The original
DayZ: the game that started it all
Before there's a DayZ 2, there's DayZ: a 2012 Arma mod that became one of the most unforgiving survival games ever made. Everything the sequel inherits starts here.
History
From a mod to a decade-long survival game
DayZ began as a free modification for Arma 2 by Dean Hall, a New Zealander who had the idea while serving in the army. It dropped players into the fictional post-Soviet region of Chernarus with nothing, surrounded by infected and other players, and let them work it out. Within months it had a million unique players and had pushed a three-year-old military sim to the top of Steam's sales chart for more than seven weeks.
- 2012The DayZ mod spreads by word of mouth. By August it has one million unique users and is credited with over 300,000 Arma 2 sales in two months. On 7 August Hall announces a standalone game with Bohemia Interactive.
- 16 DEC 2013DayZ standalone launches on Steam Early Access. Over 172,500 copies sell in the first 24 hours; a million by January, two million by May 2014.
- 2014–2017The long early-access years. Bohemia buys Cauldron Studios to add developers, rebuilds the game on its own Enfusion engine, and ships a new player controller, animation system and audio. Hall leaves Bohemia in 2014.
- 2018Xbox One preview in August. On 13 December, five years after early access, version 1.0 releases on PC.
- 2019Full Xbox One release (27 March) and PS4 (29 May). Update 1.06 adds the Livonia map as paid DLC, plus bears, fishing and new firearms. Australia briefly refuses classification over a cannabis item; Bohemia removes it.
- 2020–2023Steady 1.x updates: base building improvements, new weapons, dynamic events, contaminated gas zones, NBC gear, the hunting and cooking rework, and official modding tools. Livonia later becomes free for base-game owners.
- OCT 2024Frostline expansion adds Sakhal, a frozen volcanic archipelago, and a deep cold-weather survival layer. The game hits its all-time Steam peak of 78,739 concurrent players the month before.
- 2026Native Xbox Series X|S version in April. Update 1.29 "Road to Badlands" in July reworks loot. On 15 October, Badlands launches with update 1.30: Nasdara, the biggest map yet, two-wheeled vehicles, and rebuilding.
Maps
Four official worlds
Chernarus
The original. About 225 km² of post-Soviet countryside: a long southern coast where you spawn, forests and farmland inland, and the military airfields in the north-west and north-east where the best loot (and the most gunfire) lives.
Livonia
A landlocked, Polish-speaking region modelled on central Europe. Smaller and denser than Chernarus, with rivers, lakes, thick forest and rain that will soak you. Released as DLC in 2019, later made free.
Sakhal
A volcanic polar archipelago from the Frostline expansion. Cold is the enemy: you need insulated clothing, you thaw frozen food, and eating unfiltered snow poisons you. Boats matter, and hot springs are lifelines.
Nasdara
The newest and largest map, from Badlands. A landlocked desert province on Takistan's western border: deep valleys, ridgelines, mud-built towns, sandstorms, scarce water and a sun that drains you. Thousands of ruined houses can be rebuilt.
Chernarus and Livonia share the same seasons and systems. Sakhal and Nasdara each bring their own survival pressure: cold on one, heat and thirst on the other.
Timeline
Release calendar, 2019 to today
The dates that matter if you want to know what is in the game you are about to buy.
- SEP 2019Livonia is announced as DayZ's first DLC map, built from the map made for the Arma 3 Contact expansion. It ships with update 1.06.
- 9 MAY 2024Frostline is announced: a snow-covered volcanic map for the fall, plus a free game-wide update and Livonia folded into the base game.
- 1 OCT 2024Selected creators get early access to Frostline.
- 15 OCT 2024Frostline launches on Steam with the Sakhal archipelago, frostbite, frozen food, boats and a reworked fishing system.
- 27 JUN 2025Badlands is announced as the third expansion: a 267 km² desert province called Nasdara, planned for 2026 on PC, PlayStation and Xbox.
- APR 2026DayZ gets a native Xbox Series X|S version.
- 15 JUL 2026Update 1.29 "Road to Badlands" reworks loot placement and adds Nasdara items and military convoys to Chernarus and Livonia.
