How to Run the DayZ Badlands Map (Nasdara) on Your Server

Switch a DayZ server to the Badlands map: update to 1.30, add the Nasdara mission folder, change template in serverDZ.cfg, and fix mods.

Updated September 28, 2026

DayZ

The DayZ Badlands map, Nasdara Province, runs on the same DayZ dedicated server as Chernarus, Livonia and Sakhal. There's no separate server app and no new panel option. To switch, you point the server at a different mission folder. This guide walks through doing that on a GameServerKings DayZ server: getting update 1.30, making sure the Nasdara mission files exist, changing the template line, and handling mods and players who don't own the DLC.

Badlands launches on 15 October 2026. Some details, such as the exact mission folder name, will only be confirmed at launch, and we say so where it matters. For what the expansion changes more broadly, see DayZ Badlands release date: what it changes for your server.

Before you start: what the panel does and doesn't control

The DayZ server's Startup tab has no map selector. On GSK the map is chosen by one line in serverDZ.cfg:

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

serverDZ.cfg

The panel rewrites 16 lines of serverDZ.cfg from Startup variables on every boot: hostname, passwords, max players, signature checks, time settings, the query port and so on. template isn't one of them, so an edit to it survives restarts. The full list of panel-owned lines is in Configuring your DayZ server.

A few Startup variables matter for Badlands:

Variable	Default	Why it matters
Automatic Updates	`1`	Checks for server and mod updates at every boot. This is how you get 1.30
[Repair] Validate Server Files	`0`	Verifies all server files on the next boot. Use it once if the update seems incomplete; it makes that boot slower
Enforce Game Version	`1`	Players must run the same build as the server. Leave it on
Verify Signatures	`2`	Players must have the same signed mod versions as the server
[Advanced] DayZ Dedicated Server App ID	`223350`	Stable branch. Experimental is `1042420`, but this variable is locked in the panel, so you can't switch to experimental yourself

Step 1: Back up the server

Changing the mission starts a fresh world. The old one stays on disk, but a backup makes it easy to go back if a mod update goes wrong. Take one from the Backups tab (How to create a backup) before launch day, and write down your current mod list.

Step 2: Update to 1.30

When Bohemia releases Badlands and update 1.30, restart the server. With Automatic Updates on, it pulls the new build before starting. Watch the console until it prints Mission read., which means the server has loaded the mission and is running.

If the server fails to start or players are rejected for version mismatch, turn on [Repair] Validate Server Files for one boot, then turn it off again.

Step 3: Get the Nasdara mission files

Open the Files tab and look inside mpmissions/. It holds one folder per map, for example:

mpmissions/
├── dayzOffline.chernarusplus/
├── dayzOffline.enoch/
└── … one more folder for each other map the server has

As of 28 September 2026 Bohemia hasn't published the Nasdara mission, so we can't give you its folder name yet. The official missions so far all follow the pattern dayzOffline.<map name>.

GSK installs DayZ servers through a Steam account that owns DayZ, so new official missions arrive with the server update itself. After the 1.30 update, open mpmissions/ and check for the new Nasdara folder.

If the Nasdara folder is there, skip to Step 4. This is the normal case on a GSK server.

If it isn't (for example, because automatic updates are off, or Bohemia ships the mission files separately), add it yourself:

Go to Bohemia's official DayZ-Central-Economy repository on GitHub (github.com/BohemiaInteractive/DayZ-Central-Economy). It holds the vanilla mission for each official map.
Download the repository or its newest release, and unpack it on your PC.
Find the Nasdara mission folder. If it isn't there yet, Bohemia hasn't published it. For Frostline the mission arrived there the day after launch. Check back, or contact support.
Stop the server and upload the whole folder into mpmissions/. For a folder with many files, SFTP is more reliable than the browser upload.

The same method works for Sakhal (dayzOffline.sakhal) if your mpmissions/ doesn't have it.

Don't delete mpmissions/ to force a fresh download

Your worlds are stored inside the mission folders (mpmissions/<mission>/storage_<id>/), so deleting the folder deletes them. On a server installed without DayZ ownership, a reinstall would only fetch Chernarus and Livonia anyway. Add the Nasdara folder alongside the others instead.

