SCUM has hundreds of server settings, and most of them you will never touch. This page walks the ones that actually change how your server plays: loot, puppets, fame, PvP damage, vehicles, cargo drops and the day/night clock, each in plain English with a sane default. The full list of more than 430 keys lives in the generator.
ServerSettings.ini, found under SCUM/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ on your server. Edit it with the server stopped, save, and restart to apply. Some hosts and the in-game #SetServerSetting admin command can push a few changes live, but a restart is the reliable path. SCUM exposes more than 430 keys in total; the ones below are the high-impact ones. For the complete set built into a valid file, use the generator.Name, password, slots and the messages players read before they commit to your server.
| Setting | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| scum.ServerName | The name shown in the SCUM server browser. It is the first filter players use, so put a searchable keyword up front instead of burying it. | SCUM Server | your brand |
| scum.ServerDescription | The description line under your server name. Use it for the wipe schedule and playstyle, not a paragraph about your lore. | Server Description | your pitch |
| scum.ServerPassword | Blank leaves the server open to anyone. Enter a password and only players who have it can connect, which is how you run a private or whitelist-style server. | (blank) | blank for public |
| scum.MaxPlayers | Concurrent player cap, 1 to 128. Every extra slot loads more AI and eats CPU, so the honest ceiling is your hardware, not the number you type. | 64 | 64 |
| scum.ServerPlaystyle | The playstyle tag advertised in the browser, such as PVE or PVP. It sets expectations, so make it match how your rules actually play. | PVE | PVE or PVP |
| scum.WelcomeMessage | The line players see the moment they join. A rules link or Discord invite earns its place here. | Welcome to our SCUM Server | rules/Discord link |
| scum.MessageOfTheDay | A notice that re-displays on a timer. Good for wipe dates and events, bad if you set the cooldown so low it spams chat. | This is the Message of the Day | short notice |
| scum.MaxPing | Ping ceiling in milliseconds before a player is kicked, active only when the ping check is enabled. Set it too low and you cut off half a continent of legitimate players. | 400 | 300-400 |
| scum.LogoutTimer | Seconds your character stays in the world and vulnerable after you disconnect. It exists to punish combat logging, so do not set it near zero on a PvP server. | 60 | 60 |
The view, map and rules toggles that set the tone, plus the fresh-spawn protection window.
| Setting | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| scum.AllowFirstPerson | Permits the first-person camera. Leave it on unless you specifically want a third-person-only server, and never disable both view toggles or players see nothing. | true | true |
| scum.AllowThirdPerson | Permits the third-person camera. Competitive PvP servers often turn this off because third-person lets players peek around cover without exposing themselves. | true | false for hardcore PvP |
| scum.AllowMapScreen | Enables the in-game map. Turning it off forces navigation by landmarks and compass, a popular hardcore-immersion choice. | true | true |
| scum.AllowMinesAndTraps | Permits mines and traps. They are a base-defense staple, but disable them if you are tired of players mining every doorway on the map. | true | true |
| scum.DisableBaseBuilding | Switches off base building entirely. On turns the server into a pure nomad and loot experience with no permanent bases. | false | false |
| scum.EnableNewPlayerProtection | Gives fresh spawns a PvP-immunity window so new players are not farmed the second they load in. Worth keeping on for any server that wants to retain newcomers. | true | true |
| scum.NewPlayerProtectionDuration | Length of that protection window in minutes, starting at 120. The default is two hours of safety before a new character can be killed by other players. | 120 | 120 |
Fame is SCUM's progression currency, and these control how fast it comes and how much dying costs.
| Setting | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| scum.FameGainMultiplier | Scales every source of fame-point gain. Raise it for a faster-progression server where players unlock skills and perks sooner. | 1 | 1.5-2 |
| scum.FamePointPenaltyOnDeath | Fraction of fame lost on any death, 0 to 1. The default 0.1 shaves 10 percent, a mild sting rather than a real setback. | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| scum.FamePointPenaltyOnKilled | Fraction of fame lost specifically when another player kills you. It defaults higher than a normal death so getting murdered actually costs you. | 0.5 | 0.25-0.5 |
| scum.FamePointRewardOnKill | Fame gained for killing another player. This is your direct PvP incentive dial, so raise it on kill-focused servers. | 0.25 | 0.25 |
| scum.DisableExhaustion | Turns off the exhaustion system so players can sprint indefinitely. On makes the server much more survival-lite, off keeps stamina meaningful. | false | false |
How much gear the map coughs up and how long it sticks around.
| Setting | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| scum.SpawnerProbabilityMultiplier | The master loot-abundance dial, 0.1 to 10. Above 1 floods the map with gear, below 1 makes every find count. Small changes go a long way. | 1 | 1-1.5 |
| scum.SpawnerExpirationTimeMultiplier | How long spawned loot lingers before it despawns, 0.1 to 10. Higher values let items sit around longer, which helps low-population servers feel less empty. | 1 | 1 |
| scum.EnableLockedLootContainers | Allows locked containers that require lockpicking. Off makes everything open instantly, which speeds up looting at the cost of a survival mechanic. | true | true |
SCUM calls its zombies puppets, and these dials set how many, how tanky, how fast, and how safe your doors are.
