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In 7 Days to Die, a “keystone” is the player-made Land Claim Block. Place one to mark a protected area: you and your allies can build, demolish, and manage objects there, while other players are blocked from placing or destroying blocks. The claim is strongest while you are online, changes behavior after you log out, and normally expires after seven real-world days offline. You can have three active claims at once. Because claim defaults have changed between versions and server owners can override them, treat the figures below as reported defaults and verify them in your game or server configuration.
What a keystone is in 7 Days to Die
The name “keystone” is common player terminology for the Land Claim Block. The game’s labelled reference page uses Land Claim Block, but players often ask for a “7 Days to Die keystone” when they mean this item.
A Land Claim Block is crafted by the player and placed on the ground. It defines a horizontal area around the block and applies building protection inside that area. The claim does not make a base invulnerable: zombies, environmental damage, explosives, server rules, and offline settings can still matter. Its main purpose is to control which players may modify blocks and interact with certain protected objects.
What land claims protect
Owner and allies can build
The player who places the claim is its owner. The owner and designated allies are allowed to place or destroy blocks inside the claimed area. Other players are prevented from placing or destroying blocks there while the claim’s protection is active. This is the practical answer to “how do land claims work in 7 Days to Die?”: the block changes building permissions in its footprint; it does not create a universal safe zone.
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The claimed footprint is not fully settled
The commonly reported default for LandClaimSize is 41 blocks horizontally. Community references disagree about whether the value represents a full width or a radius. Those interpretations produce very different footprints, so do not plan a base perimeter from “41” alone. Measure the boundary in your actual game or ask the server administrator which interpretation and value the server uses.
The size is a server setting, not a permanent property of the item. A server owner can change it in serverconfig.xml, and a setting change can alter the effective area for claims on that server.
Workstations can be picked up by the owner
Inside the owner’s claimed area, the placing player can pick up workstations by holding E on the object. This is useful when relocating a forge, workbench, or similar station, but it is separate from the permission that controls ordinary block placement and destruction.
Online, offline, and expiry behavior
Online protection
While the player who placed the block is in the game, the claim is treated as fully active. The owner and allies retain their building permissions, and other players are restricted according to the server’s claim rules.
What changes after logout
After logout, the claim eventually switches from online behavior to an offline durability setting. A server can delay that switch with LandClaimOfflineDelay, measured in minutes after logout. Until the delay elapses, the claim may still use its online state; after it elapses, the offline durability modifier and decay mode apply.
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The default offline modifier is one of the most disputed values in community documentation. Some references describe a default of 4 as four times normal hardness or damage resistance. Others report that the same value results in roughly 32 times normal protection. Because the sources do not agree, use the number only as a configuration value and test the resulting behavior on your server rather than promising a specific multiplier.
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LandClaimExpiryTime controls how long offline protection lasts. The commonly reported default is 7 real-world days, not seven in-game days. If the owner remains offline for that period, the claim can expire under the server’s rules. An administrator can set a different duration, so a private world, a hosted server, and a community server may all behave differently.
How many Land Claim Blocks can you use?
There is no stated hard cap on how many Land Claim Blocks a player may place over time, but only three can be active simultaneously. When you place a fourth claim, the newest claim becomes active and the oldest active claim is deactivated. The deactivated block is reduced to one durability according to the documented behavior, so placing claims in succession can leave an earlier base with little or no effective protection.
| Question | Reported behavior | Practical consequence |
|---|---|---|
| How many can be placed? | No overall placement cap is stated. | You may create claims at different locations, subject to the server and item availability. |
| How many are active? | Three at a time. | A fourth placement deactivates the oldest active claim. |
| What happens to the oldest? | It is reduced to one durability when deactivated. | Do not assume an old base remains protected after claiming a new site. |
What happens when a claim block is destroyed
Breaking a Land Claim Block does not immediately make every nearby square available for a new claim. A forbidden border zone remains after removal, preventing immediate re-claiming. The size and timing of that border are governed by the game and server version, so leave space and time before trying to place another block in the same location.
This rule matters when moving a base. If you destroy the old block and immediately place another one beside the old position, the placement can fail even though the visible block is gone. Move outside the restricted border or wait until the server allows the area to be claimed again.
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How to craft and place a keystone
Crafting recipe
The current recipe is reported as five small stones. In older versions, the item was provided as a starting item; it stopped being a starting item as of version 1.0. Players starting a version 1.0-or-newer game should therefore expect to craft it rather than automatically receiving one.
Placement checklist
- Collect the small stones needed for the recipe and craft a Land Claim Block.
- Choose the center of the area you want protected. Put the block inside the base rather than at an edge so the uncertain 41-block interpretation is less likely to leave part of the structure outside the claim.
