Simple Belt Flashlight+ - Hands-Free Belt Flashlights for Project Zomboid B42.20/B42.21

Simple Belt Flashlight+ improves portable lighting in Project Zomboid by allowing survivors to attach flashlights to their belts and operate them without occupying a hand.

A mounted light stays in place while you move, carry equipment or use other items. You can switch it on and off through the regular hotbar, with battery consumption and replacement working as usual.

The addon supports Build 42.20 and 42.21, provides optional integrations with popular equipment mods and can be installed in an existing save.

How to Attach a Flashlight to Your Belt

The system uses the game's familiar equipment slots and hotbar controls.

1. Equip a belt with an available attachment slot.
2. Right-click a supported flashlight in your inventory.
3. Select Attach.
4. Choose Belt Left or Belt Right.
5. Press the corresponding hotbar number to turn the light on or off.

The item remains attached while operating.

You can still insert, remove and replace batteries normally. Compatible angled flashlights can also be mounted on supported webbing slots.

Better Flashlights Integration

The optional Better Flashlights addon is supported.

When installed, all 13 of its regular handheld models can use left and right belt positions.

Supported items:

• BF_EgenerexLite
• BF_OldFlashlight
• BF_SpiffoLite
• HandTorch_Army1
• HandTorch_Army2
• HandTorch_CK_LED
• HandTorch_ManLite
• Torch1 through Torch6

Weapon-mounted lights (Torch7, TorchArmy1, TorchArmy2) retain their original behavior. The helmet-mounted BF_HeadLight is also unaffected.

Both addons can load in either order.

Additional Equipment Compatibility

Support is also provided for:

• Authentic Z: Compatible flashlight items.
• Plysken Attachments Reborn 1.6.0: Backpack attachment slots for supported lights.
• Vanilla equipment: Standard handheld flashlights.

Plysken integration is optional and independent of load order. It does not overwrite the other addon's attachment definitions.

Better Flashlights compatibility has been checked against its installed source. Current Authentic Z and Plysken source versions were not directly verified, although their compatibility mappings passed automated tests.

Build 42.20 and 42.21 Support

Version 1.0.5 introduced a dedicated package for Build 42.21 Stable.

Both packages retain the same Workshop item and internal Mod ID.

Existing saves and server configurations therefore keep their identifiers when updating within the current Workshop release.

Existing Save Compatibility

You do not need to start a new world.

The addon automatically refreshes supported flashlights found in inventories, nested bags, containers and hotbar slots.

Items already attached to belts retain their:

• Attachment position.
• Battery.
• On or off state.

For a save that has never used this system, enable it through:

Load > More > Choose Mods

Important: Remove the Old Workshop Package

Players upgrading from the original Simple Belt Flashlight must remove its previous Workshop package.

Do not install both versions together. They share the internal identifier:

FixedLightOnBeltAF

Keeping both can cause installation conflicts, including the reported SFoB_Attachments.txt black-screen error.

Cleanup Instructions

1. Close Project Zomboid and completely stop the server, if applicable.
2. Unsubscribe from the old Workshop item.
3. Remove old Workshop ID 3625933422 from the server configuration.
4. Use the current Workshop ID 3778709615.
5. Keep the existing Mod ID:

Mods=FixedLightOnBeltAF

6. If Steam leaves the old files behind, remove only:

steamapps/workshop/content/108600/3625933422

7. Let Steam download the active mod package again.

Keep DoLuaChecksum=true. Disabling checksum verification does not fix mismatched client and server installations.

When Better Flashlights is installed on a server, retain its Mod ID BetterFlashlightsFixed and Workshop ID 3420478458.

Multiplayer and Server Support

The addon is designed for single-player, hosted multiplayer and dedicated servers.

Attachment and activation rely on Project Zomboid's normal synchronization mechanisms.

However, remote flashlight visibility is not fully verified. Some players have reported that light effects disappear for others over time. Better Flashlights beams may also become invisible at longer distances.

The current update does not introduce extra synchronization packets as an unverified workaround.

Optional Diagnostic Logging

Server owners investigating visibility problems can temporarily enable:

Simple Belt Flashlight+ > Enable multiplayer diagnostic logging

This option is located in the server's Sandbox settings and is disabled by default.

After enabling it, restart the server and reproduce the issue.

Diagnostic messages begin with:

[SBFPlus:diag]

They contain numeric online and item identifiers, but no player names. Logging does not alter item state or generate additional network traffic.

For troubleshooting, collect both players' console.txt files, the server log, mods/default.txt, the exact game build, the flashlight item name and the steps required to reproduce the problem.

Disable logging after the test.

Testing Status

Automated compatibility and migration tests passed for both Build packages.

A basic 42.21 engine test also confirmed belt attachment, hotbar switching and legacy item refreshing.

Further testing is still needed for:

• Complete existing-save gameplay.
• Optional-mod interactions during actual play.
• Multiplayer sessions with two clients.
• Remote flashlight visibility over time.

Simple Belt Flashlight+ offers a convenient hands-free lighting solution without changing the game's standard battery mechanics. Its compatibility options make it suitable for survival setups that combine vanilla equipment with expanded flashlight and backpack systems.