| Setting | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| scum.MaxAllowedPuppets | Hard cap on active puppets, where -1 leaves the engine default. Lower it if your CPU is struggling, since puppets are one of the heaviest AI loads on the server. | -1 | -1 |
| scum.PuppetHealthMultiplier | Puppet health scale, 0.01 to 100. Push it toward 2 for spongy bullet-eaters or drop toward 0.5 for one-tap kills. This sets the overall zombie tone. | 1 | 1 |
| scum.PuppetRunningSpeedMultiplier | How fast puppets sprint. Values toward the top of the range turn a routine encounter into genuine nightmare fuel. | 1 | 1 |
| scum.ZombieDamageMultiplier | How hard puppets hit players. Pair it with the health and speed dials to build your intended zombie difficulty instead of changing one in isolation. | 1 | 1 |
| scum.PuppetsCanOpenDoors | Lets puppets open doors. Off means a closed door is actually a safe barrier, which meaningfully changes how you clear and hold buildings. | true | true |
PvP lethality, item and base decay, and the raid-protection switch.
| Setting | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| scum.HumanToHumanDamageMultiplier | The master PvP lethality dial, 0 to 10. It scales all player-versus-player damage at once, so treat it as the coarse control before touching the melee and throwing variants. | 1 | 1 |
| scum.HumanToHumanArmedMeleeDamageMultiplier | PvP damage from melee weapons such as bats and knives, separate from gunfire. Useful for tuning close-quarters fights without touching ranged balance. | 1 | 1 |
| scum.SentryDamageMultiplier | How hard automated sentries hit players, 0 to 100. Lower it if the AI turrets guarding points of interest feel unfairly punishing. | 1 | 1 |
| scum.ItemDecayDamageMultiplier | How fast items wear out, 0 to 10. Set it to 0 and gear never degrades, which many quality-of-life servers prefer. | 1 | 0.5-1 |
| scum.FoodDecayDamageMultiplier | How fast food spoils, 0 to 10. Drop it below 1 if constant food micromanagement is not the point of your server. | 1 | 0.5 |
| scum.BaseElementsDecayRateMultiplier | How fast unmaintained base parts decay, 0 to 10. Set it to 0 so bases never rot on their own, which suits servers where players log in irregularly. | 1 | 0.5-1 |
| scum.RaidProtectionType | Selects the raid-protection mode, 0 to 3. 0 disables it; higher values enable scheduled or offline protection so bases cannot be raided at certain times. Verify the exact mode mapping against current server docs before relying on it. | 0 | 0 |
Whether wildlife exists at all and how thick it gets, capped by a hard performance ceiling.
| Setting | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| scum.AreAnimalsAllowedInWorld | The master toggle for all wildlife. Off leaves a strangely quiet island with no hunting and no animal threats. | true | true |
| scum.AnimalGlobalDensityMultiplier | Overall animal density, 0 to 25. Raise it for a hunter's paradise with meat and hides everywhere, or lower it for a sparser world. | 1 | 1 |
| scum.MaxNonVirtualAnimalsInWorld | Hard cap on active, non-virtualized animals, up to 2500. This is a performance ceiling, so raising density without raising this cap does little. | 800 | 800 |
How long abandoned rides survive and how thirsty they are for fuel and battery.
| Setting | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| scum.MaximumTimeOfVehicleInactivity | How long an abandoned vehicle survives before cleanup removes it, written as hours:minutes:seconds. The default is 240 hours, or ten days. | 240:00:00 | 240:00:00 |
| scum.FuelDrainFromEngineMultiplier | How fast engines burn fuel, 0 to 10. Drop it below 1 for friendlier road trips, raise it to make fuel a real logistics concern. | 1 | 0.5-1 |
| scum.BatteryDrainFromEngineMultiplier | How fast a running engine drains the vehicle battery, 0 to 10. Lower values reduce the odds players return to a dead battery. | 1 | 1 |
Traders, quests, and the price of the water and fuel that keep players alive and mobile.
| Setting | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| scum.QuestsEnabled | Master toggle for the trader quest system. Off removes quests as a currency and reward source, which shifts the whole economy toward looting. | true | true |
| scum.MaxQuestsPerCyclePerTrader | How many quests each trader offers per cycle, 1 to 64. More quests means more ways for players to earn currency between wipes. | 3 | 3 |
| scum.WaterPricePerUnitMultiplier | Cost multiplier for water bought at pumps and wells, 0 to 10. Lower it to ease early survival, raise it to keep water scarce and valuable. | 1 | 1 |
| scum.GasolinePricePerUnitMultiplier | Cost multiplier for gasoline, 0 to 10. Since vehicles live and die on fuel, this quietly controls how mobile your playerbase can afford to be. | 1 | 1 |
The airdrop loop that gives your server a recurring PvP flashpoint.
