Project Zomboid How to Dispose of Corpses in Build 42
Graves, gasoline burns, dumpsters, and the hygiene that keeps corpse sickness off your safehouse.
A cleared street is not a finished job. Dead bodies in Project Zomboid are a hygiene timer. Leave a pile against the safehouse wall and corpse sickness walks in through nausea and fever while you are “just organizing crates.” Players search “how to burn corpses,” “how to bury zombies,” and “dumpster delete all” because the UI hides three different tools behind right-click menus. This page is the Build 42.20.4 disposal chapter: graves, campfire staging, gasoline Burn Corpse, dumpsters, and fire discipline. Illness treatment stays on the fever guide. Infection from bites stays on Infection Mechanics.
Default sandbox still removes corpses on a long timer (community docs cite 216 hours on many presets). That is not a hygiene plan. A week of bodies next to the kitchen is how month-two characters die of “I was fine yesterday.”
Three vanilla methods
1. Graves (quiet, slow, shovel-gated)
You need a shovel, spade, or other tool the Dig Grave action accepts. Right-click dirt or grass away from the bedroom wing. Dig. Pick up a corpse (heavy; watch endurance), walk to the open grave, Bury Corpse. Capacity is five bodies per grave. The fifth burial often auto-fills; fewer than five can be filled manually with the shovel so the hole is not a trip hazard.
Graves are the right tool for a dozen bodies after a porch fight. They are the wrong tool for a parking-lot massacre: you will be exhausted, loud, and still digging when the next walker arrives. Clear the tile first. Do not dig in a fire lane you might need later.
2. Burning (fast, fire-risk, petrol or campfire)
Two fire paths exist on current stable:
Campfire pad: drag corpses to an unlit campfire, use Place corpse on campfire, then light. See Campfires for the three-stone recipe and rain putting outdoor fires out. Stage the pad on dirt or gravel far from fences, tents, crops, and fuel cans.
Gasoline Burn Corpse: hold a petrol container with fuel and a lighter or matches. Right-click a corpse (or a pile) and choose Burn Corpse. Each body costs on the order of 0.1 petrol in 42.20.x notes. The action equips ignition and fuel. It is faster than graves and dumber near a wooden house.
Fire spreads. Bring a fire extinguisher, a water source with real volume, or sand/dirt/gravel bags—not a sip from a water bottle. Rain helps containment; it is not “Put Out.” Burn on a dedicated pad downwind of the farm. One escaped flame through a compost row is a season wipe.
3. Dumpsters and bins (instant delete, container math)
Large dumpsters accept a corpse drop. Open the container and Delete All to remove bodies from the world. Capacity math in community tests: a corpse is a heavy object (often treated around 20 units); dumpsters hold more than a grave. You can move some dumpsters with a crowbar pick-up if the sprite allows—do that before the pile exists, not during a horde.
Wheelie bins and Spiffo restaurant bins work the same delete trick at smaller capacities. Spiffo bins are light enough to haul. This is the urban method when you lack petrol and will not dig the asphalt.
Delete All is permanent. Do not dump the wrong crate.
Corpse sickness is a placement problem
Sickness scales with time near decaying bodies, not with a single drag. Gloves help handling. A respirator or gas mask helps in dense piles. Changing clothes after a burn day is the same logic as hygiene. Do not store corpses in the living room “for later.” Do not use the well courtyard as a morgue—see Wells.
If moodles already show nausea from bodies, leave the tile, wash or swap clothes, rest, hydrate. Antibiotics are for wound infection, not a magic corpse cure—read the fever page before you waste penicillin.
Multiplayer disposal jobs
Assign a sanitation role after a group clear. One player with the shovel, one with the gas can, one on watch. Public servers will leave your dumpster full of jokes. Inner fences around the burn pad stop a stranger from lighting your generator shed.
What this is not
Corpses are not compost. Do not put bodies in the carpentry crate. They are not a butchering recipe. Zombie meat is not a food plan.
Recommended kit
- Shovel or spade on a tool rack
- Petrol can reserved for burns, not the generator’s last litre—see Fuel and Siphon
- Lighter or matches (campfire page)
- Extinguisher near the pad
- Gloves in the “dirty work” bag
- A marked burn tile on the in-game map so co-op does not light the wrong field
Clean the street the same day you win the fight. Knox County does not give participation trophies for a picturesque bone pile against the garage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions.
How many corpses fit in a grave?
Five. Dig with a shovel or spade, bury, then fill. Graves are for small clears; parking lots want fire or dumpsters.
How do I burn corpses without burning my base?
Use a dirt or gravel pad far from wood, crops, and fuel. Campfire staging or Burn Corpse at about 0.1 petrol each. Keep an extinguisher. Rain helps; it does not replace Put Out.
Do dumpsters delete corpses permanently?
Drop the body in, open the container, Delete All. That removes them from the world. Confirm you are not deleting loot crates in the same dumpster.
Will corpses disappear on their own?
Sandbox corpse-removal timers (often 216 hours on defaults) eventually despawn bodies. That is too slow for a safehouse perimeter. Dispose on purpose.
Does burning corpses cause corpse sickness?
Standing in the pile while it cooks still exposes you. Stage, ignite, step back. Gloves and a clothing change after the job pair with Fever and Illness.