Make Your First Supply Run and Choose a Shelter

Your first supply run in Project Zomboid should leave you with drinking water, food, a wound dressing and somewhere you can rest. For unmodded PC single-player, make that your opening goal. A full backpack is less useful if you have nowhere quiet to take it.

Start with a manageable run

For a new world, Rising offers a gentler start. Custom Sandbox lets you adjust zombie and loot settings and choose a starting town. The current presets also include Apocalypse, Outbreak and Extinction. Read the mode description before choosing your run. The Indie Stone: game modes

Use the tutorial to practise movement and looting, then check Controls for anything you still need. Once your survivor appears, look around the starting room before opening every container. Identify the door you would use if something entered behind you.

Pick one nearby house to inspect. Favour a building whose approaches you can see and whose ground-floor exits you understand. A basement can wait; your first shelter does not need every room explored before you have basic supplies.

Check the house before committing

Look around the outside, glance through windows and try an unlocked door. Check rooms cautiously and avoid fighting a group in a cramped space. Close doors and windows behind you once you have checked the area. PZwiki Survival Guide

Interior doors and lights can begin in different states, and some houses are already looted. Judge the building in front of you rather than relying on a remembered room layout. The Indie Stone: interiors

Choose a retreat direction before stepping inside. If a group is already crossing that route, try another building. When an alarm sounds, abandon the search and leave the area: the noise attracts nearby zombies. Watch where they are coming from as you move away. PZwiki Survival Guide

Take what solves today’s problems

Search the accessible kitchen for something edible and a usable water container. Take a dressing if you find one. Keep your weapon and immediate supplies easy to reach. Leave bulky appliances and collections of heavy tools for later trips.

Check your load before entering another house. Heavy loads and injuries can hamper your character, so avoid turning an easy walk home into a struggle. If you get hurt, use the wound-care guide before continuing the search. PZwiki Health

Return while you can still move comfortably

Walk when you have room to do so, saving exertion for situations that need it. If zombies follow, avoid leading them straight to your sleeping place. Move around a building to break their view, then check the next stretch before returning; keep moving if they are still following. PZwiki Survival Guide

Back at the shelter, check the rooms, shut doors and close available curtains. Listen again before settling down. Put spare supplies in one memorable container and keep the exit accessible. Prepare your drinking water while you still have a quiet opportunity. Stop the outing when you have the essentials or your condition makes another house a poor bet.