Unturned features several different gamemodes, all of which consist of the same basic concept of zombie survival. The game also has multiple difficulty settings.

Survival (Singleplayer)
The game starts by dropping the player off on a map of their choice. (Prince Edward Island (PEI), Yukon, Washington, Russia, Hawaii, or a custom one made by the community, or the player.)[2] With nothing in their possession, players must find weapons to survive against zombies, as well as find supplies to keep them from dying of starvation, thirst, disease, or in the case of Yukon and other winter maps, cold. As the player progresses through the game, they gain experience points from killing zombies or gathering resources, which can then be used for boosts and for crafting.

Survival (Multiplayer)
Unturned's multiplayer survival mode allows multiple players to play together on the same map. Players can choose to team up to defend against the randomly spawning zombies, and to collect items, or players can choose to battle each other, and fight over the items. The game also has a feature where the player can be in a group with friends in a form of "team". This "team" gives player the ability to see each other on the map as well as open doors owned by other members of the group, as well as disabling friendly fire among members of the group. This also allows sharing of other locked items such as cars and lockers