- 27 AUG 2026Bohemia confirms the Badlands date on Steam.
- 8 OCT 2026Selected creators get early access to Badlands.
- 15 OCT 2026Badlands and update 1.30 go live on all platforms, with a full wipe of official servers.
Atlas
The four maps side by side
Bigger is not always better: Nasdara is the largest, but Sakhal is the smallest and the hardest on your body. Areas are approximate.
Sources disagree on Sakhal: the Frostline wiki gives 83 km² in one place and about 105 km² in another, and Bohemia's release says "80+".
| Map | Climate | Main pressure | Where you start |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chernarus | Temperate, post-Soviet | Other players, airfields, cold nights | The southern coast |
| Livonia | Late summer, wet | Rain, bears, dense forest | Spawn points around the map |
| Sakhal | Late winter, snow | Cold, frostbite, heavy metal poisoning | The coast of the archipelago |
| Nasdara | Arid spring, desert | Water, sun, sandstorms | Spawn points inland |
Places worth knowing
Chernarus
Chernogorsk and Elektrozavodsk on the south coast are the big loot towns. The Northwest Airfield and the Tisy military base are the high-risk, high-reward zones. Berezino, Stary Sobor, Novodmitrovsk, Zelenogorsk, Vybor, Gorka and Svetlojarsk fill in the rest.
Livonia
Smaller towns and wide forests. Topolin, Brena, Nadbor, Polana, Radunin and Lukow are the names you will see most in chat. Expect fewer buildings and more walking.
Survival
How your character actually dies
DayZ tracks a handful of linked stats and most deaths come from ignoring one of them. Health is your life bar. Blood regenerates health; lose too much and your vision greys out, then you pass out. Shock builds from hits and falls and knocks you unconscious when it spikes. Energy (food) and hydration (water) drive regeneration: when both are high you heal, when either is empty you slowly die. Temperature sits underneath all of it.
Eat until the icon is white and full. Canned food and cooked meat are safe; raw meat and bad water make you sick.
Wells and water pumps are always safe. Ponds, rivers and snow need purification tablets or boiling.
Bandage or rag immediately. Blood comes back on its own if you keep eating and drinking.
Wet clothes and night air drain heat. Dry off, layer up, light a fire. Overheating is just as real on Nasdara.
Sickness
- Cholera from dirty water. Tetracycline, or wait it out with lots of clean water.
- Salmonella from raw or rotten food. Charcoal tablets or tetracycline.
- Influenza from being cold and wet too long. Warm up, rest, tetracycline if it gets bad; since Frostline it can become pneumonia.
- Wound infection from bandaging with dirty rags. Disinfect rags first, or treat with tetracycline.
- Chemical poisoning from gas zones and bad pills. Only NBC gear prevents it; the cure is a specific antidote.
- Heavy metal poisoning from eating unfiltered snow on Sakhal.
- Kuru from eating human meat. Permanent uncontrollable laughter and shaking. No cure.
Threats
Infected, animals, players, weather
Infected
Not zombies in the shambling sense: fast, loud and drawn to noise. One is manageable with a melee weapon; a gunshot in a town brings the whole street. Military infected hit harder and wear gear you can loot.
Wolves and bears
Wolf packs hunt in the forests and will chase you into the open; a bear takes a full magazine and still reaches you. Both drop meat, pelts and fat if you win.
Other players
The real game. Some will help you, most will shoot you for a can of beans, and you never know which until it's too late. Voice chat carries, so talk before you walk into a room.
The map itself
Rain soaks you, night freezes you, gas zones kill you without a mask, and on Sakhal and Nasdara the climate is a constant drain. Falls break legs; a splint is a day-one craft.
Gear
What's worth carrying
Loot is placed by a server-side economy, so items spawn where they make sense: tools in sheds, food in kitchens, rifles in military tents, medical supplies in clinics. Since update 1.29 the spread is more deliberate, with some hunting weapons only near farms and body armour rarer.
- Melee: anything beats fists. A knife skins animals and makes rags; an axe cuts trees for a fire or a base.
- Hunting rifles: the bolt-action Mosin, the BK-43 shotgun and the scoped Tundra are common inland and kill reliably.
