New Project Zomboid update improves ranged combat, shotguns, and chocolate milk

A new Project Zomboid update has just launched, and it's a big one. It's been a while since we last heard from The Indie Stone, but that's just because the team's been cooking hard on its latest overhaul for one of the best zombie games on Steam. The latest round of Project Zomboid patch notes kicks off with a notable adjustment that ramps up the risk-reward balance of ranged weapons. Then it fixes disappearing shotgun damage, upgrades dryers, and makes chocolate milk more realistic than ever. There's a lot to go through, so let's get started.

Project Zomboid build 42.12.0 makes a huge number of changes, but I'll pick out some of the most notable to get us started. Ranged weapons have been given an overhaul to allow them to be affected with specific body-part damage modifiers, the way melee combat works. This means you'll score triple damage if you land a headshot, while hitting limbs will be much less potent than before. The Indie Stone has also addressed an issue causing the survival game's shotgun pellets to "mysteriously disappear" when targeting specific body parts, and improved pathfinding now allows you to plan routes over climbable walls.

Digging through the vast list of other changes, there are several notable standouts. When characters hit level ten they'll now learn all growing seasons recipes that aren't already known, and at Mechanics levels eight, nine, and ten you'll learn the basic, intermediate, and advanced mechanics recipes respectively. Likewise, skill-level checks for Electrical, Farming, and Mechanics now properly unlock appropriate features as if learned through a recipe. There's also a new trait, Crafty, which provides a 30% experience bonus to crafting skills.

Items can now be marked as 'unwanted,' which will clearly highlight them as such in inventory menus, so you'll be able to quickly tell if you're looking at things you no longer need. Similarly, VHS tapes and CDs will mark if you've already watched or heard them. Drying racks get additional functionality to handle variable numbers of input items. The lighting system has been adjusted so that rooms behind doors are now correctly blacked out, even if you've seen them before.

Calorie consumption has been adjusted, and certain recipes and actions have had their values tweaked, resulting in "overall less consumption for the most common activities/recipes and resting, and a bit more for a few intensive activities and recipes." You're able to double-click on the likes of pills, beverages, and water sources to use them immediately (this excludes potentially lethal options such as rat poison). Finally, and winning the award for the most realistic change of all, Chocolate Milk now grants happiness.

Project Zomboid build 42.12.0 unstable is out now. Read the full patch notes here. Note that because this is still the 'unstable' release, there will be some problems in the current version. The Indie Stone warns of an issue caused when refueling from gas pumps, where you must cancel them with the Escape key or by sprinting, rather than walking away. You might also experience increased fuel consumption due to generator changes.

We've rounded up the best Project Zomboid mods whether you're on build 42 or not, and our guide to the best gaming headset in 2025 will ensure you're truly immersed in the world.

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