How to configure Darkness Falls for 7 Days to Die

Darkness Falls is the most popular total overhaul for 7 Days to Die, created by KhaineGB. It adds a class system, tiered progression that delays iron and steel, demonic enemies, boss fights, new points of interest, and a much larger backpack. This guide covers installing it on your 7 Days to Die server rental, the settings you must change for it to load, and the custom maps it ships with.

Darkness Falls is not a drop-in modlet — it replaces the entire Mods/ folder and ships its own serverconfig.xml, so it needs a clean server and a few specific settings. For general mod basics first, see How to Install Modlets and Overhaul Mods.

Before You Start

Three hard requirements. Skipping any one of them stops the mod loading or stops players connecting:

• EAC must be off. Darkness Falls ships modified DLLs, so Easy Anti-Cheat has to be disabled on the server, and every player must launch with EAC off too. We cover the exact setting below.
• The correct game branch. Darkness Falls V6 (mod build 6.0.0.20) is built for 7 Days to Die 1.4, and KhaineGB's own repository states it "is only compatible with Version 1.4." There is no V2 or V3 build. The live game has moved a long way past 1.4 — V3.1.0 "Henpocalypse" went stable on 27 July 2026 — so a default install will be far too new and the mod will not load. Your server and every client have to be on the 1.4 branch. Open a ticket and we can pin your server to it.
• A fresh world. As a total overhaul it changes blocks, items, and progression, so it cannot load an existing vanilla save. Plan to start a new game.

Version state, checked 19 August 2026

Darkness Falls V6 requires 7 Days to Die 1.4. The live game is V3.1.0 "Henpocalypse", stable since 27 July 2026, so the two are several releases apart. Re-check KhaineGB's repository before you install — if a build for a newer game version has appeared, the branch advice above changes.

Take a backup through the panel's Backups tab before you begin, and ideally start from a freshly reset server.

Step 1: Stop the Server

From the panel's Console tab, stop the server and wait for it to show offline.

Stop the server before installing

Never install an overhaul while the server is running.

Step 2: Install the Server Files

Darkness Falls V6 is published from KhaineGB's own repository, linked from the Darkness Falls Discord and the mod's forum thread, and it is also available through the 7D2D Mod Launcher. Do not take it from the old GitHub or GitLab repositories — those hold Alpha 17 to Alpha 20 builds and will not run on 1.4.

Unlike the older Alpha releases, V6 ships as a single package covering both single-player and multiplayer, so there is no separate "Server Master" and "Client Master" download to pick between.

1. Extract the package locally. It contains a Mods/ folder, an icon file and a serverconfig.xml.

2. Connect to your server over SFTP (credentials are in the panel's Settings tab).

3. Delete the existing Mods/ folder on the server and upload the Darkness Falls Mods/ folder in its place. Do not overwrite your own serverconfig.xml with the one from the zip — that would reset your server name, slots and password. Edit your existing file as described below.

Step 3: Disable EAC

Open serverconfig.xml in the File Manager and set EAC off:

<property name="EACEnabled" value="false"/>

Save the file.

Players need EAC off too

Every player must also launch the game with EAC disabled, using the non-EAC executable, or they will be unable to join.

See How to Install Modlets and Overhaul Mods for the player-side note.

Step 4: Set a Darkness Falls World

Darkness Falls ships its own pre-generated maps, all named with a DFalls- prefix. You must use one of these (or let it generate a Darkness Falls RWG world); a vanilla map will not have the custom points of interest.

In serverconfig.xml, set the GameWorld and a level name:

<property name="GameWorld" value="DFalls-Navezgane"/>
<property name="GameName" value="DarknessFalls01"/>

If you are new to Darkness Falls, DFalls-Navezgane is the safe choice. The full list of bundled worlds (sizes from VSmall to Large, with and without PEP prefabs) is visible in the File Manager under Data/Worlds/. Copy the exact name, including capitalization.

Step 5: Start and Watch the First Boot

Start the server. The first boot generates the Darkness Falls world, which can take 15 to 30 minutes depending on map size and your plan. This is normal.

Do not interrupt world generation

Do not restart or kill the server during generation, or you risk a corrupted world.

Watch the Console for the mod load lines and the world generation progress. Once it reports the server is ready, you are live.

Common Issues

What to Read Next

• How to Install Modlets and Overhaul Mods for the general overhaul workflow and player-side setup
• How to Configure Undead Legacy for the other major overhaul
• Managing your 7 Days to Die server for backups before and after mod changes

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