Direct answer: on the default Apocalypse settings, the water supply shuts off on a random day
between day 0 and day 30, and electricity shuts off on a random day between day 14 and day 30 —
both windows measured in whole in-game days, not hours. The two shutoffs are not linked; either can
happen before the other. Electricity gives a warning (the AEBS radio broadcast, up to two days
ahead); water does not. The ElecShutModifier and WaterShutModifier sandbox fields you would
change to move those windows are also day-based, per the developer’s own method descriptions:
“Random the number of day for the water shut off” / “…for the electricity shut off.” Below is a
day-to-date converter for planning around either window.
Correction — 5 September 2026: this page previously said the shutoff modifiers were hours and recommended entering 2,160 for 90 days. That advice was incorrect. The developer’s SandboxOptions documentation describes the electricity and water randomization methods in days. The old hours-based instructions and guaranteed dates have been withdrawn.
Identify the setting before changing its value
A preset selector and a numeric modifier are different inputs. Record the exact option name, game version, whether the world already exists, and whether it is single-player or a server. A number without that context is not enough to predict a shutoff.
| What you are looking at | What to check | How to use this page |
|---|---|---|
ElecShut or WaterShut range preset | The selected range in your version’s interface | A range is not a guaranteed date; plan for its earliest boundary |
ElecShutModifier or WaterShutModifier | The stored day value and when your version initializes it | Read as a day-based modifier, not a count of hours |
| A mod’s custom option | That mod’s documentation and unit label | Convert only after confirming the unit |
| An existing save with utilities already off | Saved state and version-specific behavior | A future date in this calculator does not switch utilities back on |
Back up your save before testing a setting change and inspect the resulting stored value after the world has loaded — see “Not yet confirmed” above for the ordering question this page cannot answer.
Compare a duration with a calendar date
The tool below is arithmetic: an elapsed number of days added to a reference date. Use the reference date appropriate to your save; it is not necessarily the date your current character spawned. The result is a planning date, not a game-state inspection. Hours remain available only for comparing a separately documented hours-based input.
Utility duration and date planner
- Power planning date
- day 91 1993-10-07 · 90d survived · ~90 h of play
- Water planning date
- day 91 1993-10-07 · 90d survived · ~90 h of play
- Target duration in selected units
- 90 90 elapsed days; verify your save settings
Hours comparison selected. The game modifiers discussed here use days.
Arithmetic only. Day-based modifiers differ from range presets. Real-time conversion assumes a 60-minute game day, with no sleep, pause or fast-forward.
| Planning interval | Days | Equivalent hours |
|---|---|---|
| One week | 7 | 168 |
| Two weeks | 14 | 336 |
| Thirty days | 30 | 720 |
| Ninety days | 90 | 2,160 |
Thirty days is not always a calendar month. The date conversion uses elapsed calendar days, and its numbered day convention calls the reference date day 1. A game or server log may use a different day-zero convention. Compare dates and elapsed time before treating a one-day label difference as a bug.
A useful check in your own save
- Copy the exact preset and modifier names, values and build number into a local note.
- Record the world’s reference date separately from the character’s start date.
- If testing a new world, read the settings again after initialization rather than assuming a typed value survived initialization.
- For a random range, keep both endpoints. A single date hides the uncertainty you are trying to manage.
- Plan food and water access before the earliest plausible cutoff. This is a contingency plan, not a claim that the calculator has read the game’s timer.
The shared calculator link records only the values you enter. It does not include your save, mods or the selected game’s preset. Include that context when asking someone else to reproduce a discrepancy.
Sources
- Developer API: SandboxOptions — re-checked 22 September 2026 (first checked 5 September 2026).
randomWaterShutandrandomElectricityShutare each still documented as “Random the number of day for the water/electricity shut off”; the API reference is not a version-pinned save-file execution trace. - PZwiki, Metagame — re-checked 22 September 2026. Default Apocalypse windows unchanged: water shutoff random day 0–30, electricity shutoff random day 14–30, the two are not linked, and electricity is announced on the AEBS up to two days ahead while water is unannounced. Page still stamped 42.13.2 against 42.20.4 stable.
