Cursed Walking – A Modern Zombie Apocalypse

Every night in Cursed Walking gets harder than the one before. This Minecraft Java Edition modpack runs on Minecraft 1.20.1 with Forge and channels more than 80 curated mods into a single goal: make the zombie apocalypse feel real. Every hostile mob is a zombie variant. The Nether and End are locked off. Difficulty scales up with each day as the undead grow faster, hit harder, and remain active around the clock. Setting up a server through Apex Hosting takes minutes, with the pack preinstalled, so you can skip straight to scavenging cities, crafting firearms, and surviving moon phase events. This guide covers server and client setup, every major mechanic, the separate Bedrock addon for console and mobile players, and how to keep performance stable as the days stack up.

What Is Cursed Walking?

Cursed Walking is a Forge-based modpack for Minecraft 1.20.1. Skeletons, endermen, spiders, and all other standard hostile mobs are replaced by zombie variants that drop their equivalent materials. A zombie with a pickaxe drops gunpowder. A zombie equivalent drops ender pearls. Recipes still work; the threat is just always the same undead shape. On top of that, the Nether and End dimensions are disabled, difficulty grows with each day survived, and the sun offers no refuge from the horde.

The pack is actively maintained. The current stable release is v3.1.1 (July 2025), with a v3.2 Public Beta 3 released in March 2026. Earlier Minecraft versions (1.16.5, 1.18.2, 1.19.2) are covered by older pack releases, but the active development target is 1.20.1 with Forge.

A separate Cursed Walking addon also exists for Bedrock Edition players on mobile, console, and Windows Edition. It is a distinct project in beta, not based on the Java modpack. See the Bedrock section below for details.

Server Setup

For players setting up their first CurseForge Minecraft server, Apex Hosting handles the heavy lifting. Cursed Walking comes preinstalled, so the steps below get you from a fresh server to a running game in under five minutes.

Newcomers to the hosting scene will need to purchase a server from us before setting up Cursed Walking. Once you’ve bought it, follow the instructions below to begin the setup process. Keep in mind that no prior technical knowledge is required, as the modpack comes preinstalled for your convenience.

1. Head towards your Apex server panel, then locate and click the Game File area.
2. Proceed to type “Cursed Walking” and select it in the options list.
   

3. Continue to click Change Version, Create New World, and Restart Now.
   

4. Wait for these changes to apply before joining with your Minecraft client.

Client Installation

Instead of manually downloading the modpack and extracting its file to your Minecraft launcher, consider using CurseForge. This application provides you with quick and easy access to thousands of modpacks, including Cursed Walking. The following steps below will help you install this on your client.

1. Download the CurseForge launcher from their official website.
2. Afterward, navigate to Cursed Walking and click the Install button.
   

3. If successful, you’ll be redirected to the client for the download to begin.
4. Wait for the modpack to finish installing, then click Play on the right.
   

5. If you have issues loading, consider allocating more memory.

Cursed Walking Modpack

The pack builds a complete zombie apocalypse from Minecraft’s survival framework. Below are the core mechanics and features you will encounter from your first spawn through late-game survival.

Getting Started

When you first spawn into your server, you receive a starter kit: a pistol with 64 bullets, a loaf of bread, a pair of boots, and a gas mask helmet. These supplies help you get through the first few nights, but the pack does not hold your difficulty curve at bay for long. Use the early days to locate a defensible position, gather materials, and start crafting your own weapons and ammunition from scratch using special workbenches. The difficulty counter in the top-left corner of your screen shows how fast the situation is escalating. You will face different event types as the days pass, each with its own buffs and debuffs, so managing resources tightly from the start pays off quickly.

New Mechanics

Within your server you will encounter new challenges and events that will test your survival skills. Discover each one of them and prepare to face these new difficulties.

Moon Phases

This mod introduces unique nighttime events influenced by the moon’s phases:

• Blue Moon: The most favorable phase, increasing the player’s luck when looting and collecting rewards from mobs and the environment.
  

