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7 Days to Die guide

Surviving blood moon in 7 Days to Die: a horde night planning guide

In 7 Days to Die, the countdown on the day counter is never just a number. Every few days the sky turns red and a horde comes for every player, wherever they are. Your first blood moon is the moment the game stops being a scavenging trip and becomes a fight for survival. This guide is about preparing for it properly.

It covers the core mechanics of the base game. Our server, Safe Haven, is modded, so some recipes, values or features may differ from vanilla. Where something on the server feels different from what you expect, ask in #7d-chat on our Discord. For your very first week, start with our 7 Days to Die beginner guide.

How blood moon works

  • It runs on a schedule. By default a horde arrives every seventh night, but servers can change the frequency. Watch the day counter: it turns red on horde day.
  • The horde knows where you are. Blood moon zombies do not need to see or hear you. They come straight for each player.
  • It lasts the night. Zombies keep spawning in waves until morning, so this is a test of endurance, not one big fight.
  • Running away does not end it. Moving around the map just takes the horde with you. On our server, leading a horde to someone else's base is against the rules.

Step 1: decide where you will fight

You have three broad options.

Fight from your main base

Simple, and all your supplies are close. The downside is that the horde will damage whatever is between you and them, so your crafting stations and storage are at risk.

Build a dedicated horde base

Many players build a separate fortified position near their main base, used only on horde night. Damage happens there, not where your workbenches and chests are. This is the most common approach once you have the resources.

Fortify a building

A sturdy building in town can work for a first horde if you have no time to build. Choose one with a single, defendable approach, and check you are not in a trader's area or a shared point of interest, which our rules ask you to keep clear.

Step 2: understand how zombies attack a base

Zombies look for a route to you and attack whatever is in the way. They tend to go for the path that is easiest to break through, so a single weak block or an open gap becomes the point every zombie heads for.

That gives you two useful principles:

  • Strengthen everything, so there is no obvious weak spot.
  • Or make a deliberate weak spot where you can see it and shoot at it, and put your traps and fire there. Experienced players use this to control where the horde goes.

Step 3: block strength

Building blocks can be upgraded with a hammer or nailgun, and each tier is much stronger than the last. The vanilla order runs roughly:

  1. Wood frames: quick placeholders, very weak.
  2. Wood: cheap, but will not hold a big horde.
  3. Cobblestone: a solid first horde base material.
  4. Concrete: a big step up, needing cement and a cement mixer.
  5. Reinforced concrete and steel: late game, very strong.

For a first blood moon, cobblestone walls with wood elsewhere is a reasonable target for most players. Keep spare materials and a repair tool handy so you can patch damaged blocks during the night.

Step 4: traps and defences

  • Wooden spikes are cheap and slow zombies while damaging them. Lay them in a band around your position. They break as they are used, so bring spares.
  • Barbed wire and iron spikes come later and last longer.
  • Height helps. A raised position is harder to reach and gives you a better view.
  • Avoid bridges you cannot defend. Anything zombies can climb or knock down needs watching.
  • Lighting helps you see what is coming. Place it where zombies will not reach it first.
  • Electrical traps are a late-game option once you have power, and change horde nights completely.

Step 5: stock up

Run out of ammo at 2am and you are in serious trouble. Before the sky turns red, check you have:

  • More ammunition than you think you need, for every weapon you plan to use.
  • A backup melee weapon in case your gun runs dry or breaks.
  • Healing: bandages at the very least, first aid kits if you have them, and something for infections.
  • Food and clean water. Drink boiled or purified water and eat cooked food. Getting sick on horde night is a bad start.
  • Repair materials and a tool to use them.
  • Spare weapon parts or repair kits if your mod setup uses them.

Use the days before horde night for loot runs and trader quests. Quests are one of the fastest ways to gear up and earn money in the early game.

Step 6: team up

Blood moon is easier with company. More guns, more people repairing, and someone to pull you out of trouble. Our server is PvE co-op, so you can team up freely.

  • Use #horde-lfg in our Discord to find a crew before the sky turns red. Pick 7 Days to Die when you join to see it.
  • Agree roles: shooters on the weak point, someone repairing, someone watching the other sides.
  • Share supplies and pool ammunition before dark.

Horde size depends on how many players are together and how far they have progressed, so a group base can see more zombies than a solo one. Build and stock accordingly.

Step 7: the morning after

  • Repair straight away, before you go out looting, so the base is ready for next time.
  • Loot what the horde left. Zombie bodies can drop useful items.
  • Review what broke. The blocks that took the most damage show you where to strengthen, or where to put your next trap line.
  • Note the next horde day and plan your week around it.

Common mistakes

  • Leaving it too late. Start preparing two or three days before, not on the afternoon itself.
  • One door, no backup. Have a way to fall back if a wall goes.
  • Hiding in the main base with all your workstations. Expect damage where you fight.
  • Fighting in the open. Being caught outside when the horde spawns is the fastest way to die.

Before you start

Safe Haven is for PC players on Steam only, with no crossplay, because it runs mods. Join from Join a Game, then Connect to IP, using 157.85.95.21 and port 22930, with Easy Anti-Cheat switched on. Your land claim block protects your base while you play, but claims can lapse after 7 days offline, so log in now and then. The 7 Days to Die page shows whether the server is up and how many people are on.

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