Project Zomboid B42 Jawbone: From Skull Smash to War Axe Project Zomboid B42 Jawbone Skull → smash → jawbones → War Axe / Club / Morningstar planner (Build 42). Search Clear Jawbone Weapon Planner Copy Reset Based on the note’s loop: Smash Cow/Bull Skull yields Jawbone x2 per skull. Jawbone War Axe Jawbone Club Jawbone Morningstar Raw jawbones to keep Quick-Start Checklist Reset Table of Contents View Options Show citation markers Show images # Project Zomboid B42 Jawbone: Get It Fast, Then Build a War Axe That Actually Holds Up Jawbone in **project zomboid b42 jawbone** searches is the same story every time: you don’t want a lore dump—you want the *loop*. In Build 42 (unstable), jawbones are most reliably a *processing outcome*: kill and slaughter a bull/cow, grab the skull, then use the “Smash Bull Skull / Smash Cow Skull” recipe on a crafting surface to spit out **Jawbone x2** (plus teeth and bone pieces). Once you’ve read **Magazine: The First Weapons**, you can turn that jawbone into a War Axe/Club/Morningstar. Hit [Quick-Start](#quick-start) and you’ll be crafting before your stew finishes simmering. ## Quick-Start 1)  Confirm you’re actually on B42 (unstable/IWBUMS), not stable B41. 2)  Kill a cow/bull (or otherwise acquire a bull/cow skull). 3)  Use your radial/V menu flow to **slaughter** and **butcher** so you can take the skull home. 4)  At a **crafting surface**, use a **hammer** and the recipe **Smash Cow Skull** or **Smash Bull Skull**. 5)  Loot the results: **Jawbone x2**, plus **Animal Teeth x2** and **Bone Pieces x2**. 6)  Read **Magazine: The First Weapons**. 7)  Craft the weapon you actually want: - **Jawbone War Axe** (branch + leather strips) - **Jawbone Club** (sturdy stick + leather strips) - **Jawbone Morningstar** (sturdy stick + leather strips + wire) ```text INFO CARD — The “One-Skull” Shopping List Must-have: - Hammer - Crafting surface (anything that counts) - Strength 3 (for skull-smashing recipes) Nice-to-have: - A safe butcher spot (barn/garage) so you’re not doing anatomy in the street - Magazine: The First Weapons (for crafting unlocks) ``` ## Are You on the Right Version? Build 42 is still the unstable branch; if you’re on stable B41 you can spend a whole weekend looking for systems that simply aren’t there. As a quick sanity check, the Build 42 page tracks stable vs unstable version numbers and the unstable release window. ## What a Jawbone Is (In-Game) and Why You Care A jawbone is both: -  A usable bonk-stick in a pinch (yes, you can swing it) -  A key ingredient for the *jawbone weapon line* (war axe, club, morningstar) If you’re playing B42 the “crafting era” way—less looting miracles, more turning the environment into tools—jawbone weapons are the kind of ugly, practical gear that keeps you alive when the good stuff breaks and the stores are already picked clean. Quick stats (from the item definition): | Item | Type | Weight | Max Condition | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Jawbone | Weapon | 1.5 | 5 | Also used as a crafting ingredient in jawbone weapons | | Jawbone War Axe | Weapon (Axe) | 2 | 10 | Crafted; higher condition cap than raw jawbone | ## The Reliable Jawbone Loop: Carcass → Skull → Smash → Craft ### Step 1: Get a Bull/Cow Skull (Without Turning It Into a Disaster) The jawbone recipes that matter are tied to **bull** and **cow** skull processing, so treat the animal kill like you’re trying to bring home a *specific component*. Practical tips: - Do your kill somewhere you can safely work: a fenced yard, a barn, or anywhere you can control sightlines. - Don’t improvise your “butchery” in the open. Zombies love long animations. - If your hunting suddenly feels worse than it did last week, remember: B42 unstable patching has changed animal behaviors over time (including “animals fleeing when shot”). ### Step 2: Slaughter/Butcher and Take the Skull Players keep getting stuck here because they *kill the animal* and then assume the game will auto-spawn the parts. In B42, you generally need to go through the slaughter/butchery flow (often via the radial/V menu) to actually harvest usable bits. If you’re not getting any parts: - Double-check you’re interacting with the corpse correctly (different contexts can show different options). - Try moving the carcass to a safer tile first—some interactions are easier when you’re not being path-blocked by fences, doors, or a pile of your own dropped gear. (Yes, this sounds obvious. So is dying because you tried to do surgery while a zombie choir is beating on the garage door.) ### Step 3: Smash the Skull at a Crafting Surface This is the money step. The PZwiki jawbone page documents both skull-smashing recipes: - **Smash Bull Skull** - **Smash Cow Skull** Both recipes list: - Requirement: **Crafting surface** - Requirement: **Strength 3** - Tool: **Hammer** - Result: **Bone Pieces x2**, **Jawbone x2**, **Animal Teeth x2** That “Jawbone x2” is why this method beats hoping for lucky loot spawns. ## Unlocking the Jawbone Weapon Recipes (The Magazine That Matters) If you’re staring at a crafting menu wondering why everyone online has a bone axe and you’ve got… a sad mouth-bone, you’re probably missing the unlock. **Magazine: The First Weapons** lists the jawbone crafting set, including: - Sharpen Jawbone - Make Jawbone Axe - Make Jawbone Club - Make Jawbone Morningstar So if you want the jawbone line consistently, your “real” objective is: *find that magazine once*, then you can convert future skulls into weapons as needed. ## Crafting Recipes: War Axe, Club, Morningstar Here are the core recipes as listed on their respective item pages. | Craft | Ingredients | Tools | Result | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Make