• Harvest Moon: Crops yield more during the night, but zombies are more active while the buff is live. A risk-reward situation for players with established farms.
  

• Blood Moon / Super Blood Moon: The most dangerous phase, significantly increasing the difficulty of zombies nearby.
  

 
Moon phases appear randomly from the start of the game. Building a defended base early means you can take advantage of Blue and Harvest Moons while weathering Blood Moons from behind walls.

Increasing Difficulty

The game uses a progressive difficulty system. As days pass, zombies grow stronger and faster. A difficulty counter in the top-left corner of the screen shows the current level and updates with each new day. The longer the server runs, the harder every encounter becomes. Team up with your friends and see how many days you can survive in this hostile, zombie-filled world.

No Nether, No End, No Warden

This mod is centered on surviving against waves of zombies, which is why dimensions like the Nether and the End are disabled. You can still build and activate portals, but they will teleport you back to the server’s spawn point. The Warden cannot spawn, so you are free to explore ancient cities without worrying about noise. Netherite appears on the surface rather than in the Nether, so keep your eyes open while exploring caves. Blaze rods are obtainable through the Create mod crafting system. Since shulker boxes require End access, backpacks serve as the primary storage expansion in this pack.

Custom Mobs

In this modpack, all hostile creatures have been transformed into zombies. You will not find skeletons, endermen, or spiders; instead, they have been replaced by specialized zombies. For example, you may encounter zombies equipped with pickaxes that can break your structures and drop gunpowder upon death, or others that drop ender pearls or bones. The pack also includes Tissou’s Zombie Pack, which adds new visuals and animations to differentiate zombie types on sight.

Zombie sun exposure works differently here. The modpack’s scaling mob system removes sun sensitivity for zombies, meaning they remain active and aggressive at any hour of the day. Expect pressure on your base from sunrise onward, not just at night.

One death consequence stands out: when you die, a zombie version of you spawns in your place. This zombie has your appearance and carries your entire inventory. Recovering your gear means fighting your own zombified character, which gets more costly as your accumulated loot grows.

New Weapons and Armor

This modpack features a wide range of armor options, including 10 complete armor sets, each offering unique abilities. You will also find various helmets and vests that help you craft the right protective loadout for your situation.

The weapon selection runs from pistols and rifles to spiked melee bats. Dedicated workbenches handle weapon crafting, ammunition production, and attachments, with upgrade options available through those same stations.

A new material called Ballistic Iron drops from defeated zombies. This raw material must be refined before use and goes into a range of weapons and armor pieces.

Backpacks and Storage

Since dimensions like the End are disabled, shulker boxes are not available in this modpack. Instead, you can craft backpacks, which are the primary way to expand your carry capacity. Three sizes are available: Small (15 slots), Medium (54 slots), and Large (117 slots). Each size can also be upgraded with functional tabs, including smelting and stone-cutting capabilities, so your backpack becomes a mobile crafting station as well as storage.

Food and Cooking

The modpack includes mods that cover your dietary needs and give you tools to survive longer between base returns. Farmer’s Delight adds new crops and kitchen equipment, with recipes that provide useful buffs during long nights when zombie pressure is highest. The Edible Zombie Flesh mod gives you a steady food source from combat: cook zombie drops to create a reliable supply that keeps you fed during extended base defenses.

Cities and Exploration

The latest pack updates introduce randomly generated cities throughout the map. To activate this in your world, enable the option in the “More” section of the world creation menu. Discover entire metropolises overgrown with nature and packed with zombies. While exploring the streets and buildings, you may encounter friendly NPC survivors. These survivors will not attack you but are targets for zombie aggression, so protecting them long enough to interact is its own challenge. Cities can serve as high-risk starting points for players who want immediate access to resources rather than a slow early-game gather.

