# 7 Days to Die "V2.5 Survival Revival" Stable is available now
- Product: 7 Days to Die (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/7-days-to-die)
- Vendor: The Fun Pimps
- Date: 2025-12-18
- Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/251570/view/517481543704249320
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/7-days-to-die/releases/2025-12-18-v2.5-survival-revival-stable-is-available-now
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Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'.
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- **added** — Empty jars that can be filled with murky water from natural sources and boiled for drinking
- **added** — Jar Refund option allowing 0-100% chance to refund empty jars after consumption
- **added** — Vehicle storage mods that increase any vehicle's storage capacity by one row (10 slots), with up to two mods installable per vehicle
- **added** — The Rancher zombie replacing the Plague Spitter with a lore-friendly desert appearance
- **added** — The Chuck zombie replacing the Frost Claw with a lore-friendly snowy mountains appearance
- **added** — New smell system where carrying 5 or more raw meat creates a detectable smell
- **added** — Apiary Station for producing honey
- **added** — Honey-inspired recipes
- **added** — Third Person Camera support that is toggleable in-game
- **added** — New character window rendering
- **added** — New food and water bars with stats
- **added** — New Trader Jen model
- **added** — New free cosmetic skins and DLC
- **added** — CameraRestrictionMode server config setting to control first or third person camera restriction
- **added** — AISmellMode server config setting to control zombie smell sensitivity from 0-5
- **changed** — Each vehicle now supports one additional storage column by default
- **changed** — Dew collector now requires Workstation Crafting level 16 and is crafted on the workbench with additional resources
- **changed** — Default jar recipe requires 31 sand and 6 clay, reduced to 25 sand and 5 clay with Advanced Engineering 5/5
- **changed** — Updated biome hazards, storms, temperature, and protective clothing mechanics
- **changed** — Improved storm rendering for distant storms
- **changed** — Turret ammo improvements
- **changed** — Quest improvements
- **changed** — Default controller layout adjusted to accommodate new and reworked controller inputs
Hello Survivors!
The V2.5 Survival Revival Stable Update is out on all platforms!
Although the build is compatible with 2.X save games we highly recommend starting a new game for the best experience. If you continue an old save game **we recommend turning on storms** as they are much improved.
We did have issues where some people experienced cleansed crafting queues in workstations, so we do **heavily encourage players** to clear their crafting queues before updating.
**New entries to the serverconfig.xml that should be added: **
This feature-rich update focuses on community feedback and the return of some long awaited features. The update includes:
- Improved Water Survival with Empty Jars
- Vehicle storage improvements and mods
- The new Lore Friendly Rancher Zombie (Replaces the Plague Spitter)
- The new Lore Friendly Chuck Zombie (Replaces the Frost Claw)
- A brand a new Smell System with some great surprises
- Distant storm rendering
- Updated Biome Hazards, Storms, Temperature & Protective Clothing
- A new Apiary Station to produce Honey
- New Honey inspired recipes
- Third Person Camera support (Toggleable In-Game)
- Turret Ammo Improvements
- Quest Improvements
- A new character window rendering
- New Free Cosmetic Skins & DLC
- New Trader Jen Model
- New Food and Water Bars with Stats
- New Server Config Settings
**Warning to players before upgrading to V2.5**
**
**_With changes made to the workstation progression, if a player is in the middle of crafting a workbench, the update may remove that recipe unlock and clear the crafting queue. This will NOT refund the crafting ingredients back to the player. Be sure to clear all crafting queues before updating to V2.5_.
_Please note that we have adjusted the default controller layout to accommodate some new and reworked controller inputs. The first time starting the game after updating all input bindings will be reset to their new defaults._
_Although the build is compatible with 2.X save games we highly recommend starting a new game for the best experience. If you continue an old save game we recommend turning on storms as they are much improved._
**2.5 Survival Revival Release Notes**
**Improved Water Survival (Empty Jars)**
We know this is a topic of great interest to the community, and we have taken extra care to listen and read hundreds of posts and polls. What stood out the most is that people liked the old empty jar system for the immersive feeling of rummaging through loot to find an empty jar, locating a water source, filling the jar, and boiling it to drink it safely.
With that in mind, we combined the best of the old and new systems and made it balanced. Here’s how it works:
- In the early game, you scavenge for jars and fill them with murky water from natural lakes, rivers and ditches, or from other man-made bodies of water. Murky water is boiled for use as normal. Toilets, sinks, and other water fixtures are all dried up.
- Early to mid-game, you can choose to craft dew collectors or continue only to use the jars that you find.
- To balance gameplay, jars are one-time use, not refunded by default _(See Jar Refund Options Below)_. The dew collector unlocks at Workstation Crafting level 16, is now crafted on the workbench, and additional resources are required for crafting. Murky water and other drinks still have a chance to be found in loot.
- Jars can be crafted once you have a forge and a crucible.
- With no perks, the recipe will be 31 sand and 6 clay
- With Advanced Engineering 5/5, the re
_[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/251570/view/517481543704249320]_