You’re staring at a Tier 5 quest, your shotgun is broken, and you’re out of repair kits. It happens. We’ve all been there, trapped in a Dishong Tower closet with three irradiated ferals pounding on the door. This is usually when players start wondering about a specific 7 days to die item id to just... make the problem go away. Honestly, the game is brutal enough that nobody is going to judge you for spawning in a single jar of honey when you're at 12% infection and the nearest trader is three kilometers away in the Wasteland.
The thing is, "7 Days to Die" doesn't work like Minecraft where you just type "/give stone." It’s a bit more "early access jank" than that, even though we’ve finally hit Version 1.0. The system relies on internal naming conventions found in the game’s XML files. If you want a specific item, you aren't just looking for a number; you're looking for a precise string of text that the game engine recognizes as "this specific object."
The Reality of Using a 7 Days to Die Item ID
Most modern games use integers for IDs. Not this one. In the world of Navezgane, an "ID" is almost always the literal name of the item, usually written in PascalCase or with underscores. For example, if you're looking for a basic wooden club, you aren't looking for "Item 402." You're looking for meleeWeaponClubWood.
It feels clunky at first.
But there is a massive benefit to this system. Since the IDs are based on English words, you can usually guess them if you're stuck. However, guessing only gets you so far when the developers decide that a "Solar Cell" should be internally labeled as solarCell. Wait, that one is actually easy. But then you get to things like "Military Fiber," which the game wants you to call resourceMilitaryFiber.
How to Actually Access the List
You don't need a massive spreadsheet open on a second monitor, though they exist. The most efficient way to find a 7 days to die item id is actually through the Creative Menu.
- Hit F1 to open the command console.
- Type
cmand press Enter. This enables Creative Mode. - Type
dmand press Enter. This enables Debug Menu (optional, but helpful for other tweaks). - Close the console with F1.
- Press U.
That "U" key is the magic button. It opens the Creative Menu, which is basically a searchable database of every single item in the game. When you hover over an item in this menu, the game doesn't always show you the technical ID, but the search bar acts as a bridge. If you can see it there, you can grab it.
But why do people still ask for IDs? Usually, it's for server administration or modding. If you are running a dedicated server and want to give a player a reward—or if you're writing a script to automate shop restocks—you need that raw string.
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Decoding the XML Files
If you're serious about finding every single 7 days to die item id, you have to go to the source. The game's soul is written in XML files located in your installation directory. Specifically, you want to look at items.xml.
You'll find this in: SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\7 Days To Die\Data\Config\items.xml.
Open that file with Notepad++ or any decent text editor. You’ll see thousands of lines. Look for the tags that start with <item name=".... Everything inside those quotes is the official ID. This is where you find the weird stuff. You'll see things like resourcePaper or medicalFirstAidKit. You also find the "hidden" items that aren't meant for players, like the hand assets for zombies or developer-only tools that can delete entire chunks of the map.
Why Version 1.0 Changed Everything
When The Fun Pimps finally moved the game out of Alpha, they cleaned up a lot of the naming conventions. In the Alpha 19 or 20 days, some IDs were incredibly inconsistent. Some used underscores, some didn't. Now, it's much more standardized.
However, this also means that old "ID lists" you find on forums from 2018 are completely useless now. If you try to spawn an item using an outdated ID, the console will just spit back an error saying the "item could not be found." Always check the date of the list you're looking at. If it doesn't mention Version 1.0 or at least Alpha 21, it’s probably junk.
Common IDs You’ll Probably Need
Sometimes you just need the basics to get out of a soft-lock situation. Maybe your drone disappeared into the ground (a classic bug) and you need to replace it. Or maybe you're testing a base build and don't want to spend ten hours mining lead.
- Steel Bricks:
resourceSteelPolish - Mechanical Parts:
resourceMechanicalParts - Duke’s Casino Tokens:
casinoCoin - The 4x4 Truck:
vehicleTruck4x4Placeable - Crucible:
toolCrucible
Notice the vehicleTruck4x4Placeable? That "Placeable" suffix is vital. If you just try to spawn the vehicle itself, the game might get confused because it distinguishes between the item in your inventory and the entity in the world.
