Where they come from
Zombies stick to places: houses, hospitals, police stations, gas stations, military sites. A group wakes up when you get within 150 m, and it never spawns in plain sight. A few more wander around homes, 80–120 m from you. Nothing spawns on highways out of town.
- Inside buildings you only meet zombies in certain places: barracks, hangars, labs.
- Near a lone player there are usually up to 5 zombies within 150 m; every extra player nearby raises that, up to 12. Military sites and big towns have many times more, and Zone 51 also has military patrols.
- A killed zombie comes back after 40 minutes, in Zone 51 after 15.
How they spot you
| What you do | A regular zombie notices you from |
|---|---|
| Sneaking crouched | 8 m |
| Standing | 12 m |
| Walking | 20 m |
| Jogging | 32 m |
| Sprinting | 36 m |
| Driving | 40 m |
Military zombies notice you 1.5 times farther, every zombie notices you 1.25 times farther at night, and in a blizzard their eyesight is halved. Zombies can't see through walls, only hear. A pistol shot carries 50 m, a rifle 60 m, a machine gun 90 m: the first shots only put them on alert, the third within 20 seconds (the second for military) sends them to check. More in noise and visibility.
Chase and attack
- The one who spots you screams (heard from 40 m) and calls up to 12 zombies within 25 m. The pack tries to flank you.
- If it can't see or hear you for 6 seconds (12 for military), it gives up and searches where it last saw you.
- Hide in a house and a zombie will bang on the door, but it never breaks it.
- A zombie hits every 1.5 seconds, and you lose blood only when the fist actually lands: step back or get behind it and it misses. It can't hit through mesh or bars.
- Hits cause no bleeding or pain, only blood loss and a chance of infection. Untreated infection drains all your blood in 90 minutes; antibiotics or an army medkit cure it (blood). A vest cuts zombie hits by 10–60% (armor).
- If your car is standing still or doing under 8 km/h, a zombie drags you out in 3 seconds. At 30 km/h or more, the car kills a zombie outright.
AntibioticsCure the infection from a zombie bite. Without them an infected survivor dies in an hour and a half.0.5 kg
Army medkitRestores all blood, heals a broken bone and infection, relieves pain and stops bleeding.3 kgTypes
The type depends on the place. Every zombie has its own speed, but never above its type's limit; at night they all run flat out.
| Type | Where | Chase speed vs your sprint | Hit, blood | Infection | PT92 rounds to the body | Drops |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civilians | homes, streets | up to 77% | 500 | 20% | 14 | food, water, bandages; a gun on 1 in 8 |
| Workers | industrial areas, docks, airfields | up to 77% | 500 | 25% | 14 | food, melee weapons, rarely a gun |
| Mechanics | garages, workshops, gas stations | up to 77% | 500 | 30% | 14 | wheels, batteries, jerrycans |
| Medics | hospitals, labs | up to 77% | 1,000 | 30% | 13 | bandages, drugs, blood bags |
| Police | police stations, checkpoints | up to 90% | 1,000 | 30% | 23 | ammo, vests; a gun on 1 in 3 |
| Military | military sites | up to 100% | 2,000 | 30% | 19–25 | a gun on almost every other one, armor |
Police and some military zombies wear vests: body shots do a quarter less damage, so go for the head.
Special zombies
They are rare and live only in their own spots.
Ironclad. A huge zombie in a bomb suit. Bullets to the body ricochet with a clang and do nothing: only a headshot or a nearby explosion takes it down, or 20 hatchet blows. It hits harder than anything else, 3,000 blood, but it's slow: 60% of your sprint.
Frost lurker. White fur. It waits in ambush almost transparent, given away only by its breath; in a blizzard you can barely see it even when it moves. It lunges as fast as you sprint and hits for 2,500 blood, but it's fragile: 13 pistol rounds.
Mimic. It stands like a survivor with a backpack, back turned to you, or lies like a corpse with no blood on it. Come within 6 m or hit it and it charges as fast as you sprint. It hits for 1,500 blood and infects with half of its hits.
Bomber. It carries a charge, walks instead of running and beeps non-stop with a blinking red LED: the closer it gets, the faster and louder (audible from 35 m). Within 2.5 m it trills and blows up a second later: certain death within a metre, wounds up to 6 m. A dead bomber never explodes, even mid-trill. Eight pistol rounds are enough.
Ghost. An emaciated, clawed mutant. Standing still it's completely invisible, yet you can shoot it and bump into it; a faint frosty haze and a quiet wheeze within 14 m give it away. On the move it's a flickering silhouette, and it gets clearer as it strikes. It chases at about 88% of your sprint and hits for 2,000 blood.
How to kill them
- Head: one round from any firearm kills any zombie, even when fired from a car.
- Body of a civilian: pistol 14 rounds, SMG 12, assault rifle 4–5, sniper rifle 3, .50 just one, shotgun at point blank 2–3.
- Melee against a civilian: 10 punches, 6 knife stabs, 8 bat or crowbar hits, 5 hatchet blows; a military zombie takes 60 punches or 10 hatchet blows. Bats and crowbars knock zombies down more often.
- A leg hit makes a zombie limp; after 3 (4 for military and police) it crawls.
- A stun gun drops a zombie for 10 seconds, a civilian burns to death in 3 seconds in Molotov fire, and a grenade kills every zombie within 5 m, see traps.
A killed zombie leaves a body for an hour. You only see what it carries after searching it with the loot key (keys); some bodies are empty.
Playing dead
U: lie down and freeze. New zombies won't notice you, one already chasing you will come to check and give up after 5 seconds, and they don't bite someone lying still. Coughing still gives you away. You can play dead again after a minute.