Field terms
State of Decay 3 Glossary
23 terms · searchable
State of Decay 3 has its own vocabulary, from Plague Nests and personas to enclaves, untethered co-op and maker culture. Most of these terms change how you play: a nest's persona decides how fast it spreads, untethered co-op lets friends split up across the map, and maker culture means you build weapons instead of finding them.
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A Bloater advances through an orange-lit industrial building.
All terms
23 of 23 terms shown
- Plague Nest
- A dungeon-like enemy hub at the centre of an infestation network. It rolls a persona, grows as your community grows, sends zombies toward your settlements and holds some of the best loot in the game. Read more
- Plague Heart
- The infestation core from State of Decay 2. In the sequel, hearts are nodes on a nest's network: threatened ones call reinforcements such as Juggernauts, and destroyed ones come back over time. Read more
- Persona
- The behaviour set a Plague Nest rolls when it appears. Some personas spread quickly toward you, while others stay close and grow very tough, so no two nests play the same way. Read more
- Blister node
- A growth inside an infestation that pops and spews gas when disturbed. Blister nodes sit alongside spitters in the biological mass that defends a Plague Nest. Read more
- Plague War
- The territory struggle between your community and spreading infestations. When infestations surround a settlement, the Plague War can force the whole community to pack up and relocate. Read more
- Freak
- A special zombie with its own abilities. The four confirmed freaks are the Bloater, Feral, Screamer and Juggernaut, designed to play off each other in mixed fights with ordinary zombies. Read more
- Bloater
- A swollen freak that spews flammable bile. Throw a Molotov into the bile and the pool catches fire, spreading flames to every zombie standing in it. Read more
- Feral
- A returning freak that moves low on all fours. How it attacks has not been shown yet, so keep track of it in fights where a Bloater also turns up. Read more
- Screamer
- A freak redesigned with exposed, molten lungs that glow through its chest. It was the first freak revealed for the sequel, back in June 2024. Read more
- Juggernaut
- The largest freak in the series at about ten feet tall. Juggernauts arrive as reinforcements when you threaten a Plague Heart, so expect one during infestation raids. Read more
- Enclave
- An independent survivor group with its own wants. You can build trust with an enclave, form an alliance and eventually recruit its members into your own community. Read more
- Settlement
- A base your community claims and builds up. You can hold up to three at once, each with its own specialisation and often a perk from its former use. Read more
- Facility
- A structure built inside a settlement. Named examples include the Ammo Press and the Explosives Shop, and an infirmary staffed with medical experts speeds up injury recovery. Read more
- Community is Survival
- The official tagline of State of Decay 3. It sums up the series' idea that a group of ordinary people working together outlasts any lone hero. Read more
- Blood plague
- The infection that nearly wiped out humankind and still grips the world years after the outbreak. Plague Nests and Plague Hearts are its strongholds on the map. Read more
- Permadeath
- The rule that a survivor who dies is gone for good. There is no reload to bring them back, which is why spreading risky jobs across several survivors matters. Read more
- Wall of remembrance
- A memorial shelf of candles, photos and keepsakes that grows as your community loses members. New narrative systems give the death of a long-time survivor extra weight. Read more
- Untethered co-op
- Co-op in which friends can roam the whole map independently instead of staying near a host. Up to four players can split up and still build the same community. Read more
- Maker culture
- The sequel's idea that survivors rebuild and upcycle their gear. It explains bent golf clubs, serrated and rebar-backed machetes, crafted crossbows and bombs made from boom boxes or kettles. Read more
- Quick attack / power attack
- The two melee inputs that replace State of Decay 2's single attack button. Together with the new dodge, they let you choose between speed and force in close fights. Read more
- Player Council
- A group of dedicated fans, content creators and moderators who give Undead Labs feedback on builds. Its members spent a weekend at the Seattle studio in June 2026. Read more
- Xbox Play Anywhere
- A program where one purchase covers both the Xbox console version and the Xbox app version on PC, with cloud saves carrying progress between them. Read more