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The Creative Menu vs. The "Give" Command
There is a divide in the community about how to use these. Most people just use the Creative Menu because it’s visual. You see the icon, you click it, it’s in your bag.
But if you are a server admin, you use the giveself command.
The syntax is: giveself [item name] [quality].
If you want a Level 6 M60, you’d type giveself gunMachineGunM60 6. If you forget the "6," the game usually defaults to the lowest quality or a standard version of the item. This is where knowing the 7 days to die item id becomes a superpower. You can skip the clicking and just blast through commands.
A Note on Modded Items
If you are playing Darkness Falls, Ravenhearst, or the Undead Legacy overhaul, none of the vanilla ID lists will help you with the new content. Modders add their own XML files. To find those IDs, you’ll need to look in the Mods folder of your game directory and find the specific items.xml provided by the mod author.
Usually, modders prefix their items to avoid conflicts. In Darkness Falls, you might see IDs starting with DF. It makes the list longer, but it's way easier to search.
Dealing With Quality and Durability
One thing that trips people up when using a 7 days to die item id is the quality system. In the current build, quality ranges from 1 to 6. You cannot "spawn" a Level 7 item because it doesn't exist in the base game code.
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Also, items spawned via the console or creative menu come with full durability. If you're trying to test how many hits a block can take, spawning it in is great. But if you're trying to simulate a real survival scenario, spawning in a "Perfect" version of a weapon can actually ruin the game's progression. It's a slippery slope. One minute you're spawning a sandwich because you're starving, and the next you're flying around in God Mode with a rocket launcher, wondering why the game feels boring.
Technical Nuances: Blocks vs. Items
This is a big one. In "7 Days to Die," there is a technical distinction between a "Block" and an "Item."
A "Block" is something that occupies a 3D space in the world—like a frame, a door, or a forge. An "Item" is something that usually lives in your inventory, like a tool or a resource.
If you're looking for a 7 days to die item id for a concrete block, you won't find it in items.xml. You have to look in blocks.xml. The giveself command works for both, but the way they are handled in the code is different. Blocks don't have "quality" levels, for instance. If you try to give yourself a "Level 6 Reinforced Concrete Block," the game will probably just laugh at you (or, more likely, throw a null reference error).
Practical Steps for Players
If you're ready to start using IDs to manage your game or fix bugs, here is the smartest way to go about it:
- Back up your save: Before you start messing with console commands or spawning items, copy your save folder. It’s located in
AppData\Roaming\7DaysToDie\Saves. One typo in the wrong command can occasionally do weird things to your player profile. - Use the Search Bar: In the
Umenu, use the search bar. If you can't find an item, try searching for a piece of its name. Searching "Steel" will show you everything from armor to ingots. - Check the Log: If you type a command and nothing happens, hit F1 again. The console log will tell you in red text if the ID you entered was invalid.
- Mind the Case: While the console is somewhat forgiving, it's best to match the capitalization found in the XMLs.
ResourceMechanicalPartsis safer thanresourcemechanicalparts.
Making Sense of It All
The whole 7 days to die item id system is basically just a giant game of "Name That Object." Once you realize that the IDs are just the names the developers used in the backend, the mystery disappears. You don't need to be a coder to understand it. You just need to be able to read an XML file or use the built-in search tools.
Whether you're fixing a glitch, building a massive creative project, or just giving yourself a break after a particularly nasty horde night, knowing how to find and use these IDs is part of the "7 Days" experience. Just remember that once you open that door, the survival tension might start to fade. Use the power wisely, or at least use it to build something cool enough to justify the "cheating."
To get the most out of this, go into your game files right now and just skim the items.xml. It’s eye-opening to see how the game views the world. You’ll see the damage values, the scrap yields, and the exact strings used for every item in your backpack. It’s the ultimate peek behind the curtain.