Render on your gaming PC

Version 0.5.0. Extract the portable EXE to a permanent folder, then double-click PZLiveMap-Renderer.exe. Python and renderer dependencies download automatically before the first render or import. Internet access is required for that first download; no separate Python installation is needed. No services, game modifications, passwords or separate Python installation are needed on the rendering PC.

  1. Choose Render on this PC.
  2. Browse to your installed Project Zomboid Build 42 client folder (the folder containing media). Its map assets must match the server's game build. A Steam client installation is sufficient; no dedicated server is required on this PC.
  3. Choose the area, floors and detail. For basements choose Basements -2 to floor 7. Balanced detail uses much less storage than native detail.
  4. Choose a worker count suited to available CPU and RAM; start with 4 workers and increase if resources allow. The selector allows up to 32. More workers may not improve performance once CPU or disk throughput is saturated. Rendering uses CPU, not GPU acceleration.
  5. Choose an output folder on a local SSD with plenty of free space. Keep Windows awake and the progress window open. The run is separate from any render on the server.

After completion, Render report.html shows measured website tile bytes by floor and the additional storage beyond floors 0–2. The output also contains Map.pzmap, a ZIP64 package designed for transfer. Copy only this package to the server/NAS; the server does not need the unpacked textures or intermediate images. The rendering PC temporarily keeps both individual tiles and the package, plus intermediate files. Whole-world size and duration are not guaranteed.

Downloads and retry

The first render or import downloads a private Python runtime and the rendering engine from pinned upstream URLs. Each file is SHA-256 verified. Failed downloads retry up to three times; use Cancel to stop, then reopen the renderer to resume using completed cached downloads. After successful installation, rendering and importing can run offline. Keep the extracted folder in a writable location and allow around 200 MiB for dependencies in addition to map output. Existing maps are preserved if dependency setup fails.

Import on the Windows server

  1. Keep the existing game server and map running while transferring Map.pzmap. You can use the NAS to transfer it.
  2. Extract/open this portable tool on the server too. It requires an existing PZ LiveMap 0.4.0 or later installation.
  3. Once any local server render has finished or been cancelled, choose Import map on server. Select the package and your existing C:\PZLiveMap installation, then accept the Windows administrator prompt.
  4. The importer checks matching vanilla map headers, validates the package, checks available space and copies tiles to a new job under C:\PZLiveMap\data\render-jobs. An NTFS volume mounted at that folder is supported. No existing render is overwritten.
  5. Only after all tiles copy successfully does it restart the LiveMap website service with the imported map. The game server keeps running. If activation fails, the previous map configuration is restored. Refresh the browser when import finishes.

If the package is on the destination disk, allow space for both the package and extracted tiles, plus at least 5 GiB of headroom. Importing directly from a NAS avoids that local package copy. The website serves the imported local files, so it does not need continuing NAS access. Cancelled/failed jobs are kept for diagnosis; delete only the incomplete job after its worker has stopped.

What the terrain represents

The renderer reads installed vanilla map geometry and textures. It does not reproduce live save construction, destruction or server-generated changes. Selecting basement levels renders geometry present in those source assets; it does not guarantee every dynamically generated basement in your save appears. Player tracking continues through the existing server telemetry agent.