SCUM: How to Configure NPC Vehicle Damage in Custom Zones

Treat NPC and player damage as separate permissions

SCUM’s October 2026 update adds three custom-zone settings for NPC damage to vehicles. These controls are separate from player vehicle-damage settings. For a zone intended to protect vehicles from particular NPC attacks, configure the NPC permissions themselves rather than assuming the player-damage controls cover the same sources. [1]

The release notes explicitly direct server owners to configure these settings separately. This guide is for that server-owner task; it does not describe a permission that a regular player can enforce on someone else’s server. [1]

Choose whether NPC melee may damage vehicles

NPC Melee Damage to Vehicles defaults to Allow. Decide whether ordinary NPC melee damage should be allowed in the zone. Keep the default when that damage belongs in the zone’s rules, or change this dedicated permission when defining protection from this attack category. The documented default is permission to damage vehicles, not protection. [1]

Steps

1. Configure NPC Melee Damage to Vehicles for the custom zone’s intended melee rule. [1]

Configure NPC melee-weapon damage separately

NPC Melee Weapon Damage to Vehicles is a second control, also defaulting to Allow. Its separate listing matters when the desired rules differ between NPC melee and NPC melee-weapon attacks. Review both controls instead of treating either name as a catch-all for every close-range NPC attack. [1]

Steps

1. Set NPC Melee Weapon Damage to Vehicles to match the zone’s melee-weapon rule. [1]

Disable projectile permission for protection from NPC shots

The third permission, NPC Projectile Damage to Vehicles, defaults to Allow. The developer supplies a concrete configuration example: disable this setting for a zone when the aim is preventing NPC projectile damage to vehicles. This change targets that specific damage source; the two NPC melee controls remain separate decisions. [1]

Use the projectile setting for this case, rather than changing a player-damage permission and expecting it to control NPC shots. [1]

Steps

1. Disable NPC Projectile Damage to Vehicles in the chosen zone when blocking NPC projectile damage is the intended rule. [1]

Keep default regions and their permissions distinct

The same release fixes permanent deletion of default custom-zone regions and says those regions can no longer be deleted. Configure the relevant permissions within the available zone framework; removing a protected default region is not a documented step for applying the new damage rules. [1]