Jawbone Axe | Jawbone x1, Tree Branch x1, Leather Strips x2 | SharpKnife, Meat Cleaver (kept) | Jawbone War Axe | | Make Jawbone Club | Jawbone x1, Sturdy Stick x1, Leather Strips x2 | SharpKnife, Meat Cleaver (kept) | Jawbone Club | | Make Jawbone Morningstar | Jawbone x1, Sturdy Stick x1, Leather Strips x2, Wire x2 | SharpKnife, Meat Cleaver (kept) | Jawbone Morningstar | ```text RECIPE CARD — Jawbone War Axe Ingredients: - Jawbone x1 - Tree Branch x1 - Leather Strips x2 Tools: - SharpKnife - Meat Cleaver (kept) Why you craft it: - Axe category weapon with a higher condition cap than the raw jawbone. ``` ```text RECIPE CARD — Jawbone Club Ingredients: - Jawbone x1 - Sturdy Stick x1 - Leather Strips x2 Tools: - SharpKnife - Meat Cleaver (kept) Why you craft it: - A more “stick-with-teeth” option when you don’t want axe constraints. ``` ```text RECIPE CARD — Jawbone Morningstar Ingredients: - Jawbone x1 - Sturdy Stick x1 - Leather Strips x2 - Wire x2 Tools: - SharpKnife - Meat Cleaver (kept) Why you craft it: - Wire adds bite; great when you’ve got scrap wire but no decent factory weapons. ``` ## Keeping Bone Weapons Worth the Effort A crafted jawbone weapon isn’t magic—it’s still apocalypse DIY. The win is that you can *reliably* convert time + common materials into something usable. Practical “make it last” playbook: - Treat these as *work weapons* for clearing small groups and daily chores, not boss-killer relics. - Carry a backup: bone weapons solve scarcity, not overconfidence. - Skill up maintenance naturally by using what you craft; the weapon pages track maintenance/condition behavior in their definitions. If you’re coming from B41 habits (loot a fire axe and call it a day), the B42 jawbone line is more like having a reliable set of tires: not flashy, but the run ends when you don’t have them. ## Troubleshooting: Why This Isn’t Working ### “I killed the animal but got no skull / no parts” - Make sure you’re doing the actual slaughter/butchery interaction (often radial/V menu driven). - Move the corpse to a clean, accessible tile and try again. ### “I don’t see Smash Cow/Bull Skull” - You may be missing a valid **crafting surface**. - You may be short on the **hammer** requirement. - You may not meet the **Strength 3** requirement. ### “I have jawbones but can’t craft the weapons” - Find and read **Magazine: The First Weapons**. - Confirm you have the required tools (SharpKnife + Meat Cleaver) and ingredients. ### “B42 multiplayer is stuttery / laggy when we craft or open storage” Start with patch-level fixes and dev notes (42.13/42.13.1 era), then reduce mods, then add back only what you can prove is safe. If you’re troubleshooting a specific stutter scenario, you’ll also see community tools like “B42 Thread Consolidation Fix” recommended—use them carefully and keep your mod list lean while you test. ## Patch Notes That Matter for Jawbone Runs (The Short Version) - Animal behavior has changed during B42 unstable; hunting methods can feel different after updates (including animals fleeing when shot). - B42 multiplayer landed as part of the 42.13 era, with hotfixes following shortly after—so “it worked last session” can legitimately mean “different build.” ## FAQ ### Do jawbones only come from cows and bulls? The jawbone page documents skull-smashing recipes specifically for bull/cow skulls that yield jawbones, so those are the reliable targets when you want this item on purpose. ### How many jawbones do I get per skull? The listed skull-smashing results show **Jawbone x2** per bull/cow skull. ### What’s the single best first craft? If you want one “I can clear zombies with this” option, the **Jawbone War Axe** is the cleanest conversion from one jawbone + branch + leather strips, assuming you’ve got the tools. ### Why does everyone keep mentioning a meat cleaver? The jawbone weapon recipes list **Meat Cleaver** as a required tool (kept), alongside a SharpKnife. ### I’m on B41 and none of this exists—am I missing something? You’re probably on the stable branch. Double-check your version/branch and only expect these systems on Build 42 unstable. When you finally get this loop down, it feels like you’ve stopped “playing the loot lottery” and started running a little post-apocalypse workshop—skulls on the bench, strips drying on the line, wire in a crate, and an axe that exists because you made it exist. **Action Steps Recap:** Get a bull/cow skull, smash it on a crafting surface for jawbones, read The First Weapons, craft the jawbone weapon you need, and keep your build/mods consistent. ## 7) Patch-History (Collapsible) <details> <summary>Build 42 milestones that affect jawbone hunting/crafting expectations</summary> | Date | Change Note | Impact on early-game priorities | | --- | --- | --- | | 2024-12-18 | Build 42 unstable becomes broadly playable/public-facing in the community conversation | Start thinking “crafting loops” and long-term self-sufficiency earlier | | 2025-03-04 | 42.4.0 unstable patch notes (major unstable iteration point) | Expect crafting/animals to be in flux; re-check recipes when returning to a save | | 2025-05-20 | 42.8.0 patch notes include wild animal behavior changes (incl. fleeing when shot) | Hunting for skulls can become more about control than raw damage | | 2025-12-11 | “Unstable 42 MP Released” (42.13 era) | MP groups can standardize the jawbone loop, but patch mismatches become a new enemy | | 2025-12-18 | 42.13.1 hotfix | Small fixes can change day-to-day stability; keep everyone on the same beta build | </details> Related Articles Map Update Log Tools Zomboid Water Woes: Boil Without the Drama Zomboid Respawn Nightmares? 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