7 days to die turret not working

The Sledge and Robotic turrets are not the same as the SMG and Shotgun turrets.

The Sledge/Robotic ones are meant to be like assistants to your character in the field, not a base defense. Only one will work at a time unless you have a high level Robotics skill, at which point 2 will work; always the 2 closest to your character. Further, they have a maximum range at which they can function, and will stop after that distance; this distance is increased by the Robotics perk as well.

Table of Contents Show

Manually firing the Junk Turret:
Placing and using the Junk Turret:
Crafting The Junk Turret:
Increase your intelligence:
Adding points into the Turrets Syndrome skill:
Why are my turrets not working 7 days to die?
How many turrets can you use in 7 days to die?
Can you repair a turret rust?

Think of them as mobile placable defenses.

by Kegan Mooney Published: November 24, 2020Last Updated on November 1, 2021

One of the best additions to 7 Days To Die (AKA: 7DTD) were the junk turrets, but due to the updated skill system, players are wondering how to use junk turrets in 7 days to die. Questions arose, like, do they need power, how do you place them, and how do you reload them?

The answer to using turrets in 7 Days To Die is much simpler than you may think.

Manually firing the Junk Turret:

Unless you happened to have it in your active Hotbar, you may not have thought to try using it as a weapon, but believe it or not, the turret can be picked up and manually fired.

You will need to have crafted some ammo and then press R while holding the Junk Turret to make sure it’s loaded, once loaded, use it as if it were any other gun.

Placing and using the Junk Turret:

If you are ready to use the turret, simply right click your mouse button, but make sure you have pressed R to reload it first.

You will then see either a red or green version of the turret. Find a suitable place and right-click again to place the turret down.

The part that has people confused is powering the Junk Turret in 7 Days To Die. But this doesn’t need to be done, the Junk Turret is completely self-powered, as long as you are within close proximity to it.

To start with, you can only use one turret per person, until you have unlocked a relevant skill that will allow a second. However, you can place more than one turret, but only the closest one will work, unless that has run out of ammo, in which if another is close that will take over.

Crafting The Junk Turret:

You may have picked one of these up and thought I don’t need to craft one, or level up in the skill, but that would be wrong. There are a few benefits to ensuring you level up this perk.

Increase your intelligence:

The first thing you want to do is make sure to sink some points into the intelligence skill, this will allow you to unlock more points into the Turrets Syndrome skill.

Not only will this help you to increase the Turrets Syndrome skill, but it will also have the added benefit of increasing your headshot damage with the turrets as well as stun batons.

Adding points into the Turrets Syndrome skill:

Next, you want to start putting points into the Turrets Syndrome skill, which will give you the following benefits:

Level 1: Craft level 2 turrets, deal 10% more damage, fire 30% faster range increased
Level 2: Craft level 3 turrets, deal 20% more damage, 60% faster fire rate, further range increase
Level 3: Craft level 4 turrets, deal 30% more damage, 90% faster fire rate, reload 30 extra rounds and further range increase
Level 4: Craft level 5 turrets, deal 40% more damage, 120% faster fire rate, reload 40 extra rounds, reload 10 quicker, further range increase
Level 5: Reload 20% faster, reload with 50 extra rounds, further range increase and deploy two turrets

So reaching level 5 and having two active turrets at once, could mean the difference between life and death during a blood moon.

Now you know how to use junk turrets in 7 Days to Die, why not take a look at the rest of our guides and news for 7 Days to Die, such as our guide on creating the 7 Days to Die mini bike.

Kegan Mooney

Kegan eats, sleeps, and lives for gaming, from a young age he could be found playing his Amiga, during his teenage years he progressed to modding games, which later landed him several roles in the gaming industry. He co-founded unboxedreviews.com so he could find an excuse to play even more games.

Why are my turrets not working 7 days to die?

Although it can be placed on horizontally on walls, the turret won't work if it is not placed upright. The turret will only accept standard ammunition. You can not load AP or HP ammo. Turrets are very likely to trigger the explosives on Demolisher zombies.

How many turrets can you use in 7 days to die?

Achieving level 5 of the perk Robotics Inventor will allow a player to have two active turrets at a time.

Can you repair a turret rust?

To repair a damaged Auto Turret simply hit it with a hammer with some High Quality Metal in your inventory. The Auto Turret will lose a portion of its durability every time it is picked up. If a player attacks an Auto Turret from behind, it will swing around 180 degrees and shoot the offending player.