Bitten in Zomboid? Your 3-Day Zombie Countdown (B41/B42)

Bitten and Panicking? How Long Until You Turn in Project Zomboid (B41 vs B42)

If you get bitten in Project Zomboid, you've got around 2–3 in-game days before the Knox Infection kills you and your character turns. In both Build 41 and Build 42, the timeline hasn't changed – on default settings, expect roughly 48–72 hours from infection to death. For comprehensive survival strategies and mod options, check our complete bite survival guide.

Quick Facts

Bites = Death: A zombie bite has a 100% chance to give you the Knox Infection. Sorry – there's no surviving a bite in vanilla gameplay.
Scratches/Lacerations = Maybe: Scratches carry ~7% chance of infection; lacerations ~25%. You won't know immediately if you got unlucky.
Death Timeline: Once infected, your character will die in ~2 days (± some hours). You'll see symptoms within a day and get progressively worse.
No Cure: There is no cure in the base game – death is inevitable (barring amputation mods or sandbox tweaks).

⏱️ Infection Timeline Breakdown (Build 41 vs Build 42)

How long do you have to live after a zombie bites or infects you? In both B41 and B42, the answer is effectively the same. The Knox Infection will kill an infected survivor in about 2–3 days on default settings.

Day 0 (Injury Occurs)

You got bitten (or scratched/lacerated) by a zombie. If it was a bite, infection is 100% certain. For a scratch/laceration, the clock only starts if the virus was transmitted. At this moment, you feel fine except for the normal pain of the wound.

12h

First 6–12 Hours

In-game, a few hours after the attack, you'll start to see the first warning sign: the Queasy moodle. Your character "feels a little sick." If you have no other reason to be queasy, this is a strong indicator that the zombie infection has taken hold.

24h

Hour 12–24 (Next Day)

The sickness escalates. Queasy turns to Nauseous, then Sick. Your character's health starts to decline, no matter what you do. You'll also become Anxious (knowing something is very wrong, lore-wise).

48h

Hour 24–48 (Day 2)

Now the Fever hits. Once you see the Fever moodle, it's basically endgame. Your character is delirious, severely weakened, and losing health rapidly. By the end of Day 2, most infected characters collapse and die.

💀

Death & Reanimation

Death comes quietly, often during sleep or as you're resting, around the ~48-hour mark (post-infection). Within moments (by default), your character's body reanimates as a zombie.

Bottom Line: On a standard playthrough, two days is the rule of thumb. Build 42 has not changed the speed of the virus, so all your Build 41 knowledge carries over.

🩸 Wound Types & Infection Chances

Bite

100%

A zombie bite means guaranteed infection. There is no chance of survival in vanilla gameplay. Plan your final days.

Laceration

25%

A deeper wound with a 1-in-4 chance of transmitting the Knox Infection. Treat it immediately and watch for symptoms.

Scratch

The most common zombie injury, with a relatively low chance of infection. Still, don't get complacent - bad luck happens!

Important Note

The "Infected" status on a wound in the health panel is not the zombie virus! It's just a regular wound infection (bacterial) that can be treated with disinfectant. The Knox Infection has no direct indicator until symptoms begin.

🔍 How to Know If You're Infected

One agonizing aspect of Project Zomboid is not knowing for sure if that last zombie scratch spelled your doom. The game is deliberately subtle about it – there's no big pop-up that says "You have the zombie virus". But there are definite signs to watch for:

Watch Your Moodles (Status Icons)

The progression of sickness moodles is your best indicator of Knox Infection:

😕

Queasy

First warning sign
6-12 hours after infection

🤢

Nauseous

Second stage
Getting worse

🤮

Sick

Third stage
Severe symptoms

🥵

Fever

Final stage
Near death

If you see this progression after a zombie attack with no other cause (like food poisoning), you likely have the Knox Infection. The sickness will steadily worsen, unlike treatable illnesses which can improve with rest and medication.

Cross-Check These Factors:

Wound Type: Bites are 100% infectious, scratches 7%, lacerations 25%.
Time Since Injury: Knox Infection symptoms typically appear within 6-12 hours of being infected.
Other Causes: Eliminate other causes of queasiness (food poisoning, corpse sickness, etc.).
Progression: Knox Infection always gets worse, never better, no matter what you do.

Infection Detection Tools

For those who hate the uncertainty, the "Infection Scanner" mod adds a device that can instantly confirm if you have the Knox virus. It's inspired by The Last of Us and can be used on yourself or others in multiplayer.