Folder names are case-sensitive

GSK runs the Linux DayZ server, and Linux treats dayzOffline.Enoch and dayzOffline.enoch as different folders. Upload the folder exactly as Bohemia names it, and copy that name character for character into template.

Step 4: Point the server at Nasdara

Stop the server. DayZ reads serverDZ.cfg at boot, and editing it while the server is running risks losing the change.
Open serverDZ.cfg in the root folder.
Change the template line to the name of the Nasdara mission folder from Step 3, exactly as it's spelled there:
```
template="<Nasdara mission folder name>";
```
Save and Start. Wait for Mission read. in the console.

The server now runs a fresh Nasdara world. World state lives in mpmissions/<mission>/storage_<instanceId>/, so your Chernarus world is still in its own folder. To go back, set template to dayzOffline.chernarusplus again and it loads where you left off.

Step 5: Tell players what they need

Going by the Frostline precedent, joining a Nasdara server is likely to require owning the Badlands DLC, but Bohemia hasn't confirmed that for Badlands yet. When Sakhal launched, Bohemia said that "access to servers running Sakhal requires a purchased copy of DayZ Frostline". Hosting shouldn't depend on your own purchase: the DayZ server installs through a Steam account that doesn't even need to own DayZ, and for Sakhal the ownership check applied to the players who joined.

Once Bohemia confirms the rule, put it in the server name so nobody queues up and then gets refused, for example [NASDARA] My Community | DLC required. The name is the Server Name variable in the Startup tab. It isn't in serverDZ.cfg, because the panel overwrites hostname at every boot.

If much of your community won't buy the DLC, consider running Nasdara on a second server and keeping your main one on Chernarus.

Mods on a Nasdara server

The mod files work the same way on every map. They sit at the server root and load through the Modlist File, Additional Mods and [Advanced] Server-Side Only Mods variables (How to Install Mods on a DayZ Server). What changes with a new map is everything tied to a mission folder:

Economy files are per mission. types.xml, cfgspawnabletypes.xml and any XML a mod asked you to merge live in mpmissions/<mission>/db/. Changes you made on Chernarus don't carry over. Merge them again into the Nasdara mission, one mod at a time.
Anything with coordinates is per map. Trader locations, spawn points, custom buildings placed by an editor mod, and safe zones are all positions on a specific terrain. Chernarus coordinates put objects in the wrong place on Nasdara, or outside the map.
Wait for 1.30 updates. Bohemia has warned that 1.30 may break animation-related mods. If the server won't boot after the update, remove recently changed mods one at a time until it starts. Then check each mod's Workshop page for a 1.30 update.

One approach for launch week is to run Nasdara vanilla first and add mods back once their authors have released 1.30 updates.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Server stops during boot after changing `template`	Folder name in `template` doesn't match the folder in `mpmissions/`, or the folder is missing	Compare the two names character by character; upload the mission (Step 3)
Boots, but no loot anywhere	Mission `db/` files incomplete or a merged `types.xml` is malformed	Re-upload the clean vanilla mission; merge mod XML again
Players rejected with a version message	Server or client not on 1.30	Restart with Automatic Updates on; players update their game
Players kicked for signatures	A mod on the server differs from the player's copy, or a key is missing	Update the mod on both sides; copy its key into `keys/`
Some players can't join Nasdara, others can	DLC ownership	Expected. Say so in the server name
Server not in the browser at all	Query port or network, not the map	Players Can't Connect to My Server

FAQ

Do I need to buy Badlands to host a Nasdara server?

Not for the server itself. GSK installs the server for you, and for Sakhal, Bohemia made the map's assets free for community servers and only required players to own Frostline. Expect the same for Nasdara, but check Bohemia's launch notes.

Can I run Nasdara and Chernarus at the same time?

Not on one server. A DayZ server runs one mission. Use two servers if you want both.

Can I test Badlands on the experimental branch first?

Not from the panel, because the App ID variable that switches to experimental is locked. It wouldn't help much anyway. Bohemia's 1.30 experimental notes cover motorbikes and animation changes, not the map, and pre-launch access to Nasdara went through its content creator program.