English | Русский
A standalone lockpicking and forced-entry mod for Project Zomboid Build 42.20. It adds interactive minigames for mechanical locks, crowbar entry, vehicle ignition wiring, and alarm inspection.
Current release: 1.1.1
Download the latest Build 42.20 package
- Works in singleplayer and multiplayer.
- No frameworks, profession mods, or other dependencies.
- Does not replace game files and does not add a separate profession or perk.
- Uses vanilla
Nimble,Strength,Electrical, andMechanicsskills. - Includes English and Russian translations, controller support, and Sandbox Options.
- Revalidates the target, distance, lock state, tools, timing, darkness, fatigue, and safehouse access on the server.
- Uses original lock, pick, screwdriver, and UI artwork.
Mechanical lockpicking is available for locked doors, windows, and vehicle doors.
Requirements:
- one
ZomboidLockworks.BobbyPinor, when enabled, oneBase.Paperclip; - a screwdriver;
- enough light to read under the vanilla
tooDarkToRead()check.
The pick rotates through a full 0–359° circle and follows the pointer around the cylinder center; Left/Right provides precise keyboard adjustment. Holding WASD, Space, or the mouse turns the cylinder with the screwdriver. The pick angle is locked while tension is applied. Release tension before choosing another angle.
The red strain bar grows while forcing a jammed cylinder. At 100%, the current bobby pin or paperclip is removed by the server and a breaking sound is played.
Lockpicking uses the vanilla Nimble skill. Each lock has a deterministic difficulty from 1 to 5 with skill benchmarks of 0 / 2 / 4 / 6 / 8.
With the default Sandbox values, the successful deviation from the hidden angle is:
| Difficulty / benchmark | Nimble 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very easy / 0 | ±5° | ±6° | ±7° | ±8° | ±9° | ±10° |
| Easy / 2 | ±2° | ±5° | ±6° | ±7° | ±8° | ±9° |
| Average / 4 | ±1° | ±2° | ±5° | ±6° | ±7° | ±8° |
| Hard / 6 | ±1° | ±1° | ±2° | ±5° | ±6° | ±7° |
| Very hard / 8 | ±1° | ±1° | ±1° | ±2° | ±5° | ±6° |
The keyboard step becomes smaller automatically for narrow angle windows. The base ±5° tolerance is independently configurable for all five difficulties; the table remains accurate until an administrator changes those values.
Forced entry is available for locked doors, windows, and vehicle doors and uses the vanilla Strength skill.
Hit while the moving marker is inside the green zone. Lock difficulty and the difference between Strength and its benchmark affect:
- green-zone width;
- marker speed;
- progress from an accurate or glancing hit;
- progress lost on a miss;
- endurance consumed by a complete miss.
While the minigame is open, the character uses the vanilla RemoveBarricade/CrowbarMid levering animation. Every accepted attempt plays the crowbar's vanilla impact sound and creates server-authoritative zombie-attraction noise using the configured radius. The marker is calculated directly before rendering from real elapsed time, so a dropped frame does not slow or desynchronize its motion.
A complete miss immediately consumes server-authoritative endurance. The minigame closes with a warning when either condition is reached:
- fatigue is at least 75%;
- remaining endurance is 35% or less.
Successful forced entry may damage the crowbar and consumes the configured completion endurance.
The ignition minigame requires a screwdriver and minimum Electrical and Mechanics levels, defaulting to 1 / 1. Select an upper wire and connect it to the lower wire of the same color. Complete all three pairs to bypass the ignition lock.
The minigame has fixed timing and difficulty; additional skill levels do not make it easier or faster. The server can configure HotwireRequiredElectrical and HotwireRequiredMechanics from 0 to 10. If either requirement is missing, the mod's radial-menu entry is disabled; selecting an intercepted vanilla hotwire action shows the current required levels. The Burglar profession does not bypass these requirements.
Alarm inspection is available from the world context menu and the vehicle radial menu. It uses the higher of Electrical and Nimble. Low skill may return an unknown result instead of revealing the alarm state.
Bobby pins spawn in desks, bathroom counters, police desks, prison cells, and tool-store containers.
One paperclip and pliers can be used to craft one bobby pin:
1 × Base.Paperclip + pliers → 1 × ZomboidLockworks.BobbyPin
The recipe can be completed in the dark. The handcrafting UI supports any quantity from one to the maximum available paperclips; a batch runs sequentially and places one bobby pin in the inventory per operation. Paperclips may also be used directly when AllowPaperclips is enabled.
| Minigame | Mouse and keyboard | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| Lockpicking | Move the pointer around the cylinder or use Left/Right; hold mouse, WASD, or Space to turn | D-pad/LB/RB changes angle; A applies a short turn |
| Crowbar | Click, Space, or Enter inside the green zone | A |
| Ignition wires | Click connectors or use arrows/WASD; Space/Enter confirms | D-pad selects; A confirms |
| Cancel | Cancel button or Escape | B |
Escape is consumed by the minigame and should not open the general pause menu.
Options are stored per save or server preset under Sandbox Options → Zomboid Lockworks.
| Option | Default | Range | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
EnableBobbyPin |
On | On/Off | Mechanical lockpicking |
EnableCrowbar |
On | On/Off | Forced entry |
EnableHotwire |
On | On/Off | Ignition-wire minigame |
HotwireRequiredElectrical |
1 | 0–10 | Minimum Electrical for ignition wiring |
HotwireRequiredMechanics |
1 | 0–10 | Minimum Mechanics for ignition wiring |
EnableAlarmInspection |
On | On/Off | Alarm inspection |
AllowPaperclips |
On | On/Off | Ordinary paperclips work as picks |
PickAngleVeryEasy |
5 | 1–30 | Base very-easy lock tolerance in ±degrees |
PickAngleEasy |
5 | 1–30 | Base easy lock tolerance in ±degrees |
PickAngleAverage |
5 | 1–30 | Base average lock tolerance in ±degrees |
PickAngleHard |
5 | 1–30 | Base hard lock tolerance in ±degrees |
PickAngleVeryHard |
5 | 1–30 | Base very-hard lock tolerance in ±degrees |
PinBreakChance |
18 | 0–100 | Pick-strain growth sensitivity |
CrowbarWearChance |
12 | 0–100 | Base crowbar wear chance after success |
CrowbarMarkerSpeed |
75 | 25–200 | Base marker speed percentage |
CrowbarEnduranceCost |
12 | 0–50 | Endurance cost after successful entry |
CrowbarMissEnduranceCost |
6 | 0–25 | Base immediate endurance cost of a complete miss |
CrowbarNoiseRadius |
12 | 0–50 | Zombie-attraction radius of every crowbar strike |
Strength and lock difficulty further scale marker behavior and miss endurance cost.
The mod adds no map cells, profession, or persistent world system. It can normally be enabled on an existing Build 42.20 save or server without restarting the world. Back up an important save before changing any mod list.
Removing the mod leaves existing doors, vehicles, characters, and server configuration intact. Custom bobby-pin items disappear while the mod is absent.
Typical multiplayer admin commands are:
/additem "username" Base.Crowbar 1
/additem "username" Base.Screwdriver 1
/additem "username" ZomboidLockworks.BobbyPin 10
In singleplayer, the same items can be spawned from the debug item list.