Quick answer: V3.1.0 "Henpocalypse" went stable on 27 July 2026, on PC, PlayStation and Xbox at the same time, and it is now the default build. Existing worlds carry over, so this is not a forced wipe. Two things do need your attention: Sandbox Options for enemy and animal density and respawn were split into separate day and night settings, which can invalidate saved preset codes, and a version mismatch between server and clients is still the usual reason a server disappears from the list after an update.
The good news first
No mandatory wipe. Your existing world carries over into V3.1, which is not something you can take for granted with this game. Major version changes in 7 Days to Die have historically meant starting again, so a stable update that respects your world is worth noticing.
That said, "carries over" and "will feel identical" are different claims. Read on.
The preset code problem
This is the one that will catch people out, and it is easy to miss because it does not announce itself.
Enemy and animal density and respawn used to be single settings. In V3.1 they were split into separate day and night values. That is a genuinely good change for server owners who want quiet days and dangerous nights, but it means any preset code you saved under an older version may no longer be valid.
So before you tell your players the server is back up, open your Sandbox Options and confirm the settings actually read the way you intended. A preset that silently failed to apply is worse than one that obviously failed, because the first thing you will hear is players complaining the difficulty feels wrong and you will go looking in the wrong place.
Update the server and the clients together
Version mismatch remains the single most common reason a 7 Days to Die server "disappears" after an update. It is not down, it is just invisible to clients on a different version.
The practical rule: update the server and tell your players to update in the same sitting. A server that updated overnight while half your group is still on the previous build will generate a round of "the server is gone" messages that have nothing to do with the server.
Mods need rebuilding, as usual
Major version changes break mods in 7 Days to Die more thoroughly than in most games, because so many mods touch XML config that the game restructures between versions.
Worth separating two categories, because people conflate them:
Server side only mods that adjust spawn rates, loot tables or economy need nothing from your players. They install on the server and that is it.
Anything that adds blocks, items or UI has to be installed by every player at the same version, or they get kicked on join. If one player cannot connect after an update and everyone else is fine, that is where to look first.
What Henpocalypse actually added
The headline feature is chicken farming: catch a live chicken, carry it home, and run it in the new Chicken Coop workstation for eggs and feathers. It is a small feature in isolation and a meaningful one on a long running server, because it makes a food supply something you build rather than something you scavenge.
For a server owner that translates into players staying near their bases more, which is worth knowing if you tune spawn settings around how spread out your group is.
Sizing a 7 Days to Die server
This game is heavier than it looks, and the reason is the destructible world. The server tracks every block change, and those changes accumulate permanently.
That is why a server slows down over weeks with no configuration change: every crater, every collapsed building and every dropped bag is still in the region files. A world that has been played hard for a month is doing far more work than a fresh one on identical hardware.
| Setup | Realistic RAM |
|---|---|
| Small group, fresh map | 6GB |
| Established world, several players | 8 to 10GB |
| Large group, long running, mods | 12GB+ |
Our 7 Days to Die hosting starts at EUR 6 a month, which is where a small group on a fresh map sits comfortably.
The honest benchmark is blood moon night
If you want to know whether a 7 Days to Die server is sized correctly, do not look at it on a quiet afternoon. Look at it during a blood moon.
That is when the server has the most pathfinding entities active at once, and it is where rubber banding and teleporting zombies show up. Those symptoms point at CPU headroom rather than bandwidth. A server that is perfect for six nights and falls apart on the seventh is not a broken server, it is an undersized one.
Where you host it
We run 7 Days to Die in the Netherlands, North America, Singapore and India. Horde nights are coordinated events where everyone is online at once, so pick the region closest to the bulk of your group rather than to you.
FAQ
Do I need to wipe my world for V3.1? No. Existing worlds carry over into V3.1. Back up anyway before any major update, but a wipe is not required.
When did V3.1 Henpocalypse go stable? 27 July 2026, released to PC, PlayStation and Xbox simultaneously, and it is now the default build.
Why did my server disappear from the list after updating? Almost always a version mismatch. Clients on a different version cannot see the server. Update the server and your players in one sitting.
Why do my difficulty settings feel wrong after updating? Density and respawn settings for enemies and animals were split into separate day and night values in V3.1, so older preset codes may not apply cleanly. Check your Sandbox Options directly.
Do my players need to install the same mods? Only for mods that add blocks, items or UI. Server side mods that change spawn rates or loot need nothing from players.
Why does my server get slower after a few weeks? Accumulated block damage and entity data. The world is destructible and those changes persist, so an old world does more work than a fresh one on the same hardware.
Related reading: 7 Days to Die hosting plans from EUR 6 a month across four regions.