| Setting | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| scum.CargoDropCooldownMinimum | Shortest gap between cargo drops, in minutes. It pairs with the maximum below to set a random window rather than a fixed timer. | 90 | 60-90 |
| scum.CargoDropCooldownMaximum | Longest gap between cargo drops, in minutes. Keep it above the minimum, since the game rolls a random time between the two values. | 120 | 120 |
| scum.CargoDropFallDelay | Seconds between a cargo drop being announced and the crate actually falling. This is the head start players get to race for it. | 540 | 540 |
| scum.CargoDropSelfdestructTime | How long the crate sits on the ground before it self-destructs, in seconds. This is your looting window once the fight is over. | 1200 | 1200 |
| scum.CargoDropZombieEncounterWeightMultiplier | How many puppets a cargo drop pulls in, 0 to 100. Raise it to make high-tier loot cost blood instead of a quiet stroll. | 1 | 1-2 |
Growing food, plus the day/night clock and fog that set the mood of the island.
| Setting | What it does | Default | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| scum.FarmingSkillMultiplier | Farming experience gain rate, 0 to 10. Raise it if you want players specializing in agriculture to level up without a marathon grind. | 1 | 1 |
| scum.PlantHarvestExamineTimeMultiplier | How long harvesting a plant takes, 0.2 to 10. Values below 1 speed up farming chores, above 1 make tending crops more of a time investment. | 1 | 1 |
| scum.StartTimeOfDay | The clock time the world starts at after a fresh load, in hours:minutes:seconds. The default 08:00:00 opens the day in the morning. | 08:00:00 | 08:00:00 |
| scum.TimeOfDaySpeed | Day and night cycle speed, 0 to 12. At 1 a full day runs in real-time 24 hours, and higher values compress the cycle so days and nights pass faster. | 3.84 | 3.84 |
| scum.NighttimeDarkness | How dark nights get, 0 to 1. At 1 nights are pitch black and force flashlights and night vision, while 0 keeps the engine default brightness. | 0 | 0-1 |
| scum.SunriseTime | The in-game clock time the sun rises, in hours:minutes:seconds. | 06:00:00 | 06:00:00 |
| scum.SunsetTime | The in-game clock time the sun sets. Widen the gap between sunrise and sunset for longer days, narrow it for more time in the dangerous dark. | 21:00:00 | 21:00:00 |
| scum.EnableFog | Allows fog weather. Off gives clearer sightlines and slightly better frames at the cost of atmosphere and the cover fog provides. | true | true |
A friendly, populated-server starting point. It keeps the world dangerous but trims the grind, spoilage and fuel tax that scare off casual players. Everything here is a mild nudge from vanilla, easy to push harder once you know your crowd.
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| scum.MaxPlayers | 64 | Full-size server without smashing a single box. Scale down if your frames dip. |
| scum.FameGainMultiplier | 2 | Doubles fame gain so players unlock skills and perks at a friendlier pace than vanilla. |
| scum.SpawnerProbabilityMultiplier | 1.5 | A bit more loot than default so the early game is less of a slog, without drowning the map. |
| scum.ItemDecayDamageMultiplier | 0.5 | Slower gear wear means fewer rage-inducing weapon breaks mid-fight. |
| scum.FoodDecayDamageMultiplier | 0.5 | Halves food spoilage so survival upkeep stays present but not a second job. |
| scum.FuelDrainFromEngineMultiplier | 0.5 | Cheaper road trips so vehicles get driven instead of hoarded in a garage. |
| scum.BaseElementsDecayRateMultiplier | 0.5 | Bases rot slower, forgiving of players who cannot log in every single day. |
| scum.ZombieDamageMultiplier | 1 | Vanilla puppet threat. This baseline leans easy on the economy, not on the undead. |
| scum.CargoDropCooldownMinimum | 60 | Slightly more frequent cargo drops to give the server a reliable PvP flashpoint. |
| scum.EnableNewPlayerProtection | true | Shields fresh spawns for their first two hours so newcomers actually stick around. |
SCUM/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ServerSettings.ini. Most hosts also expose it through a config editor in their panel. Stop the server before editing, then restart so the changes load. If you would rather not hand-edit hundreds of lines, the generator writes the whole file for you.ServerSettings.ini, covering everything from puppet cull distance to individual vehicle spawn caps. This page curates the roughly sixty that most servers actually tune. The generator exposes the full set.scum.SpawnerProbabilityMultiplier above its default of 1. Even 1.5 noticeably increases loot across the map, so move it in small steps. Pair it with a higher scum.SpawnerExpirationTimeMultiplier so items linger longer on quieter servers.scum.PuppetHealthMultiplier decides how much punishment puppets soak, scum.ZombieDamageMultiplier controls how hard they hit, and raising scum.PuppetRunningSpeedMultiplier makes them close in faster. Turning off scum.PuppetsCanOpenDoors also makes buildings safer to clear.ServerSettings.ini with the server stopped, save, and start it back up. A handful of settings can be pushed live with the in-game #SetServerSetting admin command, but a restart guarantees the file is read cleanly. The generator gives you a complete file to drop in before that restart.