TV and VHS skill shows

For the first nine days the Life and Living channel teaches skills on the hour, and skill VHS tapes do the same at any time while you have power. This page has the schedule, the tapes and the rules. Updated for Build 42.21 Stable and 42.22 Pre-Release, November 2026.

A night street in Knox Country — Keep a TV running while the power lasts · Official image, The Indie Stone

01Part

Life and Living schedule

Life and Living is on channel 203. Day 1 is July 9 on the default calendar. XP below is the raw amount before your multipliers (one source).

Day	Time	Skill	XP
1	00:00	Fishing	300
1	06:00	Cooking	450
1	12:00	Carpentry	300
1	18:00	Fishing	250
2	06:00	Cooking	300
2	12:00	Carpentry	300
2	18:00	Farming	300
3	06:00	Cooking	250
3	12:00	Carpentry	400
3	18:00	Fishing	300
4	06:00	Cooking	350
4	12:00	Carpentry	300
5	06:00	Cooking	300
5	12:00	Carpentry	450
5	18:00	Foraging	200
6	06:00	Cooking	250
6	12:00	Carpentry	300
6	18:00	Trapping	400
7	06:00	Cooking	350
7	12:00	Carpentry	450
7	18:00	Foraging	400
8	06:00	Cooking	500
8	18:00	Carpentry	150
9	06:00	Cooking	300

On a 9 AM start the day 1 midnight and 06:00 shows are already over. You must be awake, near a powered TV tuned to the channel, and you only get each show once. The other channels are on radio and lore.

02Part

Skill VHS tapes

Series	Episodes	Skill
Woodcraft	1 to 7	Carpentry
The Cook Show	1 to 7	Cooking
Carzone	1 to 3	Mechanics
Exposure Survival	1 to 8	Fishing, Farming, Carpentry, Foraging or Trapping, by episode

Find them in video stores and houses. Play them in a ValuTech or Premium Technologies TV with power: right-click the TV, insert the tape and turn it on. The antique TV only shows broadcasts. Watch to the end to get the XP; each episode pays once per character, so a second copy is worthless to you.

03Part

The level 3 cap

TV and tape XP stops once the skill reaches the sandbox Maximum Media XP Level, which is 3 on the standard presets. A skill book’s XP multiplier also applies to TV and tape XP, so read the matching book first. On a dedicated server the cap lives in the server’s SandboxVars file; see hosting a server.

04Part

Tapes and XP totals

There are 19 TV and radio channels. Of 283 tapes, 62 teach a skill: 48 shop-bought (Retail) tapes and 14 home tapes. Each teaching line gives 50 XP, once per character. (One source: pindrop.gg.)

Skill	Total tape XP
Carpentry	2,500
Cooking	2,200
Agriculture	1,700
Welding	1,650
First Aid	1,600
Electrical	900
Aiming	500
Knapping	300

05Part

Our take: what the tapes are worth in levels

We matched each skill’s tape XP to the shared XP ladder (75, 225, 525, 1,275, 2,775 for levels 1 to 5), so you can see what a full set is worth before you go hunting for them:

Skill	Tape XP	Roughly takes you to
Carpentry	2,500	Almost level 5
Cooking	2,200	Well past level 4
Agriculture	1,700	Past level 4
Welding	1,650	Past level 4
First Aid	1,600	Past level 4
Electrical	900	Past level 3
Aiming	500	Just short of level 3
Knapping	300	Past level 2

This is a best case: raw XP before the starting-level multiplier, and some tapes stop counting at a set level. Still, a full Carpentry set is the single most valuable stack of tapes in the game.

06Part

Quick answers

What channel is Life and Living?

Channel 203.

How long does Life and Living run?

The schedule lists shows for the first nine days.

Can you rewatch a VHS tape for XP?

No. Each episode gives XP once per character.

Why did TV stop giving me XP?

The skill reached the Maximum Media XP Level, 3 by default.

Do I need power for VHS tapes?

Yes, a powered ValuTech or Premium Technologies TV, from the grid or a generator.

The schedule and XP values come from one Build 42.19 guide; tape details from a server host’s guide. Sources: PZFans TV schedule · FreakHosting VHS tapes. Your game is the final word: if it disagrees with us, tell us and we will fix the page.