- Military rifles: the M4-A1 and KA-M family (AKM pattern), the LAR battle rifle and the VSS and SVD marksman rifles live at airfields, bunkers and convoys. Badlands added the SCR-17 and desert camo variants.
- Medical: bandages, disinfectant, saline or blood bags, morphine or a splint, tetracycline, charcoal, purification tablets. Carry at least three bandages at all times.
- Clothing: layers, rain protection and insulation matter more than looks. A good backpack is the single biggest upgrade in the early game.
- Nasdara extras: goggles, dust masks and face wraps for sandstorms; water is scarce, so canteens and bottles are gold.
Arsenal
Weapons by role
Examples of what you can find, grouped by what they are good for. Spawns depend on the map and the server's economy, so treat this as a field guide, not a loot table.
| Role | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sidearms | Makarov IJ-70, CR-75, FX-45 | Light, quiet-ish, and enough to finish a fight you did not want. |
| Hunting rifles | Mosin 91/30, SKS, CR-527, Blaze, Repeater | Common in rural areas, strong per shot, slow to reload. |
| Shotguns | IZH-18, Mlock-91, Vaiga | Brutal up close, loud, and ammo is bulky. |
| Submachine guns | UMP-45, MP5-K | Mid-tier military loot, good in buildings. |
| Assault and battle rifles | M4-A1, KA-M, LAR, SCR-17 | Mostly at military sites and convoys; the SCR-17 arrived with the Badlands lead-in update. |
| Marksman rifles | SVD, VSS | Rare and sought after for long sightlines. |
| Melee and tools | Fire axe, machete, crowbar, pipe wrench | Silent, and usually the first thing you carry. |
Ammunition spawns separately from the weapons that fire it. A rifle with no rounds is a very expensive club, so check the magazine before you walk into a fight.
Vehicles
Find it, fix it, fuel it
Vehicles spawn broken. You hunt the parts (wheels, battery, spark plug, radiator), fill the radiator with water and the tank with fuel from a jerrycan, and then try not to hit a tree. The Olga and Sarka cars, the Gunter van and the M3S truck are the classics; the ADA 4x4 and the M1025 Humvee handle rough ground. Sakhal added boats. Badlands brought DayZ's first two-wheelers, a moped and an enduro dirt bike, which now spawn on every map.
Bases
Building, locking, losing it
Fences, gates, watchtowers and tents are built from logs, planks, nails and metal sheets with a hatchet, hammer and pliers. Buried stashes and barrels hide loot; combination and the new official code locks keep gates shut; raiders answer with a hacksaw or explosives. Persistence means your base survives server restarts, but not forever: unused items despawn on a timer, and official servers wipe with major updates. Badlands adds a new angle on Nasdara: clearing rubble from one of about 5,000 ruined houses and rebuilding it with a trowel, brick and mortar, and timber.
Expansions
Three expansions, three climates
Livonia (2019)
A second map with its own feel: wetter, denser, smaller. Launched as paid DLC with update 1.06 alongside bears, fishing and four new firearms; now free for anyone who owns DayZ.
Frostline (October 2024)
Sakhal, plus the cold-weather overhaul: thermal comfort reworked, clothing insulation values, frozen food that must be thawed, influenza that can turn into pneumonia, and new animals (hare, fox, reindeer). Priced around $27; the price drew a review-bombing campaign at launch.
Badlands (15 October 2026)
Nasdara, 267 km² of desert with sandstorms, day-night temperature swings, scarce water, Morse-code radio signals that lead to underground shelters, rebuildable ruins and repairable wells. Ships with update 1.30: moped and enduro on all maps, official code locks everywhere, reworked animations and infected behaviour, and a full official-server wipe. Under $25, 10% off at launch, all platforms.
Frostline deep dive
Sakhal: survive the cold first
Frostline is the expansion that made temperature a full survival system. Sakhal is a snow-covered volcanic archipelago in the far east, set in late winter, with a volcano, frozen lakes, ice shelves, hot springs and more than 400 unique buildings and points of interest.
Warmth
Constant cold means you need insulated clothing and a fire far more often. Frostbite is a new affliction, and hot springs, shelter and fireplaces are how you recover.
