How to survive the first night in 7 Days to Die

Stephanie Zucarelli
Zombies in 7 Days to Die

7 Days to Die is all about survival in a world completely overrun by zombies, so you’ll need to start your game with a good strategy if you want to last a few days. While finding the best Starter Base location is key, there are some other things you’ll need to consider.

Here’s what you need to know to survive the first night in 7 Days to Die.

Best ways to survive your first night in 7 Days to Die

  • Get Food and Water.
  • Collect Rocks and Wood to craft your first Weapons.
  • Find a Shelter before 4 PM.

These are the first things you need to focus on during your first day in 7 Days to Die. During the daytime, prioritize collecting resources and materials that will help you survive throughout the night and maintain your Health and Water stats high.

Since night starts at 8 PM in-game, start looking or building a Shelter before the sun goes down. If you don’t have one, you won’t make it through the night.

Tips & tricks for first night in 7 Days to Die

The first night in 7 Days to Die is when you’ll set up your survival strategy that can either make or break you during the early game.

There are four things you’ll need to take care of during your experience: Health, Stamina, Water, and Food. Your Food and Water meters are spent when your character engages in physical activity or after a long period without consuming resources. If they get to zero, your character will die.

Since your priority must be these four stats, here’s what you’ll need to consider to survive.

Day-Night cycle

7 Days to Die has an in-game 24-hour day cycle, where sunrise is at 8 AM and sunset is at 8 PM. You’ll need to think about this when you’re out exploring the world and looking for resources since Zombies become relentless during nighttime.

Zombies

These are the primary threats you’ll have to stay away from. There are four types of zombies in the game: Normal, Tough, Special, and Animal zombies. During the day, these infected creatures will move slowly and only chase after you if they can spot you.

During the night, zombies will start running and begin to hunt for any survivors. They can locate you by your proximity and will go towards any source of light. Even if you’re inside your base, these creatures will try to destroy walls and other obstacles to get to you.

Zombie in 7 Days to Die
You can craft Torches by combining Sticks with Cloth.

Keep in mind that they can climb, but you can use this as an advantage. While they’re going up a ladder, they won’t be able to attack you. You can kill zombies by aiming at their heads, but you can also slow them down if you cut off their limbs.

Resources

Before your first night in 7 Days to Die, make sure to gather Wood, Stone, Cloth, Rocks, and other materials. These will help you craft everything you’ll need in case you have to go against a crazed zombie during the night.

You can find these while exploring the map and interacting with bushes, turning Grass into Fiber, looting vehicles and corpses, and scavenging empty buildings.

First weapons

While it would be ideal for you to get a gun during your first day, your best bet is to create your own rudimentary weapon with Rocks or Wood.

You can get Wood by punching trees and then turning that material into Wood Planks. Then, you can turn it into Plywood, and then into Sticks. You can also transform them into Pointed Sticks, which will be your first weapon and defense mechanism in the game.

If you want to use Rocks, you can quickly turn them into Stone, which will allow you to build a Block or a Forge. You can also divide these Stones into Small Stones and then transform them into Sharp Stones, which you’ll have to use to get Stone Axe.

To get a Stone Axe, you can combine a Stick, a Sharp Stone, and Plant Fiber.

Your first base

There are multiple locations that you can choose from for your Starter Base, but remember that you’ll need them to be close to resources such as Water and Food. You can locate these spots by using your map, but going to semi-urban spaces is your best bet.

After getting to a location, build your safe space by securing the area where you’ll stay during the night. You can combine Sticks with Cloth to make Torches and set them around your base to stop Zombies from spawning. The light will also slow them down, giving you a chance to take them down while they are weaker.

The Farm & Barn location in 7 Days to Die
One of the best locations to set up your shelter is in the Farm POI.

You can also set up Pointed Sticks on the ground to make a barricade. These will stop Zombies from damaging your location right away and also hold them off during the night.

One of the most important things you’ll need to craft in 7 Days to Die is a Sleeping Bag since it will create a spawn point on your location. You can easily craft a Sleeping Bag by combining six Cloth Fragments.