You have most likely not installed the mod correctly. Please see the Installation guide. If you're having issues, feel free to ask in the Discord[discord.gg].

You are most likely on the B41 branch on the game. Switch to B42/unstable by right-clicking Project Zomboid in Steam and selecting "Properties". From there, go to the Betas tab and select the unstable branch. Steam will now download B42.

If you are not getting tons of errors, the mod should be working. The npcs in the mod are different in the sense that they do not "orbit" you. They are distributed all over the map depending on the zombie intensity in that area. Aside from that, the npcs (currently) follow a schedule where they patrol around their house and rest during the day, and only rest during the night. The easiest way to find them is to use a walkie-talkie (portable two-way radio) and use the "Contact nearby survivors"-option. It will mark npc safehouses on your map.

First you need to find the save's directory in the Zomboid directory. If you don't know where this is, you can easily find it by, in-game, pressing "Load", selecting the save and pressing "More..." In the bottom right. Press the button that says "Open File Location". This will bring you directly to that save's directory.

To reset the npcs that are in the world, find and remove the files called map_metanpcs.bin, map_metabandits.bin, and map_npcs.bin. New npcs will be generated once you load into the save.

To reset the ones in your group completely, remove the file called player0_npcs.bin.

There is a red icon to the left of the screen with two crossed axes and a lock. That means PvP is off i.e. you cannot attack the npcs. Pressing the icon or pressing G will enable PvP.

See the inventory guide by @Hayro here.

Npcs have relationship with you and other npcs they encounter (or have encountered). It is a number between -100 and 100 that controls how much they like you or other npcs. Damaging npcs will decrease relationship. Talking to npcs will increase relationship. Some npcs will permanently dislike you and will attack you e.g. soldiers and bandits (might change in the future).

There are three factors that control whether npcs want to join you, the relationship to the people in their group, the relationship with the player, and their trusting attribute, which is a part of their personality.

A peaceful option is to speak with them regularly, until they decide to join you. If you want a more violent route, you can opt to take out some of the group members to increase the chance of them joining you.

You can ask a npc to join you by right-clicking them and selecting the "Speak" option. There will then be a dialogue option for asking them to join your group.

Right-click any building and select the option "Claim safehouse". Your character will say "Home, sweet home". This means that the safehouse is claimed.

Right-click the building you claimed and select "Release safehouse".

You can also open the NPC overview window by right-clicking a npc in the NPC overlay to the right and selecting "Settings". This window can also be opened by pressing the key left of Enter (key with ' and " on EN keyboard layout).

Via the NPC overview window, you can set various areas for the npc to use and also release your safehouse in case you aren't around it and want to claim a new one.

First, you must claim a safehouse.

After that, you can either right-click the npc in the npc overlay to the right of the screen and select "Send to safehouse" or open the NPC overview window and press the button "Send to safehouse" in that npc's row.

Open the NPC overview window and press the button "Send to group" in that npc's row.

First, you must claim a safehouse.

After that, you can issue the command to your npc(s) by right-click on them in the NPC overlay to the right and selecting "Barricade". The npc(s) will barricade your safehouse until all windows are barricaded. In case they don't have nails, planks, nor a hammer, it will be spawned in. This is temporary.

First, you must claim a safehouse.

Once you have a safehouse, open the NPC overview window and set a chop tree area.

After that, you can issue the command to your npc(s) by right-click on them in the NPC overlay to the right and selecting "Chop tree". The npcs will spawn an axe in case they don't have it. This is temporary.

First, you must claim a safehouse.

Once you have a safehouse, open the NPC overview window and set a clear corpse area and a dump corpse area.

After that, you can issue the command to your npc(s) by right-click on them in the NPC overlay to the right and selecting "Clear Corpses".

If you have a npc following you, you can mark them in the NPC overlay to the right.You do this by clicking on their "square" and it will turn red, meaning they are selected. If you hold down shift, you can select multiple.

When you do this, a new tiny window pops up with loot categories. A loot category with white text means it is selected while red text means they are not selected.

Once you have selected which npcs and what they should loot, you right-click inside of a building and select the option "Loot Building". They will loot everything inside of the building according to your selection until they have their backpack is full.

If you open up the world map, you will find that there is a NPC overlay at the top similar to the one on the game screen. Similarly to when looting you can select which npcs should loot and which loot categories they should loot.

Once you have done that, you right-click anywhere on the world map and select "Scavenge Area". The world map will close down and the npcs will go to the specified area and scavenge for loot.

Hungry npcs that are not following you will automatically try to find food, either in the safehouse if available, otherwise go scavenge out in the world. If they are following you, you can open their inventory and drop the food in the inventory. They will then eat the food automatically.

A npc which is not in a group and is not aggreesive to you can be robbed. You need to have a firearm equipped and point it at them for at least 1.5 seconds.

If the robbery is successful, they will keep their hands raised for a couple of seconds, followed by them dropping their weapon and bag. After this is done, they will run away.

There is a chance that they will not let themselves be robbed. In that case, they will raise their weapon at you. If you keep your weapon pointed at them, they will turn aggressive and attack you.