Trapping in Project Zomboid (Build 42)

Traps and what they catch

Each animal lists the traps that can hold it and a base chance for each. Bigger game — rabbits, squirrels and raccoons — goes into cage, box, crate and snare traps; birds only into the stick trap; mice and rats only into the mouse trap.

• 

  Crate Trap

  • Rabbit30%
  • Squirrel30%
  • Raccoon30%

  Empty, it loses its bait 1 hour in 25

• 

  Box Trap

  • Rabbit30%
  • Raccoon30%
  • Squirrel25%

  Empty, it loses its bait 1 hour in 25

• 

  Cage Trap

  • Rabbit40%
  • Squirrel40%
  • Raccoon40%

  Empty, it loses its bait 1 hour in 30

• 

  Snare Trap

  • Rabbit30%
  • Squirrel30%
  • Raccoon30%

  Empty, it loses its bait 1 hour in 20

• 

  Stick Trap

  • Bird40%

  Empty, it loses its bait 1 hour in 25

• 

  Mouse Trap

  • Mouse30%
  • Rat25%

  Empty, it loses its bait 1 hour in 60

Animals: bait, zone and hours

Every animal has its own bait list and its own chance per map zone. Rabbits, squirrels and raccoons are only caught between 19:00 and 05:00; birds, mice and rats at any hour. Rabbits, mice, rats and raccoons come out alive — carried in both hands — unless they starved in the trap first.

• 

  Bird

  Any hour · Stick Trap 40%

  You get a Dead Bird, its food value scaled by a random size. 3–10 XP.

  Best bait (chance)

  • Caterpillar (American Lady Caterpillar)50%
  • Caterpillar (Banded Wooly Bear Caterpillar)50%
  • Bread50%
  • Bread Slices50%
  • Centipede50%
  • Centipede (Centipede 2)50%
  • + 14 more in the table below

  Zone (chance)

  • Farmland35%
  • Farm35%
  • Vegetation30%
  • Town30%
  • Forest20%
  • Deep forest20%
  • Trailer park20%
• 

  Rat

  Any hour · Mouse Trap 25%

  Alive: Male Rat (Buck), Female Rat (Doe), Rat Pup — Gray, White. 10–19 XP alive, 3–8 if found dead.

  Best bait (chance)

  • Cheese60%
  • Processed Cheese55%
  • Bacon Bits40%
  • Peanut Butter40%
  • Apple35%
  • Orange35%
  • + 2 more in the table below

  Zone (chance)

  • Farmland50%
  • Farm50%
  • Trailer park40%
  • Town30%
  • Vegetation20%
  • Forest10%
  • Deep forest10%
• 

  Mouse

  Any hour · Mouse Trap 30%

  Alive: Male Mouse (Buck), Female Mouse (Doe), Mouse Pup — Golden, Deer, White. 10–19 XP alive, 3 if found dead.

  Best bait (chance)

  • Cheese60%
  • Processed Cheese55%
  • Bacon Bits40%
  • Peanut Butter40%
  • Apple35%
  • Orange35%
  • + 2 more in the table below

  Zone (chance)

  • Farmland60%
  • Farm60%
  • Trailer park60%
  • Town50%
  • Vegetation20%
  • Forest10%
  • Deep forest10%
• 

  Rabbit

  19:00–05:00 (11 checks a day) · Cage Trap 40%, Box Trap 30%, Crate Trap 30%, Snare Trap 30%

  Alive: Male Rabbit (Buck), Female Rabbit (Doe), Baby Rabbit (Kitten) — Swamp, Appalachian, Cottontail. 10–19 XP alive, 10–33 if found dead.

  Best bait (chance)

  • Carrots45%
  • Bell Pepper40%
  • Cabbage40%
  • Lettuce40%
  • Apple35%
  • Banana35%
  • + 4 more in the table below

  Zone (chance)

  • Deep forest15%
  • Forest12%
  • Vegetation10%
  • Town2%
  • Trailer park2%
• 

  Squirrel

  19:00–05:00 (11 checks a day) · Cage Trap 40%, Crate Trap 30%, Snare Trap 30%, Box Trap 25%

  You get a Dead Squirrel, its food value scaled by a random size. 3–20 XP.

