7 Days to Die Beginner's Guide: The First Week, Traders and Blood Moon Prep

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1. Set up your first game When creating a game you can change difficulty, day length, Blood Moon frequency and zombie running behavior. V3.0 greatly expanded these options and added presets. Default or lower difficulty makes a first playthrough easier to learn.
2. Follow the opening quests The game starts you on a chain of introductory quests teaching basics such as gathering plant fibers and crafting your first tools and supplies. Open the Quests window (O) and work through them. Finishing the chain gives skill points and a quest pointing you to the nearest trader.
3. Gather fibers, stone and wood Bushes give Plant Fibers, the ground gives Small Stones and trees give Wood. These make the Stone Axe, used both for chopping and breaking blocks. Fibers also go into bandages and your first clothing.
4. Place your bedroll A Bedroll sets your respawn point and stops zombies spawning right around it. Put it down at the first safe spot you find. Without one you respawn at a random location.
5. Find a trader Traders live in protected compounds and deal in Duke's Casino Tokens. According to the game's wiki they are open from 04:05 to 21:50, and you are kicked out at closing. You cannot place or break blocks inside the compound, and zombies cannot get in.
6. Take trader quests Traders offer quests such as digging up buried supplies, clearing a building or fetching an item. They pay Dukes, experience and a reward item, and higher tiers unlock after a few completions. It is the fastest way to progress early.
7. Sort out water and food Hunger and thirst drop over time. Drinking Murky Water risks illness; boil it at a campfire with a suitable vessel first. Hunting and cooking meat plus looted canned food is enough for the first week.
8. Spend skill points Levelling up earns skill points, spent in the Skills window (N). Focusing early points on one main attribute that suits your playstyle and on core survival perks beats spreading them thin.
9. Prepare a shelter for night seven By default the Blood Moon starts at 22:00 and ends at 04:00 the next morning, and at 08:00 that day the day counter turns red. By the end of day six, build a sturdy spot with a single entrance that is hard for zombies to reach, and stock ammo or arrows, healing supplies and blocks for repairs.

• Aim for the headHeadshots deal far more damage. With bows and melee tools especially, aiming for the head saves ammo and stamina.
• Stay in at nightWith default settings zombies move faster at night. In the early days, staying at base to craft is much safer than roaming in the dark.
• Noise draws attentionRunning, shooting and breaking blocks attract zombies; crouching is quieter. Sneaking through buildings with sleeping zombies lets you pass without waking them.
• Hiding does not work on a Blood MoonAccording to the wiki, during a Blood Moon zombies know exactly where you are even if you conceal yourself, and will break, climb or dig to reach you. Prepare a defensible spot and keep materials to repair your walls.
• Remember trader hoursTraders close at 21:50. Sell your loot and turn in quests before closing time; you do not want to spend the night outside the gate with zombies.
• Know your way out when lootingLarge buildings hide traps, collapsing floors and waiting zombies. Remember your route in or carry a tool that lets you break through a wall if needed.
• Do not ignore infectionZombie wounds can cause infection, which becomes deadly if it progresses. If infection shows on screen, use the right medicine, such as antibiotics from traders or loot, without delay.
• Upgrade your blocksWooden blocks do for the first days, but Blood Moon hordes tear through them. Upgrading with a repair tool and stone makes your shelter last much longer.
• Read magazinesMagazines and books you loot raise crafting levels for certain items or unlock recipes. Read everything you can use; it is usually worth more than selling.
• Mark the mapPlace markers on the map (M) for your base, traders and interesting locations. Your death location is also marked, which helps you get back to dropped items.

• Losing track of the first Blood Moon: players caught unprepared on night seven are usually overrun.
• Not placing a bedroll: every death drops you at a random, often distant, spot.
• Ignoring trader quests: you give up the safest source of experience, money and gear in the first week.
• Looting at night: with default settings zombies are faster in the dark.
• Putting one point into every perk: you end up strong at nothing.

This guide was written for version: This guide reflects the V3 series (V3.2) as of September 2026. V3.0 expanded game settings considerably, so Blood Moon, zombie speed and trader values may differ in your game; keys are default bindings and can be changed in settings.

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