Configuration File XML Format

globals.xml Configuration

Contains global server variables such as cleanup timers, animal and zombie counts, and other world-wide settings that impact overall server performance and gameplay balance.

Overview

globals.xml contains server-wide variables that affect cleanup timers, entity limits, and other global settings. These values impact overall server performance and gameplay balance. Located in your mission folder at db/globals.xml.

Unlike types.xml which controls individual items, globals.xml sets the rules that apply to all entities. Changing these values affects every item, zombie, and animal on the server.

File Structure

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<variables>
    <var name="AnimalMaxCount" type="0" value="200"/>
    <var name="CleanupLifetimeDeadAnimal" type="0" value="1200"/>
    <var name="CleanupLifetimeDeadInfected" type="0" value="330"/>
    <var name="CleanupLifetimeDeadPlayer" type="0" value="3600"/>
    <var name="CleanupLifetimeDefault" type="0" value="45"/>
    <var name="CleanupLifetimeLimit" type="0" value="1200"/>
    <var name="CleanupLifetimeRuined" type="0" value="330"/>
    <var name="FlagRefreshFrequency" type="0" value="432000"/>
    <var name="FlagRefreshMaxDuration" type="0" value="3456000"/>
    <var name="IdleModeCountdown" type="0" value="60"/>
    <var name="IdleModeStartup" type="0" value="1"/>
    <var name="InitialSpawn" type="0" value="1200"/>
    <var name="RespawnAttempt" type="0" value="132"/>
    <var name="RespawnLimit" type="0" value="0"/>
    <var name="RespawnTypes" type="0" value="12"/>
    <var name="RestartSpawn" type="0" value="0"/>
    <var name="SpawnInitial" type="0" value="1200"/>
    <var name="TimeHopping" type="0" value="60"/>
    <var name="TimeLogin" type="0" value="15"/>
    <var name="TimeLogout" type="0" value="15"/>
    <var name="TimePenalty" type="0" value="20"/>
    <var name="ZombieMaxCount" type="0" value="1000"/>
    <var name="ZoneSpawnDist" type="0" value="300"/>
</variables>

Key Variables

Variable	Default	Description
CleanupLifetimeDeadPlayer	3600	Time (seconds) before a dead player body is removed. 3600 = 1 hour. Increase for hardcore servers where body looting is important.
CleanupLifetimeDeadInfected	330	Time (seconds) before dead zombie bodies are removed. Lower values improve performance in high-zombie areas.
CleanupLifetimeDefault	45	Default cleanup time for entities without a specific lifetime. Applies to dropped items and misc objects.
CleanupLifetimeRuined	330	Time (seconds) before ruined items are cleaned up. Ruined items serve no purpose, so shorter values free spawn points faster.
CleanupLifetimeDeadAnimal	1200	Time (seconds) before dead animal bodies are removed. Longer values let players skin animals after hunting.
AnimalMaxCount	200	Maximum number of animals on the server. Higher values increase hunting opportunities but impact performance.
ZombieMaxCount	1000	Maximum number of zombies on the server. The biggest single performance variable. Reduce for better FPS on lower-end hardware.
FlagRefreshFrequency	432000	How often (seconds) a flag pole must be interacted with to prevent base decay. 432000 = 5 days.
FlagRefreshMaxDuration	3456000	Maximum lifetime (seconds) of a flag pole. 3456000 = 40 days. After this, the base decays regardless of interaction.
TimeLogin	15	Time (seconds) for the login timer. Players are vulnerable during this countdown.
TimeLogout	15	Time (seconds) for the logout timer. Prevents combat logging by keeping the player in-world.
TimePenalty	20	Additional penalty time (seconds) for disconnecting during combat or other restricted actions.
TimeHopping	60	Cooldown (seconds) before a player can join another server. Prevents server hopping for loot.
SpawnInitial	1200	Number of items to spawn during initial server startup. Higher values mean faster initial loot population but longer startup.
ZoneSpawnDist	300	Distance (meters) from a player at which zombies and animals begin spawning in their zone.

Common Configurations

High-Performance Server

Reduce entity counts and cleanup timers for better FPS:

<var name="ZombieMaxCount" type="0" value="600"/>
<var name="AnimalMaxCount" type="0" value="100"/>
<var name="CleanupLifetimeDeadInfected" type="0" value="120"/>
<var name="CleanupLifetimeRuined" type="0" value="120"/>

Extended Base Persistence

Give players more time between flag refreshes:

<var name="FlagRefreshFrequency" type="0" value="864000"/>  <!-- 10 days -->
<var name="FlagRefreshMaxDuration" type="0" value="5184000"/>  <!-- 60 days -->

Performance Impact

ZombieMaxCount has the highest performance impact. Each zombie requires AI pathfinding, animation, and collision detection. Reducing from 1000 to 600 can improve server FPS by 10-20%.

AnimalMaxCount also affects performance, though less than zombies. Animals use simpler AI but still consume resources. Scale based on your server hardware.

Cleanup timers affect entity count over time. Shorter cleanup times mean fewer entities in the world at any given moment, improving performance. But too short and players can't loot bodies.

SpawnInitial affects startup time only. Higher values mean the server takes longer to start but has more loot immediately available. Lower values mean faster starts but sparse initial loot.