  Best bait (chance)

  • Cereal45%
  • Peanut Butter45%
  • Apple40%
  • Corn40%
  • Lettuce40%
  • Orange40%
  • + 4 more in the table below

  Zone (chance)

  • Deep forest15%
  • Forest12%
  • Vegetation10%
  • Town2%
  • Trailer park2%

• Raccoon

  19:00–05:00 (11 checks a day) · Cage Trap 40%, Box Trap 30%, Crate Trap 30%, Snare Trap 30%

  Alive: Male Raccoon (Boar), Female Raccoon (Sow), Baby Raccoon (Kit) — Gray. 10–19 XP alive, 10–33 if found dead.

  Best bait (chance)

  • Carrots45%
  • Bell Pepper40%
  • Cabbage40%
  • Lettuce40%
  • Apple35%
  • Banana35%
  • + 4 more in the table below

  Zone (chance)

  • Deep forest15%
  • Forest12%
  • Vegetation10%
  • Town2%
  • Trailer park2%

Every bait, by animal

The bait's chance for each animal; a dash means that animal ignores it.

Bait	Bird	Rat	Mouse	Rabbit	Squirrel	Raccoon
Apple	—	35%	35%	35%	40%	35%
Bacon Bits	—	40%	40%	—	—	—
Banana	—	—	—	35%	—	35%
Bell Pepper	—	—	—	40%	30%	40%
Bread	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Bread Slices	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Cabbage	—	—	—	40%	—	40%
Carrots	—	—	—	45%	—	45%
Caterpillar (American Lady Caterpillar)	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Caterpillar (Banded Wooly Bear Caterpillar)	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Caterpillar (Monarch Caterpillar)	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Caterpillar (Sawfly Larva)	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Caterpillar (Silk Moth Caterpillar)	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Caterpillar (Swallowtail Caterpillar)	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Centipede	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Centipede (Centipede 2)	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Cereal	45%	—	—	—	45%	—
Cheese	—	60%	60%	—	—	—
Cockroach	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Corn	45%	—	—	35%	40%	35%
Cricket	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Grasshopper	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Instant Popcorn	—	—	—	—	40%	—
Lettuce	—	—	—	40%	40%	40%
Milk Chocolate Bar	—	30%	30%	—	—	—
Millipede	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Millipede (Millipede 2)	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Orange	—	35%	35%	—	40%	—
Peach	—	—	—	35%	35%	35%
Peanut Butter	—	40%	40%	—	45%	—
Peanuts	—	—	—	—	40%	—
Pillbug	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Potato	—	—	—	35%	—	35%
Processed Cheese	—	55%	55%	—	—	—
Termites	50%	—	—	—	—	—
Tomato	—	35%	35%	35%	—	35%
Worm	50%	—	—	—	—	—

Trap catch odds calculator

Once an hour, each animal that takes your trap and bait and lives in the zone makes two rolls out of 100: the trap's chance + the bait's chance + 1.5 per Trapping level, then the zone's chance + 1.5 per level. Every animal that passes both goes on a list, and the game picks one of them at random.

TrapCrate TrapBox TrapCage TrapSnare TrapStick TrapMouse TrapBaitAppleBananaBell PepperCabbageCarrotsCerealCornInstant PopcornLettuceOrangePeachPeanut ButterPeanutsPotatoTomatoZone the trap stands inForestDeep forestVegetationFarmlandFarmTownTrailer parkBirch forest (B42 biome)BirchMixForest (B42 biome)FarmForest (B42 biome)FarmMixForest (B42 biome)Organic forest (B42 biome)PH forest (B42 biome)PHMixForest (B42 biome)PR forest (B42 biome)Trapping level: 0

Animal	Per check, 22:00	Per check, noon	Within 24 checks
Rabbit	9.7%	not out	39%
Raccoon	9.7%	not out	39%

Over one day: a catch 77%, the bait stolen with nothing caught 19%.