Bedrock and MCPE

Java Edition is not the only way to play a Cursed Walking-style experience. A separate Cursed Walking addon for Bedrock Edition exists on CurseForge, developed by the community creator jpedrosena. This addon is in beta and is a distinct project from the Java modpack, not a direct port. Features, mechanics, and available content differ from what this guide describes.

If you play on mobile (iOS or Android), Windows 10/11 Edition, PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch, the Bedrock addon is your entry point. Search for “Cursed Walking” on CurseForge with the Bedrock platform filter active to find the current beta release.

Because the Bedrock addon is independently maintained and in beta, update cadence and feature parity with the Java version will vary. Check the addon’s CurseForge page directly for its current version, known issues, and compatibility notes before downloading. The Java modpack on Apex Hosting described throughout this guide requires Java Edition with Forge; it will not run on Bedrock clients.

Performance and Server Optimization

Running more than 80 mods creates real memory and CPU demands. A Cursed Walking server needs at least 6 GB of RAM for stable operation, with 8 GB giving more headroom as player count and explored chunks increase. If you are unsure how much RAM your server needs, the Apex Hosting guide covers the calculation by player count and modpack type.

For general performance, reduce your view distance to 8 to 10 chunks rather than the default, and run a chunk pregeneration tool around spawn before players begin exploring. Monitor your server’s TPS counter: a healthy server runs at 20 TPS, and sustained readings below 15 TPS produce rubber-banding and delayed interactions for players.

City exploration spikes zombie spawns if you enabled the city generation option at world creation. If exploring cities causes TPS drops, reduce view distance temporarily or increase your server’s RAM allocation via the Apex panel.

Players who allocate less than 4 GB to their CurseForge profile will likely see client-side stuttering regardless of server performance. The CurseForge launcher’s settings panel lets you increase allocated memory per modpack profile. Step 5 in the Client Installation section above covers this.

New chunks take significant CPU time in a heavily modded world. Running a pregeneration pass before players explore can eliminate most of the world-generation-related lag spikes.

Conclusion

Cursed Walking does not ease you in. The starter kit buys you a few nights, the moon phases keep every week unpredictable, and the difficulty counter makes clear that standing still is not a strategy. Build your base early, use the quiet phases between Blood Moons to gather resources, and upgrade your weapons before the zombie density around your position makes casual exploration costly.

If you run into any issues setting up your Cursed Walking server, the Apex Hosting support team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Minecraft version does Cursed Walking use?
Cursed Walking v3.1.1 runs on Minecraft 1.20.1 with Forge. A v3.2 Public Beta 3 for 1.20.1 is also available. Older pack versions support 1.16.5, 1.18.2, and 1.19.2.

Is there a Cursed Walking version for Bedrock or MCPE?
The main Cursed Walking modpack is for Java Edition only. A separate Bedrock addon (in beta) is available on CurseForge for mobile, console, and Windows Edition players. It is a distinct project with different features from the Java modpack.

How much RAM does a Cursed Walking server need?
At minimum 6 GB for the server process. 8 GB is recommended as player count and explored chunks grow. On the client side, allocate at least 4 GB in your CurseForge profile settings to avoid stuttering.

Why do zombies not burn in sunlight in Cursed Walking?
The modpack uses a scaling mob system that removes zombie sun sensitivity by design. Zombies remain active and dangerous at all times of day, which is a core part of the zombie apocalypse experience this pack creates.

Can you reach the Nether or End in Cursed Walking?
No. Both dimensions are disabled. Building or activating a portal teleports you back to spawn. Netherite is available on the surface, and Blaze rods can be obtained through the Create mod crafting system.

What do you get in the Cursed Walking starter kit?
You spawn with a pistol, 64 bullets, a loaf of bread, a pair of boots, and a gas mask helmet. These are your starting supplies before you begin crafting your own weapons and armor from Ballistic Iron and other materials.

How do I enable cities in Cursed Walking?
During world creation, open the “More” section in the world options menu and enable the city generation option there. Cities do not appear in worlds created without this setting turned on.