Configuring your DayZ server

This guide covers the configuration files on a DayZ server: where they live, what each setting in serverDZ.cfg actually changes, and which ones are worth touching. For first boot and connecting, see Getting started with your DayZ server.

1. Where the Config Lives

serverDZ.cfg sits at the server root, alongside mpmissions/, keys/ and any @ModName folders. Edit it through the File Manager on your rented DayZ server, or over SFTP.

It is not the only file that shapes a server. The split is worth knowing before you go looking for a setting in the wrong place:

Loot tuning lives in the mission files, not here. That trips people up regularly: there is no loot multiplier in serverDZ.cfg.

2. The File

hostname = "My GSK DayZ Server";
password = "";
passwordAdmin = "STRONG_ADMIN_PASSWORD";
maxPlayers = 60;
verifySignatures = 2;
forceSameBuild = 1;
disableVoN = 0;
vonCodecQuality = 20;
disable3rdPerson = 0;
disableCrosshair = 0;
serverTime = "SystemTime";
serverTimeAcceleration = 1;
serverNightTimeAcceleration = 1;
serverTimePersistent = 0;
guaranteedUpdates = 1;
loginQueueConcurrentPlayers = 5;
loginQueueMaxPlayers = 500;
instanceId = 1;
storageAutoFix = 1;
class Missions {
    class DayZ {
        template = "dayzOffline.chernarusplus";
    };
};

steamQueryPort = 27016;

3. Identity and Access

passwordAdmin is not what gives you an admin menu

It authenticates BattlEye RCon, which is a separate tool from anything in game. In-game admin needs a mod — see DayZ Admin Commands: BattlEye RCon and Admin Tools.

4. Security and Version Locking

A third belongs with them, and it is missing from most stock configs:

allowFilePatching = 0;

allowFilePatching = 1 lets clients join with unpacked game data. Bohemia's modding documentation uses it deliberately when testing a mod that is not signed yet — which is precisely why it does not belong on a live server. Leave it at 0 in production; combined with verifySignatures = 2 that is what keeps modified client data out.

These settings prevent the most common connection failures. verifySignatures = 2 is why every mod's key has to be copied into the server's keys/ folder — a missing key shows up as players being rejected at connect, not as a mod error. forceSameBuild = 1 produces the "Wrong session state" message when the server has fallen behind a game update; the fix is a restart to pick up the current build.

5. Gameplay Feel

disable3rdPerson = 1 is the single biggest identity choice here. First-person-only servers play very differently — no peeking over walls — and players filter for it, so it belongs in your hostname if you set it.

6. Time and the Day/Night Cycle

serverTimeAcceleration = 12;
serverNightTimeAcceleration = 6;
serverTimePersistent = 1;

What acceleration 12 works out to

Acceleration 12 means one in-game hour per five real minutes, so players see both day and night inside a single session. Left at 1, a player who logs in at night only ever sees night.

Night acceleration is separate because unaccelerated DayZ nights are genuinely dark and most communities want them shorter than the days.

7. The Login Queue

Concurrent logins are throttled because loading a player is expensive. Raising it on a busy server makes joins spikier, not faster.

8. Persistence

instanceId is the wipe lever. World state is stored per instance in mpmissions/<mission>/storage_<id>/, so changing it starts a fresh world while leaving the old slot untouched on disk — useful when you want a clean map without discarding what was there.

Take a backup before changing instanceId

The old data survives, but it is easy to lose track of which slot held what. Snapshot from the Backups tab first.

9. Mission Selection

class Missions {
    class DayZ {
        template = "dayzOffline.chernarusplus";
    };
};

The stock templates:

Community maps — Namalsk, Banov, Pripyat, Esseker, DeerIsle — are a mod plus a mission folder, and both are needed. The full procedure is in How to Install Mods on a DayZ Server: Folders and Keys.

10. Ports

steamQueryPort is the one to get right. DayZ lists servers by query port, not game port, so a server that runs perfectly but never appears in the browser is almost always a query port problem rather than anything in the rest of this file.

11. Message of the Day

motd[] = {"Welcome to our server", "Read the rules on Discord"};
motdInterval = 300;

Messages cycle in chat every motdInterval seconds. Keep the list short — it repeats forever, and long rotations read as spam.

12. Applying Changes

Nothing here is live-editable

DayZ reads serverDZ.cfg at boot. Stop the server, edit, start. Editing a running server means your changes are overwritten when it shuts down.

The safe order: stop from the Console tab, wait for the server to report offline, edit, start, then watch the boot log.

13. FAQ

Where is the DayZ server config file?

serverDZ.cfg, at the server root — the same level as mpmissions/ and keys/.

How do I increase loot on a DayZ server?

Not from this file. Loot is controlled by types.xml in mpmissions/<mission>/db/; raise nominal and min on the items you care about. The full breakdown is in How to Increase Loot on a DayZ Server (types.xml).

How do I make my server first-person only?

disable3rdPerson = 1, then restart. Put it in the hostname too — players filter for it.

Why doesn't my server appear in the browser?

Check steamQueryPort before anything else. DayZ lists by query port, so a wrong value hides a server that is otherwise running fine.

Why do my settings keep reverting?

The server was running when you edited. DayZ writes its own state on shutdown and overwrites your changes. Always stop first.

How do I wipe the world but keep the map?

Change instanceId. The old world stays on disk in its own storage_<id> folder; the server starts fresh in the new slot.

14. What to Read Next

• Getting started with your DayZ server — first boot, maps, and how types.xml entries are structured
• DayZ Admin Commands: BattlEye RCon and Admin Tools — BattlEye RCon, CommunityOnlineTools and VPPAdminTools
• How to Install Mods on a DayZ Server: Folders and Keys — mod folders, keys and load order

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