Frozen food
Food freezes. You warm it at a fire before you can eat it, so cooking is no longer optional.
Heavy metal poisoning
Eating snow can poison you. Volcanic ash contaminates the water, so melt and purify before you drink.
Wildlife
Reindeer to hunt on land; steelhead trout, shrimp and pollock in the sea. The hare and fox came back to the game in update 1.26.
Boats and fishing
Frostline brought drivable boats to DayZ for the first time, plus a reworked fishing mechanic. Inland lakes are frozen, so fishing means the coast.
Regional loot
Sakhal spawns warm, mostly eastern gear; Livonia spawns summer, mostly western gear; Chernarus mixes both. A wolf's head hat is the headline cosmetic.
Badlands deep dive
Nasdara: heat, thirst and rebuilding
Badlands launched on 15 October 2026 with update 1.30. Nasdara is a landlocked desert province on Takistan's western border, next to Chernarus: sparse vegetation, deep valleys, large ridges, very little standing water, and mud-built villages with bilingual English and Farsi signs. Bohemia says it has 400% more new custom assets than Frostline did.
Rebuilding
More than 5,000 wrecked houses, around 20 ruin variants in mud and stone, can be restored. Clear the rubble for materials, then rebuild with a trowel, brick and mortar, logs, planks or metal sheets. You can restore a whole building or just one room, and broken wells can be repaired.
Code lock
An official PIN lock that runs on a charged 9V battery and unlocks when the battery dies. It resists damage and escalates protection against PIN guessing. It works on every map, not only Nasdara.
Bikes
A moped and a dirt bike (the enduro) are DayZ's first two-wheeled vehicles. They also appear in smaller numbers on Chernarus and Livonia.
Climate
The first spring season in DayZ. Direct sunlight affects your stats, nights are cold, and sandstorms roll through. Goggles, dust masks, shemaghs and face wraps now do something.
Radio and shelters
Morse-code radio signals point to underground shelters, built with a new terrain-hole system.
Gear
Tanker helmets, holo sights, the SCR-17 battle rifle, and desert camo versions of the combat backpack and plate carrier. NBC gear now spreads beyond medical centres and fire stations.
1.30 also includes a full wipe across all platforms and a new navmesh format, so community maps and some animation mods need updating for 1.30. Price is under $25 with regional variation.
Media
Official art and trailers
Everything in this section is Bohemia Interactive's own material. The art loads from the official Steam store; the trailers are on the official DayZ YouTube channel and load only when you press play.
Trailers
The launch trailer for the Sakhal expansion. From the official DayZ channel. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play.
The first look at Nasdara and the desert. From the official DayZ channel. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play.
Second teaser, shown at the Convergence Games Showcase. From the official DayZ channel. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play.
The loot and economy update that led into Badlands. From the official DayZ channel. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play.
The announcement trailer for DayZ's second map. From the official DayZ channel. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play.
Official links
Playing
Servers, modes and mods
Where you play changes the game more than the map does.
Official servers
Run by Bohemia, with the default rules. They wipe on major updates, as 1.30 did. This is the baseline experience.
Community servers
Run by players and communities, with their own rules: first-person only, hardcore, PvE, roleplay, boosted loot, trader zones and more. Browse by the tags in the server list.
Mods and maps
PC players install mods from the Steam Workshop. Community terrains such as Namalsk and Deer Isle have long been played alongside the official maps. Console players can join community servers, but with a smaller mod pool.
Tools
Bohemia publishes DayZ Tools on Steam, including Workbench and Object Builder, for people who want to make their own content on the Enfusion engine.
Most players use first-person-only servers because they remove the advantage of peeking around corners. If you want to learn, start on a lower-population official server.
Day one
Surviving your first hour
- MINUTE 0You spawn on the coast with a glow stick, a bandage and a piece of fruit. Eat the fruit. Leave the beach: it's the most dangerous place on the map.
- FIRST TOWNFind a knife or any melee weapon, a backpack, and a bottle or canteen. Fill it at a well or pump. Open every shed, kitchen and barn.
