. Mods must end up directly in the server's main folder, with folders such as 0-DarknessFallsCore and 0-SCore directly inside it. An extra folder level, such as Mods/Mods, is the classic reason a mod fails to load.
The package holds roughly 6,000 files and folders. If your host's file manager can extract archives, upload the zip and extract it on the server. How game server hosting works covers file uploads on a rented server.
- Stop the server first
- Replace Mods as a whole: the package includes its own 0_TFP_Harmony and other required folders
- Correct path: Mods/0-DarknessFallsCore/ModInfo.xml
- Check the startup log after the next start for the list of loaded mods
Set serverconfig.xml: EAC, world and save name
The mod's bundled config, Mods/DarknessFallsServerConfig.xml, is the best template because it is written for this game version. It already sets EACEnabled to false and GameWorld to DFalls-Navezgane. Use its values in the config file your server actually loads, which is the file named by the -configfile option. Keep a copy of your own settings first, so your server name and passwords are not lost.
Version 1.4 uses the older config layout. The bundled file has properties such as GameDifficulty and DayNightLength and has no SandboxCode, the property that V3.0 introduced. A config written for V3 and one written for 1.4 are not interchangeable, so do not carry your V3 file across. Our 7 Days to Die dedicated server setup guide describes the V3 layout, and its ports and admin steps carry over.
GameWorld takes RWG or a world name from Mods/0-DarknessFallsCore/Worlds. The package also includes a small mod that prevents worlds in the game's Data/Worlds folder from loading, so plain Navezgane is the wrong value here. Use the DFalls version. Each pregenerated DFalls size comes in a PEP and a NoPEP version.
Give the world its own GameName, because that value names the save. Darkness Falls does not document moving a vanilla save into the mod, and it rewrites progression, so start a fresh world and keep your old save in the backup.
- EACEnabled: false
- GameWorld: DFalls-Navezgane, or another world from the list below
- GameName: a name not used by your vanilla save
- DFalls-Navezgane: 6144 by 6144
- DFalls-VSmall1-PEP and DFalls-VSmall1-NoPEP: 6144 by 6144
- DFalls-Small1-PEP and DFalls-Small1-NoPEP: 8192 by 8192
- DFalls-Medium1-PEP and DFalls-Medium1-NoPEP: 10240 by 10240
- DFalls-Large1-PEP and DFalls-Large1-NoPEP: 12288 by 12288
Install the matching client on every player's PC
The server does not send mods to players. Each player needs game version 1.4 and the same Darkness Falls files, so give them the repository link and the steps below, and agree the mod version as a group.
The readme's manual method is direct. In Steam, open the game's Properties window and use its betas section to select v1.4. Then browse the local files, delete the existing Mods folder and drag in the contents of the zip. Start the game with 7DaystoDie.exe and not 7DaystoDie_EAC.exe, because the readme says Darkness Falls is not compatible with EAC. Take a copy of the game folder first if you want to keep a clean install.
The game also reads a second Mods folder in the user data folder, %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\Mods on Windows, and the 7 Days To Die Wiki notes that a copy there takes priority over one in the game folder. Clear out older mods from that location if the game behaves strangely after a clean install.
The 7D2D Mod Launcher is the other route, and it keeps the mod in its own game copy so Steam can go back to the current version. The repository publishes a launcher file for it, which sets EAC to disabled and the version to v1.4. The launcher's quick start says to choose a default folder that is not your game copy. Its instructions for an older version are to select that branch in Steam, choose that version in the launcher, install the overhaul and let it clone the game, then set Steam back. For Darkness Falls that means v1.4 in Steam and the launcher's version 1 list. The launcher's site does not describe dedicated servers, so treat it as a tool for players.
- Same game version on every PC: 1.4
- Same mod version on every PC: compare it with the server's
- Launch without EAC: 7DaystoDie.exe, or through the launcher
- Join with the server's address, or find it in the server browser if it is listed
If it does not load or players cannot join
Almost every failure comes down to one of four mismatches: game version, mod files, anti-cheat or world name. Work through them in that order, starting with the server log, because it shows both the game version and the mods that loaded.
Treat the server and the players as one set when you change anything. Steam updates a game only on the branch it is set to, so a player who moves back to the default branch has left the group's version. Back up Saves and GeneratedWorlds before any change of mod or game version, since the two folders belong together.
The repository gives no memory figure for the mod. The Fun Pimps publish 8 GB minimum and 12 GB recommended for the game, and they do not publish a separate figure for the server. Darkness Falls adds a large set of blocks, items and creatures on top, so choose a smaller world and a lower player count first, and raise them once you have seen the server's real memory use. ServerMaxAllowedViewDistance and MaxSpawnedZombies are the settings to lower if it runs short.
- Log shows a V3 version line: the server is on the default branch, so set v1.4 again
- Darkness Falls missing from the loaded mods: look for a nested Mods folder
- World fails to load: set GameWorld to a name that exists in Mods/0-DarknessFallsCore/Worlds
- A player cannot join: compare game version and mod version, and check that they started the game without EAC
- Items or menus look wrong for one player: reinstall that player's Mods folder and clear the one in their user data folder