Expanding Traits and Skill Points in Project Zomboid

Why Bother With Extra Traits

Rolling a new character in Project Zomboid can feel like signing a contract you do not fully understand. Traits decide how fast you move, how well you swing a bat, and whether the first zombie you meet ruins your week. The base game intentionally caps how many you can pick so nobody walks into Knox County as an unkillable demigod, and that is fair. It is also annoying when you want to experiment with weirder builds.

The good news is that both extra trait options and extra points to spend on them are absolutely reachable, either in singleplayer or on a server. The methods are a bit fiddly but nothing exotic, and they work just as well for a private save as for a HolyHosting world your friends connect to.

How Trait Selection Works

During character creation the game gives you a pool of points and a list of traits split between positive and negative. Picking a downside refunds points you can then spend on something useful. Without traits you survive the apocalypse with cardboard mechanics, so most veterans treat this menu as the real start of the game.

What follows is two separate things people often confuse:

• More trait choices: adding extra entries to the list itself, which requires mods.
• More points to spend: bumping the budget so you can pick more of what already exists, which is a small file edit or a server setting.

You can run them at the same time, or pick whichever fits the run you want.

Adding More Trait Options in Solo

The extra traits come from the Steam Workshop. The main mod has a few dependencies, and skipping any of them will silently break the others.

1. Open the More Traits Workshop page and hit Subscribe.

1. Do the same for its three dependencies: KillCount, MoodleFramework, and Mod Options.
2. Launch Project Zomboid and open the Mods menu from the main screen.
3. Enable every mod you just subscribed to.

1. Create a new solo world with whatever map you prefer.
2. Check the Available Traits list during character creation. A working install gives you a noticeably longer list than vanilla.

If the list looks identical to a vanilla install, the most likely culprit is a missing dependency or one of the mods sitting disabled in the menu.

Pushing the Same Mods to a Server

Server side is simpler than it sounds, because the panel handles the heavy lifting. Players still need to subscribe to the mods on their own Steam account so the files download on first connect.

1. Open each mod's Workshop page and copy both the Workshop ID and the Mod ID. They are usually pinned near the bottom of the mod description.

1. Open your HolyHosting server panel and go to the Config Files section.

1. Open the World Config entry.
2. Find the Mods field and paste every Mod ID, separating them with a semicolon.

1. Repeat for the WorkshopItems field using the Workshop IDs, same semicolon format.

1. Scroll down, Save, then Restart the server from the panel.

Every subscribed mod needs both of its IDs in both fields. Forgetting one is the classic way to spend an hour debugging a server that boots fine but acts haunted.

The More Traits author notes that the mod can trigger false positives in the anti-cheat. If you keep anti-cheat on, expect random kicks. Disabling it lives in the Customizations and World Config sections of the panel. Make that call based on who you trust on your server.

Giving Yourself More Points to Spend

If the existing trait list is fine but the budget feels stingy, you can edit a single game file to grant yourself extra points. This is purely local and does not affect anyone else.

1. Close the game first. Editing files while it is running rarely ends well.
2. Open your Steam Library and find Project Zomboid.
3. Right-click, hover over Manage, and choose Browse Local Files.

1. In the folder that opens, enter the media directory.
2. Follow this path: `lua\client\OptionScreens`.

1. Open CharacterCreationProfession.lua with a proper text editor. Notepad++ or VS Code both work. Plain Notepad will technically open it but is painful to read.
2. Find the line `self.pointToSpend = 0;` and raise the number. Whatever you put there is added on top of the default 8 points, so setting it to 12 gives you 20 in total.

1. Save the file, start a new character, and enjoy a fatter budget.

Doing the Same Thing on a Server

For servers the setting lives in the sandbox file, not in any Lua script. This also stacks cleanly with the More Traits mod if you have both installed.

1. Open the Config Files area of your server panel.
2. Find `[worldName]_SandboxVars.lua` and open it.

1. Search for CharacterFreePoints.
2. Change the `0` to your desired number and Save at the top.

1. Restart the server from the main panel so the new value loads.

Every player who joins will now create characters with the extra points already available.

When Something Does Not Work

The vast majority of issues on servers come from typos in the ID lists. The required format is strict: `ID1;ID2;ID3;` with semicolons as separators and no stray spaces. A single wrong character means the entry is ignored or the whole field fails silently. Re-check the values, Save, and Restart before assuming the mod itself is broken.

For point budgets, make sure you are editing the right file for the right context. Solo characters read from `CharacterCreationProfession.lua`. Server characters read from `[worldName]_SandboxVars.lua`. Editing one when you needed the other is a common mix-up, especially if you play both modes. As always, close the game before touching local files and restart the server after touching server files.

Related Reading

• More Traits on the Steam Workshop
• Installing Workshop mods on a Project Zomboid server
• Joining a Project Zomboid server
• Becoming an admin on your Project Zomboid server