The Infection – How the Server-Wide Meter, Stages & Nests Work
The Infection is a meter the whole server fights together. Let it rise and zombies run faster, nests spawn and the air turns poison – push it back with every kill. Here is how it works and how to beat it.
What the Infection is
The Infection is one meter for the whole server, from 0 to 100 %. It is shared by everyone: it climbs on its own all the time, and every zombie any survivor kills pushes it back down. Where it stands decides how dangerous the world is for all of us – and how much a kill pays.
You see it in the Infection chip in the NASTY Z APP navbar, on the page Play › Infection (gauge, live nests, 24 h and 7 day chart) and in game with /infection.
How it rises and how you push it back
- It grows by about 3 % per hour – faster at night (×1.5) and on blood moon (×3), slower when nobody is online.
- Every infection nest that is alive adds a little more on top.
- Every zombie kill cures it. About 150 kills = −1 %. Ferals, radiated, charged and infernal zombies count double, bosses count ten times.
- Burning a nest takes off a big chunk at once (−3 %).
The five stages
| Stage | Level | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| 🟢 Contained | 0–20 % | Clean Air: +10 % XP for everyone. No nests. |
| 🟡 Spreading | 20–45 % | Infection nests start to form (one at a time). |
| 🟠 Outbreak | 45–70 % | −10 % max stamina · zombies run at night · kills pay ×1.25 · up to 2 nests. |
| 🔴 Pandemic | 70–100 % | −15 % max stamina · zombies jog by day and sprint at night, feral sense at night · kills pay ×1.5 · up to 2 nests. |
| ☣️ Collapse | 100 % | Poisoned Air: −20 % max stamina but +25 % XP · run by day, sprint at night, feral sense always · kills pay ×2 · up to 2 nests. |
A Collapse does not end at 99 %: it stays until the community pushes the meter back below 75 %. Everyone who helped cure during the collapse earns the Last Light honour. Every stage change is announced in chat and in the app.
Infection nests
From Spreading on, nests form at towns and POIs, 250–900 m from a random player – never on land claims, at traders or next to players. They show up on the live map as lime zones with a live card.
- A new nest is dormant. Walk within about 90 m and it wakes up.
- A wave of infected spawns around it – the last one is the heart, a boss.
- You have 25 minutes to kill them all.
- Burned (all killed): the meter drops 3 % and everyone who killed one gets 500 dukes.
- Burst (time ran out): the meter jumps +2 %.
Nest limits
- At most 2 nests exist at the same time – only 1 when 20 or more survivors are online.
- Only one nest is awake at a time. Others wait asleep – and can't burst – until the awake one is burned.
- At least 30 minutes pass between two new nests, and none forms in the 20 minutes after an invasion or siege ends.
That keeps nests, invasions and sieges from piling up on each other – fewer zombies at once, a smoother server.
No nests form during blood moon or a siege. In game, /infection tells you the distance and direction to the nearest nest.
Commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/infection | Level, stage, trend, the stage effect, nearest nest and your cure this week |
/infection top | This week's top 5 plague doctors |
Infection honours
The Infection has its own badge category 🦠 on the Battle Honours page:
- Nests burned: Nest Burner (1) · Sporebane (10) · Hive Breaker (50) · Purifier (150) · Patient Zero's Bane (500).
- Infection cured: Antibody (1 %) · Field Medic (10 %) · Plague Doctor (50 %) · The Vaccine (200 %) · Cure Incarnate (1,000 %).
- Plague Doctor of the Week – most cure in a week · Last Light – fought in a collapse.
Frequently asked questions
How do I lower the Infection?
Kill zombies – about 150 kills lower it by 1 %, ferals and radiated count double, bosses ten times – and burn infection nests (−3 % each).
What happens at 100 %?
The server goes into Collapse: zombies run by day and sprint at night, stamina drops, but kills pay double and you get +25 % XP. It lasts until the community pushes the meter back below 75 %.
Where are the infection nests?
On the live map in the NASTY Z APP (lime zones), and in game /infection shows the distance and direction to the nearest one.
How many infection nests can there be at once?
At most two (one when 20 or more players are online), and only one of them is awake and spawning zombies at a time.
Put it into practice on NASTY Z
Wipe-proof vault, live web map, player market, siege mode and battle honours. Free to play, V3.3, EAC on.