7 Days to Die – Best Minor Mods to Spice Up Your Game

7 Days to Die – Best Minor Mods to Spice Up Your Game

7 Days to Die is a pretty great game on its own but experiencing it in vanilla is only half the fun. Once you’ve spent a fair bit of time taking down zombie hordes and building up bases, you start to wonder what other potential the game hides beneath the surface.

This is where the modding scene comes into play. Dedicated 7D2D fans who have a knack for building content for the game are the creative backbone of the community. From small pieces of content, like extra vehicles and weapons, to entire overhauls, the 7D2D modding space is very rich.

There’s so much stuff to try out that it may be overwhelming if you’re new to the idea of customizing your game. Fear not as we have listed below four great 7 Days to Die mods that’ll definitely spice up your game without being too intimidating as starter mods.

But, first things first.

Why Use Mods in 7 Days to Die?

This is a pretty good question to ask. Modding is common in today’s gaming but it’s not quite a mainstream practice. Players who really enjoy games like Skyrim and Fallout may add mods to completely change their experience. The reason they do this is that they have a deep-seated love for their respective games and can’t see themselves playing something else.

With 7 Days to Die modding is a big part of the game’s overall experience. To this day, the game remains in a sort of pre-release state. It’s constantly being updated and developed which is why you see so many significant updates.

This leaves a lot of room for modders to make significant additions to the game, molding and shaping it in ways that may not be possible with other games. You’ll still get a lot out of playing vanilla 7D2D. But mods will give your experience a whole other dimension while also bringing you closer to the community.

So, now that we’ve convinced you to dive into the world of modding, let’s check out four mods that’ll change your 7D2D life.

Bdubyah’s Vehicles All in One

7 Days to Die already has a few vehicles you can craft and ride, however, there aren’t that many. This is a bit of a missed opportunity given the game’s scope and setting. A post-apocalyptic world is a perfect environment to have all kinds of different vehicles. Plus, it’s fun to run over hordes of zombies.

Enter Bdubyah, a modder who’s made many vehicle mods over the years. From land vehicles, such as cars and trucks, to flying machines like helicopters and planes, this modder has given the community a fair bit of vehicular fun. And you can add it all in one go with this All in One pack.

You can cruise the wasteland in a variety of cars and motorbikes. Take on more treacherous terrain with trucks, buggies, and military vehicles. Or ignore all of that and take to the skies in your very own chopper and crop-dusting plane.

While these vehicles don’t have much functionality beyond taking you from point A to point B and back, it’s still a lot of fun riding around in a set of wheels of your choosing. An added bonus is that it’ll make some of the fetch quests in the game that much more bearable as you’ll be able to hit up other locations in record time.

With over 26 vehicles, some with different color variations, this pack will make traveling the map a more pleasurable experience. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of what’s included:

• Box Truck
• BRDM-2
• Buggy
• Charger
• Cruiser
• Dirt Bike
• Duster
• GNX
• Golf Cart
• Hot Rods
• Humvee
• Junker
• LMTV
• Marauder
• MD-500
• MRAP
• Nova
• Pickup
• Rat
• Semi
• SHERP
• Stallion
• UAZ 452
• UH-60
• Willy Jeep
• Work Truck

SMXhud & SMXui

Let’s not beat around the bush. The UI of 7 Days to Die is lacking somewhat in flair and style. For some, it adds to the game’s overall grungy, rustic vibe. However, after spending hundreds of hours killing zombies, fending off hordes, crafting your tools for survival, and generally enjoying the nearly dead world around you, the UI, understandably, begins to grate at you.

SMXhud and its counterpart SMXui can change all of that. Combined together, they replace the simplistic menus, in-game HUD, interfaces, and navigation elements with a stylized yet clean version that elevates the game experience.

The level of detail the modders have gone into is quite impressive. Once you install both these mods, you’ll feel like you’re navigating a whole new game. What’s even more impressive is that this new UI doesn’t detract from 7D2D’s general vibe. The grungy accents and color choices fit the game perfectly. Another added benefit is that all of the text and menu elements look and feel more comfortable and pleasant to engage with.

On top of all this, these mods add some new features that enhance the experience of the game and add some much-welcome quality of life improvements. For example, you can mouse over your hunger and thirst labels to get a quick indication of your deficiency levels.

SMX also has a few optional modlets that add even more elements to 7 Day to Die that are purely for extra QoL. One of the modules adds a third forge slot to the game. Another adds health bars to your targets so you’re always aware of your enemies’ status.

