Bitten? Project Zomboid Infection Timeline (Build 42.19)
Build 42.19 · Default death window is random 2–3 days · No fixed multi-hour symptom stage chart · Apocalypse Reanimate 0–1 minutes
Quick answers
Default wound odds
- Bite: 100% Knox (blocked only by Transmission = None)
- Laceration / cut: ~25%
- Scratch: ~7%
Default death window
Infection Mortality = 2–3 Days. Duration is random inside that band, then scaled by traits.
After death
Apocalypse Reanimate Time = 0–1 Minutes. Your corpse can rise very quickly by default.
Wound odds and when the clock starts
Knox chance is rolled when the wound is applied. The game does not print “you have the Knox virus” on the Health panel. Default Transmission is Blood and Saliva. Full Transmission modes and “turn infection off” steps are covered in Bitten: odds and sandbox and How to turn off infection.
| Wound | Default Knox chance | Timeline note |
|---|---|---|
| Scratch | ~7% | Clock starts only if the roll hits. Many “just a scratch” deaths come from this roll. |
| Laceration / cut | ~25% | Same roll model with a higher chance. |
| Bite | 100% | Timer starts immediately under default Transmission. Only Transmission = None blocks bite infection. |
Death timer, traits, and reanimation
Once true Knox infection is set, the game picks a mortality duration from sandbox Infection Mortality. Apocalypse defaults to 2–3 Days: a random length inside that multi-day band, not a fixed “exactly 48 hours” or “exactly 72 hours” script.
Trait modifiers
- Resilient (+4): less prone to disease; slower rate of zombification. Roughly multiplies the mortality window by 1.25.
- Prone to Illness (−4): more prone to disease; faster rate of zombification. Roughly multiplies the window by 0.75.
- The two traits are mutually exclusive. Other conditions (food, corpses, ordinary illness) can still make you feel sick without being Knox.
| Setup (default Mortality 2–3 Days) | Rough window after infection | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| No Resilient / Prone to Illness | ~2–3 days (random in band) | Standard Apocalypse expectation. |
| Resilient (×1.25) | Longer than the base roll | More time to stash gear and settle succession—not a cure. |
| Prone to Illness (×0.75) | Shorter than the base roll | Plan an earlier end-of-life checklist. |
What you can observe
Older articles freeze infection into fake hour buckets such as “6–12 h Queasy → 12–24 h Nauseous → 24–48 h Fever.” There is no fixed multi-hour stage chart for those moodles. What you can rely on is the total mortality window plus a relative worsening of sickness as the timer runs down.
Useful player cues
- Sickness moodles that keep escalating after a zombie wound, with no better explanation.
- Progressive decline that medical care, food quality, and rest do not reverse for the virus itself.
- A confirmed bite under default Transmission—you can plan without waiting for moodles.
Do not treat as Knox alone
- Rotten or undercooked food, dirty water, and other ordinary illness.
- Corpse sickness / poor hygiene around bodies.
- Ordinary wound infection (the Health panel “Infected” flag).
- Cold, heat, stress, and other moodles that can stack with real infection.
Using the remaining days
When infection is certain (or highly likely), treat the character as terminal under default rules and spend the window on succession—not on searching for a vanilla cure.
Succession
- Stash weapons, tools, keys, and generators where the next spawn can reach them.
- Park vehicles with gas and a clear exit path.
- Write map marks or notes if you care about continuity between characters.
Containment and risk
- Prefer dying away from the main base if you do not want a fresh zombie inside it.
- You can still kite a horde away as a last service for the next run.
- Do not burn rare medical stock trying to “clear” a bite in vanilla.
Reducing infection risk
Clothing and layers
Thick jackets, pants, gloves, and boots reduce how often zombie hits become open wounds. Build 42 crafting and tailoring help you reinforce gear over time—they do not change the virus once infection is already set.
Combat spacing
Fences, windows, and elevation can reduce contact, but they are not absolute safety. Zombies can still grab, vault, or hit you if positioning fails. Treat barriers as risk reduction, not invulnerability.
Sandbox tuning
Transmission → Saliva Only keeps bite risk while removing scratch/laceration Knox rolls. Transmission → None stops new Knox from attacks. Mortality → Never converts new infection into a non-lethal path (sandbox rule, not a medical cure).
Sandbox: Mortality and Reanimate (Build 42.19)
UI path: Custom Sandbox → Zombie Lore → Infection Mortality and Reanimate Time. Apocalypse defaults: Transmission = Blood and Saliva, Infection Mortality = 2–3 Days, Reanimate Time = 0–1 Minutes.
Infection Mortality
| UI label | Role for the timeline |
|---|---|
| Instant | No practical living window after infection. |
| 0–30 Seconds | Near-combat death after infection lands. |
| 0–1 Minutes | Very short timer—not the multi-day default. |
| 0–12 Hours | Same-day window (there is no separate “0–24 Hours” row). |
| 2–3 Days | Apocalypse default. Random multi-day band; traits scale it. |
| 1–2 Weeks | Long window as a single option (not separate 1 Week / 2 Weeks rows). |
| Never | New infection becomes non-lethal at apply time so the virus timer does not kill. |
Reanimate Time
| UI label | Role after death |
|---|---|
| Instant | Corpse rises immediately. |
| 0–30 Seconds | Very fast rise. |
| 0–1 Minutes | Apocalypse default—plan base exits before you collapse. |
| 0–12 Hours | Longer delay before the corpse becomes a threat. |
| 2–3 Days | Multi-day delay. |
| 1–2 Weeks | Very long delay before reanimation. |
Build 41 vs Build 42
- Default player-facing rule is the same for planning: bite risk is lethal under default Transmission, mortality is a multi-day sandbox band, and vanilla has no Knox cure item.
- Build 42 expands crafting, farming, animals, clothing, and long-term systems. Those tools help you avoid wounds and manage ordinary injuries—they do not add a stock antidote for the virus timer.
- After major updates, re-check the English sandbox labels under Zombie Lore (Infection Mortality Instant through Never; Reanimate Instant through 1–2 Weeks).
- Speculation about future NPC doctors or unconfirmed patch timelines is omitted. When new content ships, re-verify on the live build.
Related guides
Bottom line for Build 42.19: treat a default bite as a random 2–3 day death sentence (traits stretch or shorten it), expect reanimation in about 0–1 minutes by default, use moodles only as relative cues, and spend the window on succession—not on a vanilla cure that does not exist.
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