Configure Safe Zones in SCUM

Create Safe Zones from the In-Game Panel

Not every corner of your SCUM server needs to be a fight. A safe zone around your base or a trade spot lets players drop their guard for a moment on an island that rarely allows it. In this Nitrado guide, we’ll show you how to configure safe zones in SCUM with the Custom Zones tool, from access setup to layered zone rules.

Give Yourself Access First

Safe zone management lives inside the in-game Server Settings panel, which needs your Steam64 ID in ServerSettingsAdminUsers.ini. Stop your server, open Settings > Config Files in your Nitrado Web Interface, select ServerSettingsAdminUsers.ini, and add your ID on its own line. Save your changes and restart the server. Our guide on how to become admin in SCUM covers this file in more detail.

Open the Custom Zones Tab

1. Join your SCUM server.
2. Press Esc.
3. Select Server Settings.
4. Open the Custom Zones tab.

The panel groups its settings into tabs for General, World, Respawn, Vehicles, Damage, Features, and Custom Zones. Everything zone-related lives in that last tab.

Draw and Configure Your Zone

Zones are drawn straight onto the island map. Add a region, choose a circle or a rectangle, then position and resize it over the area you want to protect. Give the zone a color you’ll recognize on the map at a glance.

Each zone then gets its own rules. For every option, choose Ignore, Allow, or Block to decide what happens inside. The options cover melee, throwing, and explosive damage, puppet and animal damage, damage to bases and vehicles, lockpicking, base building, and fall damage, among others. Press Apply and the zone appears on the map.

Zone changes take effect in real time, with no server restart needed, so you can tune a zone while players are on the island. A remove control in the same tab deletes any zone you no longer need.

Layer Zones with Ignore

Zones can overlap, and that’s where Ignore earns its place. Allow and Block set a rule outright, while Ignore passes that decision down to the zone underneath, or to your server’s default setting when no other zone sits below. Layering makes precise setups possible, like a wide safe zone around a trade hub with a smaller no-build zone at its center.

Ways to Use Custom Zones

• PvE haven: Block combat damage around bases or a trade hub, so an otherwise PvP island keeps a neutral meeting spot.
• No-build zone: Block base building around points of interest, so structures never wall them off.
• Brawling arena: Block projectile and explosive damage while allowing melee, for a fists-first fight club.
• Event grounds: Flip the same rules the other way for explosive-only or projectile-only battles.

Let Skills Grow in Safe Zones

One related server setting is worth checking while you’re at it. By default, players don’t gain skill experience inside safe zones. To change that, stop your server, open Settings > General in your Nitrado Web Interface, and search for Allow Skill Gain In Safe Zones.

Turn the toggle on and save, or edit scum.AllowSkillGainInSafeZones directly in ServerSettings.ini under Settings > Config Files. Either way, restart the server to apply it.

A Safer Corner of the Island

Your SCUM server now has zones where your rules decide the fight, adjustable at any time from inside the game. Add more to cover your base, a trade hub, or an arena, and shape the island your way.