📱

Infection Scanner Device Mod

📝 What to Do if You're Bitten

So you've been bitten, and the clock's ticking. There's no curing it – but "game over" can be on your terms. Instead of quitting immediately, consider making the most of your character's final day or two:

📦

Stash Your Gear

Gather your best weapons, tools, and food and stash them in a safe, memorable spot. Future you (your next character) will greatly appreciate inheriting that supply cache.

📡

Lure Zombies Away

Use your dying character as a decoy. Lead a big horde far from your base or from any place you want to loot later. This is a last heroic act – make it count!

🗺️

Scout & Explore

Got places you've been too cautious to check out? Now's the time. Explore new areas and uncover map knowledge that will benefit your next run.

💣

Go Out in Style

Drink a bottle of whiskey (for courage) and charge into a zombie mob with a molotov – you'll blaze out, literally. Make your finale memorable!

🆚 Build 41 vs Build 42 – Did Infection Mechanics Change?

TL;DR: No. The Knox Infection mechanics remain unchanged between Build 41 and 42.

If you're a returning survivor coming to Build 42, you might wonder if the devs tweaked the infection system. The short answer is no – nothing fundamentally changed with zombie infection in Build 42 compared to Build 41.

What Stayed the Same

Bite infection rate still 100%
Scratch infection rate still ~7%
Laceration infection rate still ~25%
Time until death still ~2-3 days
No cure in vanilla gameplay
Symptom progression (Queasy → Fever)

What's New in B42

More crafting options for protective gear
Leather armor from hunting (better protection)
New disease mechanics (unrelated to zombie virus)
Expanded medical system for other illnesses
Animal husbandry (no zombie animals though)
New food sources (more cooking options)

Build 42's main focus was crafting and animals, but it has laid groundwork for more complex hygiene and disease mechanics. While Knox virus infection mechanics are unchanged, B42 gives players more tools to avoid getting infected in the first place (better armor, more combat options).

🛡️ Preventing Infection

The best way to deal with zombification is not getting infected at all. Here's how to minimize your risk:

Dress for Success

Prioritize protective clothing: leather jackets, police gear, military clothing, or firefighter uniforms provide excellent bite/scratch protection. In B42, craft reinforced armor from animal hides.

👕

Smart Combat

Avoid fighting multiple zombies at once. Use fences and windows as barriers. Keep distance when possible. Never fight when exhausted or panicked. Watch your back!

🗡️

Sandbox Settings

For a less punishing experience, consider setting Transmission to "Saliva Only" (bites only) in the sandbox settings. This eliminates the random death from scratches.

⚙️

📋 Patch History

Click to Expand Patch History

▼

Date (Build)	Change Note & Context	Impact on Gameplay
Dec 20, 2021 (Build 41 Stable)	Major "Animations Overhaul" update. Confirmed that zombie bites are intended 100% fatal (devs removed any old bugs allowing survival).	Avoiding bites became paramount. Early game shifted to stealth and one-on-one fights – players learned that a single bite means game over.
Jan 13, 2022 (Build 41.5 Patch)	Fixed an old bug where dying before infection fully set in could prevent reanimation. In other words, self-harm or other death no longer cheats the system.	No easy way out. Early-game infected players could no longer drink bleach or leap off a building to "escape" zombification.
Apr 14, 2022 (Build 41.69)	Disinfectant exploit fixed: Applying disinfectant to a wound that wasn't infected no longer grants immunity from Knox infection for that wound.	First Aid is about comfort, not cure. It ended a false early-game strategy of over-disinfecting every scratch to avoid zombification.
Dec 18, 2024 (Build 42 Unstable)	Build 42 released to Unstable branch, focusing on crafting, animals, and balance. No direct changes to Knox infection behavior. Added many craftable items and livestock farming.	More tools, same threats. Early-game priorities broadened – players can pursue farming and crafting sooner – but in terms of infection, the strategy remains: don't get bit.

🏁 Conclusion

In Project Zomboid, death by infection is both a mechanic and a storytelling device. It's the game's way of saying "This is how you died" – but it's up to you to decide how you live until then. Think of the Knox Infection like a cruel teacher: it punishes mistakes without mercy, yet pushes you to improve each run.

Remember, knowledge is your best weapon. Now you know exactly how long you've got when the worst happens, what signs to watch for, and that Builds 41 and 42 won't throw any curveballs in this department.

As a final action step: plan ahead. Assume every encounter with a zombie could be your last and have a contingency. If you set up safety nets (stashes, escape routes, understanding infection mechanics as you do now), you turn a lethal surprise into a manageable setback.