- Place the block on a suitable surface and wait for the claim indicator or other in-game confirmation.
- Invite or configure allies who need to build in the area.
- Test the boundary with a harmless block placement before investing in a large structure. Server settings can change the footprint.
- Record which three claims are active if you operate multiple bases. Placing another claim can deactivate the oldest one.
If a placement is rejected, check for an existing claim, the post-destruction border restriction, another player’s protected area, or a server rule that changes claim placement.
Server settings that control claim behavior
Administrators generally configure land claims in serverconfig.xml. The following values are the settings and reported defaults most relevant to players.
| Setting | Reported value or modes | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
LandClaimSize |
41 by default in community references; radius-versus-width interpretation is disputed | Horizontal size of the protected area. |
LandClaimExpiryTime |
7 real-world days by default | How long offline protection can remain before expiry. |
LandClaimOfflineDurabilityModifier |
4 is commonly reported, but the resulting 4× versus 32× protection is disputed | Durability or damage resistance while the owner is offline. |
LandClaimOfflineDelay |
Server-defined minutes | Delay after logout before offline durability behavior begins. |
LandClaimDecayMode |
0, 1, or 2 | How offline protection decays over time. |
Decay modes
- 0 — slow or linear: protection decreases gradually in a linear pattern.
- 1 — fast or exponential: protection decays on an exponential curve, producing a faster loss of effective protection as the claim ages offline.
- 2 — none: full offline protection remains until the claim expires.
These modes affect the path between logout and expiry. They do not remove the separate expiry timer, claim-count limit, or border restriction after destruction.
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Reports indicate that setting LandClaimOfflineDurabilityModifier to 0 makes claimed blocks unbreakable rather than leaving them unprotected. An old, unconfirmed forum report says player damage may still apply despite that setting. Because the player-damage detail is not established, administrators should test it on a backup world before using zero on a live server.
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Choosing settings for different server styles
Short cooperative sessions
A server whose players log in regularly can keep the seven-day expiry and use a modest offline delay. Explain the three-active-claim rule to players so a fourth placement does not accidentally abandon protection at an older base.
Long-running private worlds
If owners may be absent for weeks, increase LandClaimExpiryTime or select decay mode 2, understanding that this makes offline bases harder to remove. Document the choice for everyone who plays on the world.
Competitive or raiding servers
Use the offline delay, modifier, decay mode, and expiry together rather than relying on one number. A long expiry with strong offline durability can make abandoned structures effectively permanent; a short delay with fast decay can leave active players exposed soon after logout. Test the complete combination after each major game update.
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Troubleshooting common land-claim problems
“My claim is not protecting the whole base.”
- Measure the boundary; the reported value of 41 has conflicting radius and width interpretations.
- Check whether the server changed
LandClaimSize. - Confirm that the claim is still one of your three active blocks.
- Make sure the owner has not been offline long enough for the server’s delay, decay, or expiry rules to weaken it.
“Another player can modify blocks.”
- Verify that the block is inside the actual claim footprint.
- Check whether the person is an ally; allies are intentionally exempt from the restriction.
- Ask the administrator whether offline durability or decay has changed the claim’s state.
“I placed a new claim and the old base became vulnerable.”
Only three claims are active. The newest placement deactivates the oldest and reduces it to one durability. Remove or relocate an unnecessary claim only after deciding which three sites need protection.
“I cannot place a replacement claim where I destroyed one.”
The post-destruction forbidden border is expected behavior. Move beyond the restricted area or wait for the server to clear it; repeatedly breaking and replacing blocks will not bypass the border immediately.
“The claim behaves differently on another server.”
Compare the two servers’ serverconfig.xml values, game versions, decay modes, offline delay, and expiry. Land-claim defaults are version-sensitive and are frequently changed by server administrators.
Key points to verify before relying on a claim
- Confirm that your “keystone” is the Land Claim Block and that it is placed at the intended base center.
- Ask for the server’s actual
LandClaimSizeinterpretation and value. - Keep track of the three active-claim limit.
- Know how many minutes
LandClaimOfflineDelayallows before offline rules begin. - Check the offline durability modifier and decay mode instead of assuming the community-reported defaults.
- Know the expiry period in real-world days and what happens after destruction.
- Retest after a major game update because settings and defaults have changed across versions.
Version and default caveats
The seven-day expiry, three-active-block limit, owner-and-ally permissions, and online/offline distinction are the stable core of the mechanic described by available references. Numeric defaults are less certain: the 41-block footprint, the offline modifier’s effective multiplier, and the effect of a zero modifier have conflicting or unconfirmed reports. No verified 2026 official revision establishes a single interpretation for those disputed values. Treat your server’s configuration and in-game tests as authoritative.
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