Think mincraft with zombies.
Its honestly not THAT hard...buuuuuut we do have it set to difficulty 4 out of 5, with high enemy spawn soooooo...
However, I have it set so a lot of the player buffs are well...buffed...
Like I have it set where if you are under level 21, no enemies will immediately spawn around you for 21 in game hours. Also you start with a land claim block, and once you place that, it SHOULD buff all blocks you place after that within a 21 block radius. Not to mention zombies stop hunting you after 21 seconds of them not knowing where you are...im kinda partial to the number 21. lol.
Soooo...lots of strong zombies if you are over level 21 and exploring. Not so many if you are under 21 and just building around your base.
I also modified a few other random settings to make it...different...
such as there use to be air drops with good shit once a day that would show up on the map. I switched it to 2 a day without showing up on the map...so...lots of hidden good shit to find in later days.
My buddy likes to see how bases hold up the hordes that come every 7 days. I on the other hand, just like to focus on building the base and backup plans.