Project Zomboid B42 Release Date & Update Information

The long-awaited Project Zomboid B42 (42.20) update is about to finally release to the stable branch of the game on Wednesday, July 29th. Patch notes will come alongside the update to extensively cover all of the core changes that have been going on with the game over the last ~2 years since the first B42 build hit test servers, but there's still a lot we know now to help get ready for the update.

Project Zomboid B42 Release Date

The announced release date for B42 coming to the stable branch of the game is Wedsnesday, July 29th, 2026.

Complete patch notes for the update, including the B42.20 build specifically, are expected to also come out at the beginning of the same week. This is something that we will also help cover in our own blog here at Kinetic Hosting, for those that want to stay tuned for an update as soon as we know more about what's coming.

Save Compatibility & Staying With Build 41

Saves from Build 41 of the game will NOT be compatible with B42 upon release.

If you currently have a save/world that you want to preserve, you will want to navigate to the "Game Versions" area of your game's settings in your Steam library to manually select 'legacy41' as your build to avoid any disruptions.

Note that not even saves on the previous 42.19 unstable build of the game will be compatible with the coming 42.20 update due to the new content being added. Much like opting into the legacy41 version on steam, you'll see an option there for 42.19 instead if this is the version you would like to stay on.

For Server Owners:

Kinetic Hosting allows you to easily change the build that you're running on your server. In order to enable a specific branch from Steam, you can use the Steam Beta area of your server's "Settings" tab, as shown below:

You can find a full list of the available versions to input on the Steam Depot page for the game, but the main ones you will likely want to consider for this update are:

• 42.19: This is for those of you that were previously playing on the last Unstable branch build before this, and want to avoid the save compatibility issues of updating to B42.20.

• legacy41: This will be used most commonly for players who were playing on the main Stable branch of the game who want to keep their save in-tact and keep playing on the older release.

New Content in Project Zomboid B42.20

The live launch version of the B42 update will fall under the label B42.20, specifically. This will be covered a bit prior to the release of the new update, as to give everyone a more thorough breakdown on all of the changes that players can expect.

With that in mind, we do have some information as to fixes that address common player issues with:

• Character Spawns

• Controllers

• Butcher Hook Meat Yield

• Towing Vehicles

• Zombie Culling in Multiplayer

Although a more extensive post with the full update notes is still coming next week before the update, there is also a separate breakdown on the official Project Zomboid website that summarized some of the other changes you can expect in the release, which you can view here in the meantime!

Future Updates and Plans

• The hopes of the development team are to spend a while after the update's release focusing on hotfixes and smaller patches until shifting focus on larger player feedback to tune/tweak the game further, especially for the late-game experience.

• Additionally, once the hotfix period is over fort he update, the developers will be releasing their newest mapping tooles (such as WorldZed and TileZed), as well as in-house editing tools like AnimZed, to let players explore mods and customization for the game to an entirely new level. To further encourage modding, there are plans to publish a complete modding guide for the game and gradually increase official mod support resources into the future.

• More updates will come to further improve the B42 release of the game throughout 2026, with extra polish to player-requested features, modding support, and game optimization.

• As always, there is also a continued commitment from the developers to work towards better localization of the game alongside the community, as well as multiplayer/controller improvements coming all throughout B42's lifecycle.

Project Zomboid B42 Server Hosting

Although it's not clear what the full extent of multiplayer improvements are that are coming in B42 as of this post, it's clear that the team behind the game have renewed their commitment to keeping the game fun to play with friends and to customize with mods.

Kinetic Hosting offers 24/7 server hosting to keep things running lag-free, with full support for whatever custom modlists you'd like to use! For those looking to get started now and prepare for the update, consider taking a look at our server plan options. We're risk-free to try, and offer a 7-day money back guarantee if you run into any issues, so there's no risk in giving things a shot (apart from the risk of zombies in-game).