Traders & Economy

The five traders, Dukes, and the quest economy

The five traders

Each trader has a biome preference and a specialty — inventories rotate every few in-game days, so check back rather than assuming what they have today is permanent.

Navezgane map showing the five trader locations and major city positions by biome

Real trader coordinates pulled directly from our server's own Navezgane world data — exact, not estimated. City positions are data-driven (built from actual structure-density clusters in the world files) and cross-checked against well-documented Navezgane geography; treat them as accurate approximations of the city center rather than precise building footprints. "Unnamed City" is the Wasteland city that has genuinely never had an official name across any version of the game.

Trader	Typical biome	Specialty
Rekt	Pine Forest	Food and seeds — usually your first trader
Jen	Burnt Forest / Snow	Medical supplies
Bob	Desert	Tools and vehicle parts
Hugh	Wasteland / Snow	Weapons and ammo
Joel	Wasteland / Forest	Armor

Note: Exact biome placement varies between the handcrafted Navezgane map and randomly generated worlds — treat the table above as a general pattern, not a guarantee. (Verified against our own server's map above — all five match.)

Trader compounds

Open roughly 06:00–22:00 in-game; gates lock at closing time.
Zombies cannot enter a trader compound — it's a legitimate safe spot to shelter in an emergency, including during a horde night if you're inside before closing.
You cannot place blocks inside a trader's compound.
Since V3.2: honking your vehicle's horn near a trader's outer gate opens it without dismounting — handy for a quick supply run without breaking stride. On-screen text tells you when you're close enough for it to register, and not every door responds to every vehicle.
Since V3.3: traders stock more Cooking Pots (2–4 basic ones plus 2–4 more at any quality from 1 to 6, up from 1–3), and sell 1–3 Pack Rat magazines. (The patch notes say backpacks can be bought too, but no trader stock list in the 3.3 files includes them.)

Quests and progression

Completing quest tiers with your current trader unlocks a "special job" that sends you to the next trader in the chain — this is how you discover new traders rather than stumbling onto them randomly. Quest rewards scale with tier: higher-tier quests pay better in XP and Dukes but come with denser, tougher zombie spawns (including feral and radiated), so save Tier 5–6 quests for when you're geared up or running with a group.

Dukes (currency)

Dukes are earned primarily through quest completion and selling loot. Use them to buy gear, ammo, and vehicle parts you haven't been able to find or craft yet — a trader run is often faster than grinding out a missing component yourself.