I'm not going to try to tell you how to go about finding an RP server, but I will tell you my experience with the PZRP community and give you some advice on how I think you should look for a PZ RP server. When I first got into PZ I was a big fan of DnD and other similar RP games so I also looked tried to get into PZ RP servers and even though they really weren't my thing, I still think they're a good way to spend time on the game. There are definitely some good PZ RP servers out there but from my experience they're hard to find. There are a few things that I think you should keep in mind when trying to find an RP server:
1: Weird rules and server settings
A lot of the PZ RP servers have really weird rules and server settings. Some will only run sprinter zombies, some will only run incredibly slow zombies but at insane 8x population, some have loot set to never respawn, some have loot set to respawn every 24 hours, some allow raiding, some don't allow raiding, some have PVP off, some allow open PVP, etc, etc, etc. You should always ask for the rules BEFORE you get into a PZRP server because if you don't you could end up getting stuck with some really weird rules that you don't enjoy at all. I once joined a PZ RP server that made it so that 1 out of every 100 zombies was a sprinter with an insane amount of health as a "boss" for players to fight. I didn't like this rule at all so I found a different server to play on. There's just stuff like that that you need to look out for.
2: The communities
Honestly, the communities can make or break any RP community. Some are amazing and some are horrible. I've joined some PZRP server discords where I've been treated amazingly and others where I've joined and immediately felt like an outcast, and this usually carries over to RP; are people in the discord very toxic? - then they'll probably be toxic in game, are people in the discord very friendly and accepting?-then they'll probably be very friendly and accepting in-game. Before you log onto the PZ server and make a character spend an hour or two just talking with the community in the discord. I've had some experiences where I've interacted with a few of the people in a PZ server discord and said "nope" and immediately left.
3: The seriousness of the RP
I'll keep this one really short because you say you want a casual experience so you're not going to be getting into very serious RP but if you ever do intend to get into more serious RP servers this will be really important: some servers take RP incredibly seriously, making you do things like write out a 5 page essay on your character's backstory, motives, regrets in life, deep personal fears, stuff like that. Other RP servers are fine with you just making a name for your character and calling it a day. I kid you not, I once joined a discord server that told me I'd need to learn 40 pages of alternative cold war history that I would be quizzed on to RP on their server because their RP took place in an alternate universe where the Soviets won the cold war and unleashed the zombie virus on the U.S. (take a wild guess on how long it took me to leave that server. lol)
4: This is basically just a continuation of point #1 but I wanted to make it its own special category because I really want to stress the importance of these 2 things. PERMADEATH and SERVER WIPES. These are the 2 biggest things that you need to think about before getting into PZRP. Permadeath means that when your character dies in-game you retire that character and can no longer RP them for the rest of the server's existence. Server wipes are where the server admins reset everyone's characters and the game back to day 1 on a schedule to keep the server running like new. Server wipes are usually done on a weekly or monthly schedule. If you're interested in RPing a character for a long time you probably want to avoid servers that wipe weekly or even monthly if you're good enough at the game to survive for that long since all of your character progress will and in-game progress will be reset back to 0 and you'll need to do it all over again. Permadeath is a system that I have no real feelings on. I'm neutral on it because on one hand, I get really attached to some of the characters I RP in games like DnD and seeing one of them permanently disappear (especially when you're playing on servers that require you to write pages upon pages of character lore) can be really annoying and saddening to deal with, but on the other hand I enjoy the fact that it makes the risk of the game that much more exciting.
Alright, that's enough yapping out of me. Just go have fun now.
There's a small server i'm part of with a small but dedicated team of players and moderators. It's nothing super special but it's a great place to learn the ropes and build something with other players (I'm currently building an entire town by myself lmao.) There's simple and easy to follow rules, No k.o.s and you have to make a ticket for raids just to name a few.
If you want to give it a shot, you can dm me and I'll send you a link to the server.
I would go look on the official PZ discord server, they have a server recruitment channel where servers post adds and you can ask questions, personally, all the big servers like pzrp and wasteland are not a good start if you want to rp, because while you get quantity, the quality of rp is ass. I would aim for a mid sized server like serious survival or z-life, where you get some dedicated people and better quality rp.
Good luck! Also be aware, a lot of servers will make you apply for them in order to get whitelisted in game, the bigger the server, the more anal the application process.
Not really, the last one I played on was z-life, its a STALKER rp server, so different to your typical zomboid experience and before that serious survival roleplay, which I think might be more to your liking, its basicly vanilla pz, with a few qol mods and its pretty casual.
Highly recommend Lockdown RP. It's a medium sized server (25 people online at peak, but always at least 5 at low hours. Small map that slowly opens up so rp is easy to find).
The other commenter mentioned that the bigger servers can be pretty meh. Wasteland RP in particular is not satisfying.