- FIRST INFECTEDFight one at a time, in a doorway, with a melee weapon. Never shoot in town. Bandage any bleed immediately.
- FIRST NIGHTCut a bush for sticks, grab bark or paper, find matches or a lighter, and make a fire out of sight. Dry your clothes beside it.
- FIRST GUNA rifle changes how everyone treats you, including the people who want it. Keep it holstered in towns and count your rounds.
- INLANDHead north-west toward the airfields only when you have food, water, a full medical kit and a reason. Most players never need to.
Field notes
Habits that keep you alive
Moving
Stay off roads and ridgelines. Walk through buildings you have already cleared instead of the open. Crouch near towns and listen before you enter.
Eating and drinking
Drink from clean sources or purify with tablets or by boiling. Eat when you can; both meters decide whether you heal or bleed out slowly.
Medical
Bandage early, splint broken legs, and keep rags. A cold you ignore turns into something worse, especially on Sakhal.
Meeting players
Most people you meet will shoot first. A voice is a risk and a surrender is rarely respected, so decide your plan before you decide to speak.
Storing gear
Spread valuables across containers, bury a stash away from your base, and carry less than you think you need.
Going far
Pick a destination before you leave the coast. Pack a heat source, a water bottle and a map, and keep a fire kit for the night.
Glossary
Words you'll hear on the radio
- Fresh spawn / Bambi: a new character with nothing. Hunted by some, protected by others.
- KOS: kill on sight. The default policy on most servers.
- Geared: a player with a rifle, a vest and a plan. Avoid or ambush.
- NWAF / Tisy: the North-West Airfield and the Tisy military base, Chernarus's deadliest loot.
- Gas zone: a contaminated area that kills without full NBC gear. High-tier loot inside.
- Friendly? the question that starts most encounters, and ends many.
- Wipe: when official servers reset characters and bases, usually with a major update.
- Community / modded server: player-run servers with custom rules, from hardcore to deathmatch.
Questions
Good to know
Do I need the DLCs?
No. Chernarus and Livonia are included and most players never leave them. Frostline and Badlands are separate purchases that unlock Sakhal and Nasdara.
Is it cross-play?
Console players share servers with each other on official hubs; PC is separate. Community servers set their own rules.
Why did I die for no reason?
There is always a reason: dehydration, a slow bleed, a cold you ignored, bad water, or a player you never saw. Watch the status icons and treat every town as occupied.
Where does DayZ 2 fit in?
DayZ 2 is the next game in this line. This site tracks it; the home page shows what's confirmed and the rest of the sections open as there's something to show.
What platforms is DayZ on?
PC through Steam, plus Xbox and PlayStation. The Badlands update and expansion are on all platforms.
Is DayZ free to play?
No. DayZ is a paid game. The base game includes Chernarus and Livonia; Frostline and Badlands are separate expansions.
How big is each map?
Nasdara is about 267 km², Chernarus about 225, Livonia about 163, and Sakhal roughly 83 to 105 depending on the source.
What changed with update 1.30?
It launched with Badlands: Nasdara, two-wheeled vehicles on every map, the rebuilding system, the official code lock and reworked infected attacks, with a full wipe on official servers.
Can I rebuild houses on every map?
Rebuilding is part of Nasdara, where ruined houses are the point. The official code lock, bikes and base building apply across the maps.
What is heavy metal poisoning?
A Frostline illness from eating unfiltered snow on Sakhal, where volcanic ash contaminates the water. Purify first.
How do I stay warm on Sakhal?
Wear insulated clothing, keep a fire going, use hot springs and shelter, and warm frozen food before you eat it.
Can I play offline?
There is an offline mode for testing on PC, but DayZ is built around servers and other players.
What engine does DayZ use?
Enfusion. The game moved to it from the older Real Virtuality engine used by the original Arma-based mod.
Are the trailers and art on this page official?
Yes. They are Bohemia Interactive's own material, hosted by Steam and YouTube. This site is an independent fan site and is not affiliated with Bohemia.
Facts checked against Bohemia Interactive's update notes and reporting on the 1.29 and 1.30 updates as of 17 October 2026. Independent fan site, not affiliated with Bohemia Interactive.