With the release of A20, SMXhud and SMXui have been updated to run on it accordingly. However, with all the various improvements the modders have made, it’s no longer possible to run them with EAC on. So, make sure you turn EAC off before installing these mods.

Cannabis Mod

Modding your 7 Days to Die game isn’t necessarily all about function. Sometimes, it’s just about adding a bit more escapism to the experience. Enter Cannabis Mod, a mod that adds all of the functions and items you need to live the…high life in a post-apocalyptic world.

This mod does exactly what it says on the tin. You can plant, grow, roll and smoke your very own cannabis. Admittedly, this mod requires you to be a bit on the looser side of life. But, then again, isn’t that why we play video games?

First things first, the mod adds Cannabis Seeds to the game, which you can gather out in the wild. Once you have some, it’s time to plant them and wait patiently until the rewards are ready to be reaped.

After fully grown, you can gather your cannabis crops and smoke them in one of the two ways. You can roll them into joints which become an item in your inventory that you can use. There’s also the option to craft a bong which can then pack with your freshly picked cannabis. Regardless of which option you choose – why not try both! – you can smoke your little bundles of joy while you kick back from all the intense action of fending off hordes of zombies.

Contrary to popular belief, though, smoking cannabis in 7 Days to Die doesn’t come with some benefits. After smoking your joint or bong, your character will get some nice buffs that’ll surely come in handy. You’ll get a big of damage protection as well as some fortitude for a few minutes. There’s also a slight healing effect that’s similar to the one you get from weak painkillers. The downside is you lose some perception and some of your stamina. Smoking from the bong will, of course, have a stronger effect on both the positive and negative effects.

Snufkin Weapons Xpansion

7 Days to Die is all about the zombie-killing, post-apocalyptic lifestyle. That includes having access to lots of weapons and guns. While the vanilla game itself has a fairly sizeable arsenal, it may not quite cut the mustard for you after multiple playthroughs.

If you’re starting to feel that weapons are getting samey, you need Snufkin’s Weapons Xpansion in your 7D2D life. This mod is based on a project by the same modder called Server Side Weapons. The idea is to introduce more weapons to the game through XML without adding more resources to the game.

This means that the new weapons can’t be grafted. Instead, you use an elaborate ticket and lootbox system to pull these weapons into the world. These tickets can be found on enemy bodies and can be upgraded to higher quality ones which lead to lootboxes with better weapons.

What this leads to is a huge list of weapons that can be added to 7D2D, ranging from purely functional to guns with added properties to downright wacky options. Assault rifles not tossing enough bullets for your liking? Give the minigun a go. Need something a bit more traditional? Try the polearm for some melee combat. And for those who don’t like to beat around the bush, there’s Thor Hammer, a massive sledgehammer that delivers an electric jolt on hit and can even blast electricity in an area.

Here’s a full list of the weapons you can get with this mod pack:

• Klak Attack Axe
• Glass Baseball Bat
• Star Baseball Bat
• Knife Baseball Bat
• Metal Bollard Club
• DCLXVI Zeus
• Arramus Fire
• Dre X3
• oakraven X11
• Black Widow
• Brainsaw
• Hazard Spear
• Gamma Gun
• Newcomen
• Sticky Grenade
• Hyper Blaster
• Vampire Gauntlets
• Stun Grenade
• Turret Auger
• Balrog IX
• Kronos XII
• Vulcan
• Crimson Hunter
• Savery
• PP-19 Bizon
• Polearm
• Quad Shotgun
• Rail Gun
• Thor Hammer
• Crossbow Mag

Can I Use Multiple Mods at the Same Time in 7 Days to Die?

In a lot of cases, you can use more than one mod to transform your experience. The most important aspect to consider is what part of the game each mod handles. If the mod you’re installing simply adds a few more assets, then more than likely it won’t affect other mods.

UI-related mods such as the above-mentioned SMX mods will likely not affect any mods that replace assets and introduce new mechanics and elements to the game. Weapons packs should also not have an issue working alongside a vehicle mod pack.

That all being said, it’s important to check each mod’s documentation for compatibility, both with other mods and with the version of 7 Days to Die you’re running. You’ll also need to check if there are any vanilla features you need to turn off in order for some of your mods to work. For example, the SMX mods won’t work with EAC turned on. If you have any other mods that require EAC, then you’ll need to make a choice.

Of course, you can take everything in stride. Start small by playing with one or two of the above mods and see how it affects your experience. Sometimes, adding too many mods can bog the game down which would put a big ol’ damper on your post-apocalyptic adventures.