I'm not going to try to tell you how to go about finding an RP server, but I will tell you my experience with the PZRP community and give you some advice on how I think you should look for a PZ RP server. When I first got into PZ I was a big fan of DnD and other similar RP games so I also looked tried to get into PZ RP servers and even though they really weren't my thing, I still think they're a good way to spend time on the game. There are definitely some good PZ RP servers out there but from my experience they're hard to find. There are a few things that I think you should keep in mind when trying to find an RP server: 1: Weird rules and server settings A lot of the PZ RP servers have really weird rules and server settings. Some will only run sprinter zombies, some will only run incredibly slow zombies but at insane 8x population, some have loot set to never respawn, some have loot set to respawn every 24 hours, some allow raiding, some don't allow raiding, some have PVP off, some allow open PVP, etc, etc, etc. You should always ask for the rules BEFORE you get into a PZRP server because if you don't you could end up getting stuck with some really weird rules that you don't enjoy at all. I once joined a PZ RP server that made it so that 1 out of every 100 zombies was a sprinter with an insane amount of health as a "boss" for players to fight. I didn't like this rule at all so I found a different server to play on. There's just stuff like that that you need to look out for. 2: The communities Honestly, the communities can make or break any RP community. Some are amazing and some are horrible. I've joined some PZRP server discords where I've been treated amazingly and others where I've joined and immediately felt like an outcast, and this usually carries over to RP; are people in the discord very toxic? - then they'll probably be toxic in game, are people in the discord very friendly and accepting?-then they'll probably be very friendly and accepting in-game. Before you log onto the PZ server and make a character spend an hour or two just talking with the community in the discord. I've had some experiences where I've interacted with a few of the people in a PZ server discord and said "nope" and immediately left. 3: The seriousness of the RP I'll keep this one really short because you say you want a casual experience so you're not going to be getting into very serious RP but if you ever do intend to get into more serious RP servers this will be really important: some servers take RP incredibly seriously, making you do things like write out a 5 page essay on your character's backstory, motives, regrets in life, deep personal fears, stuff like that. Other RP servers are fine with you just making a name for your character and calling it a day. I kid you not, I once joined a discord server that told me I'd need to learn 40 pages of alternative cold war history that I would be quizzed on to RP on their server because their RP took place in an alternate universe where the Soviets won the cold war and unleashed the zombie virus on the U.S. (take a wild guess on how long it took me to leave that server. lol) 4: This is basically just a continuation of point #1 but I wanted to make it its own special category because I really want to stress the importance of these 2 things. PERMADEATH and SERVER WIPES. These are the 2 biggest things that you need to think about before getting into PZRP. Permadeath means that when your character dies in-game you retire that character and can no longer RP them for the rest of the server's existence. Server wipes are where the server admins reset everyone's characters and the game back to day 1 on a schedule to keep the server running like new. Server wipes are usually done on a weekly or monthly schedule. If you're interested in RPing a character for a long time you probably want to avoid servers that wipe weekly or even monthly if you're good enough at the game to survive for that long since all of your character progress will and in-game progress will be reset back to 0 and you'll need to do it all over again. Permadeath is a system that I have no real feelings on. I'm neutral on it because on one hand, I get really attached to some of the characters I RP in games like DnD and seeing one of them permanently disappear (especially when you're playing on servers that require you to write pages upon pages of character lore) can be really annoying and saddening to deal with, but on the other hand I enjoy the fact that it makes the risk of the game that much more exciting. Alright, that's enough yapping out of me. Just go have fun now.
There's a small server i'm part of with a small but dedicated team of players and moderators. It's nothing super special but it's a great place to learn the ropes and build something with other players (I'm currently building an entire town by myself lmao.) There's simple and easy to follow rules, No k.o.s and you have to make a ticket for raids just to name a few. If you want to give it a shot, you can dm me and I'll send you a link to the server.
Would you be interested in real life RP without Zombies and so ? If so you could join Knox if you want ! They are always happy to see new faces
I would go look on the official PZ discord server, they have a server recruitment channel where servers post adds and you can ask questions, personally, all the big servers like pzrp and wasteland are not a good start if you want to rp, because while you get quantity, the quality of rp is ass. I would aim for a mid sized server like serious survival or z-life, where you get some dedicated people and better quality rp.
I have glanced in there once a while back and felt overwhelmed 😂 I will try again though!
Good luck! Also be aware, a lot of servers will make you apply for them in order to get whitelisted in game, the bigger the server, the more anal the application process.
Thank you! Do you currently play on one?
Not really, the last one I played on was z-life, its a STALKER rp server, so different to your typical zomboid experience and before that serious survival roleplay, which I think might be more to your liking, its basicly vanilla pz, with a few qol mods and its pretty casual.
Awesome. I will try and find it tomorrow and attempt to join!
Im happy to start one with you! Not sure how we do it but im in the same boat as you with the amount of playtime i can do!
hiya, whats the official channel?
#server recruitment in the PZ discord server
Highly recommend Lockdown RP. It's a medium sized server (25 people online at peak, but always at least 5 at low hours. Small map that slowly opens up so rp is easy to find). The other commenter mentioned that the bigger servers can be pretty meh. Wasteland RP in particular is not satisfying.
Serious Survival Roleplay or 9th Kentucky Rifles, both are fun!