7 Days to Die Beginner Guide
Learn what to do in your first week: finish the tutorial, find the trader, set up shelter, solve food and water, start questing, and prepare before your first Blood Moon.
Featured Video
The ESSENTIAL Beginners Guide for 7 Days to Die 2026
This guide uses the video as the main first-week structure, then expands it with extra beginner tips for food, water, magazines, trader quests, and horde prep.
First Week Plan
What to focus on during your first 7 days
New players do not need to learn every system immediately. Focus on surviving the first week, building a simple routine, and preparing before the first Blood Moon.
Day 1
Tutorial, trader, shelter
Complete the tutorial challenges, follow the trader marker, claim a safe starter shelter, and start looking for a cooking pot.
Days 2–4
Food, water, magazines, quests
Solve your food and water problems, search mailboxes and kitchens for magazines, and keep doing trader jobs for rewards.
Days 5–6
Horde prep
Start building or claiming a simple horde position, gather ammo, craft building materials, and prepare healing supplies.
Day 7
Blood Moon
Do final repairs, empty your inventory, bring food and water, and survive until morning.
Start Here
Your first actions matter
The tutorial, primitive armor, and trader marker give you the safest early direction. Do these before wandering too far.
Finish the tutorial
The starter challenges teach basic mechanics and reward free skill points. Redeem your completed challenges before moving too far into the world.
Craft primitive armor
Primitive armor is cheap and much better than wearing nothing. Make the full set before fighting or clearing early POIs.
Follow the trader marker
The first trader marker also helps lead you toward your first useful town, which means nearby jobs, loot, shelter, and supplies.
Skill Points
Spend your first points with a purpose
Avoid spreading points everywhere early. Pick a simple survival direction, then branch out once you understand the game.
Simple combat start: Strength + clubs
Strength and club perks are easy for beginners because clubs are simple, reliable, and good at knocking zombies down. This helps you end fights faster and take fewer hits.
Mobility start: Agility + Parkour
Parkour-style mobility can save you from bad fights, dogs, panic moments, and rough POI clears. It is a strong option if you prefer escape tools over raw damage.
Combat
Basic combat rules that keep beginners alive
Most early deaths happen because players run out of stamina, get surrounded, or trade hits with zombies. Fight slower and safer.
Aim for the head
Headshots end fights faster, save stamina, and reduce the time zombies have to hit you.
Back up after attacks
Do not stand still and trade hits. Hit, create space, recover stamina, and avoid getting surrounded.
Do not fight at zero stamina
Running, jumping, heavy attacks, hunger, and thirst can drain stamina. Keep enough stamina to escape.
Use stealth when possible
Crouch, use bows or quiet weapons, avoid noisy trash and glass, and soften up sleeping zombies before they wake.
Doorway block trick
If a POI fight feels unsafe, place a block in a doorway. Zombies will slow down or hit the block while you attack from the other side. Keep distance and repair the block if needed.
Trader Loop
Visit the trader early and start questing
The trader gives direction, rewards, food, drinks, supplies, and progression toward the bicycle. This is one of the safest beginner loops.
Loot the trader compound
Trader areas often have useful free containers, workstations, vending machines, and early materials.
Place storage outside
You cannot build inside the trader compound. Put a storage crate outside so you can dump loot and avoid encumbrance.
Search mailboxes
Mailboxes, newspaper boxes, bookshelves, and bookstores are great sources of magazines and books.
Rush the bicycle
Trader quests lead toward the bicycle reward, which gives faster travel and extra storage early.
Smart first quest reward
If you are offered a pipe machine gun bundle after the first buried supplies quest, it is usually one of the safest beginner choices. Save it for emergencies, dogs, bad POI rooms, or horde prep.
Shelter
Claim a simple starter base before night
Do not waste your first day building a full house from scratch. Clear a small low-tier POI and use it as a temporary shelter.
Use a low-tier POI
Look for a small building, preferably tier one or lower. Clear it slowly and use the safest room as temporary shelter.
Place essentials
Add a bedroll, campfire, and storage crate. Replace or block doors if needed and organize before nightfall.
Stay inside early
At night, zombies become more dangerous. Early on, use nights for sorting, crafting, planning, and safe mining if available.
Food & Water
Solve food and water before you wander too far
A lot of early deaths happen because players ignore hunger, thirst, stamina, and infection until it is already a problem.
Find a cooking pot
A cooking pot lets you boil murky water in a campfire. Buy one, loot kitchens, or craft one later with a forge.
Save murky water
Do not throw murky water away. Store it until you can boil it safely.
Use kitchens and diners
Kitchens, cupboards, food piles, drink containers, diners, and Shamway crates are strong early food sources.
Break tree stumps for honey
Honey can help cure early infection. Save it for when you actually need it.
Progression
Early materials and crafting goals
You do not need every workstation immediately, but you should know which items are worth saving from the start.
Work toward a forge
A forge helps you craft cooking pots, forged iron, and future progression items. Search for Forge Ahead magazines in workstations and tool/book containers.
Find a wrench
A wrench opens up salvaging from cars, sinks, appliances, vending machines, and mechanical objects.
Read important magazines
Magazines unlock better crafting, food, weapons, armor, tools, workstations, and vehicles. Do not ignore them.
Save rare materials
Mechanical parts, duct tape, glue, pipes, springs, engines, acid, beakers, and legendary parts are worth keeping.
Checklists
First week survival checklists
Use these as quick reminders while playing. The Day 7 checklist is the part players are most likely to come back to before Blood Moon.
Day 1 checklist
- Complete tutorial challenges
- Craft full primitive armor
- Follow the trader marker
- Loot the trader compound
- Place storage outside the trader
- Claim a simple shelter before night
- Look for a cooking pot
Early survival checklist
- Save murky water
- Loot kitchens and diners
- Search mailboxes for magazines
- Keep honey for infection
- Avoid fighting at low stamina
- Use doors or blocks to control zombies
- Store materials instead of selling everything
Before Day 7 checklist
- Choose a horde fighting position
- Gather ammo
- Bring repair materials
- Bring food and water
- Bring bandages or first aid
- Empty your inventory
- Remove alternate zombie paths
- Do not risk all your storage in the horde base
Avoid These
Beginner mistakes that cause early deaths
These are the habits that usually get new players killed, stuck, thirsty, infected, or unprepared for Day 7.
Ignoring the tutorial challenge rewards.
Fighting zombies while exhausted or dehydrated.
Selling mechanical parts, acid, beakers, or rare materials too early.
Drinking unsafe water when you could boil murky water instead.
Waiting until the afternoon of Day 7 to prepare for Blood Moon.
Using your main storage and crafting base as your only horde base.
Skipping magazines because they look like normal loot.
Carrying everything instead of setting up nearby storage.
Next Guides
Where to go after the beginner guide
The beginner page should lead naturally into the rest of your 7 Days to Die section.
Blood Moon Guide
Prepare for Day 7, build safer horde positions, and avoid common horde night mistakes.
Base Building Guide
Learn the difference between a home base and a horde base, plus basic zombie pathing.
Builds & Perks Guide
Choose beginner-friendly skill paths for clubs, parkour, traders, crafting, and survival.
Survival Guide
Go deeper on food, water, infection, stamina, dew collectors, and early-game survival.