One check per in-game hour, and only while the trap's square is not loaded — stand next to it and nothing walks in. The bait must still be fresh; an empty baited trap loses its bait one hour in 30.

• Traps only roll while their square is not loaded: the check returns early when you are close enough for the game to stream the trap in.
• The bait has to still be fresh; once it is not, the trap catches nothing. A catch uses the bait up.
• Where zones overlap, the trap rolls once for every zone on its square, so the same animal can get on the list twice.
• An unloaded empty trap can also be wrecked: one hour in 40 × its strength (Crate 600, Box 600, Cage 800, Snare 400, Stick 600, Mouse 2000).
• XP only goes to the player who placed the trap: 10–19 for a live animal, or the animal's random size ÷ 3 (at least 3) for a dead one.

Read from the game's Lua: TrapDefinition.lua (traps, animals, baits, zones, hours) and STrapGlobalObject.lua (the hourly roll, bait theft, damage, XP).

How to level Trapping

Trapping XP comes from collecting an animal from a trap you placed yourself. The amount follows the animal's size, with a floor of 3 XP per catch.

A higher skill raises the chance a trap catches something, and better traps need a higher level to build.

Adapted from PZwiki, Trapping (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0); shared under the same licence.

XP needed for each level

What you actually earn is scaled first. Starting with no levels in Trapping cuts every gain to ×0.25; a starting +1 is ×1, +2 ×1.33 and +3 or more ×1.66. Fast Learner adds ×1.3, Slow Learner ×0.7. How the multipliers work.

Trapping skill books

Reading a volume multiplies the Trapping XP you earn while your level is inside its range: every tenth of the book read adds a tenth of the multiplier. The game lets you open a volume from one level below its range, and not once you are past it (ISReadABook.lua).

• 

  Trapping I: "Basic Pest Control"

  Levels

  1–2

  Pages

  220

  XP up to

  ×3

  Where it spawns →/additem "Base.BookTrapping1"
• 

  Trapping II: "Better Trapping, with Dean"

  Levels

  3–4

  Pages

  260

  XP up to

  ×5

  Where it spawns →/additem "Base.BookTrapping2"
• 

  Trapping III: "Park Rangers Wildlife Handbook '93"

  Levels

  5–6

  Pages

  300

  XP up to

  ×8

  Where it spawns →/additem "Base.BookTrapping3"
• 

  Trapping IV: "Research on Rodents and Mammals of Kentucky"

  Levels

  7–8

  Pages

  340

  XP up to

  ×12

  Where it spawns →/additem "Base.BookTrapping4"
• 

  Trapping V: "The Encyclopedia of Applied Animal Psychology"

  Levels

  9–10

  Pages

  380

  XP up to

  ×16

  Where it spawns →/additem "Base.BookTrapping5"

Multipliers from the game's skill-book table (lua/server/XpSystem/XPSystem_SkillBook.lua); “where it spawns” opens the map's item finder on the loot tables.

Start with Trapping

Levels a new character gets in Trapping — and, through them, a faster XP rate (see above):

• Park Rangeroccupation · +1
• Hikertrait · +1

Trapping from TV and VHS

1 Life and Living show give 400 XP in Trapping. 1 VHS tape give 500 XP. Both stop counting once the skill reaches level 3 in the default sandbox settings, and before the multipliers above. Shows and tapes, by name.

Recipes you learn by levelling Trapping

Reaching the level teaches the recipe — no magazine needed.

• Lv 2Make Stick Trap
• Lv 4Make Crate Trap
• Lv 5Make Cage Trap
• Lv 6Make Snare Trap
• Lv 8Make Box Trap

What Trapping unlocks (3)

Crafting and building recipes that need a Trapping level. “Must be learned” recipes also need a magazine, a TV show or an occupation that teaches them.

Level	Recipe	Also needs
1	Make Snare Trapmust be learned	—
2	Make Box Trapmust be learned	Carpentry 1
3	Make Cage Trapmust be learned	—