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Guide · Unofficial maps
DayZ community maps
Four official maps, and more than two dozen made by players. From Namalsk’s frozen storms to Banov’s 256 km² of Slovak countryside, here is every community map worth knowing, what makes each one different, which ones have been updated for 1.30, and how to get on one tonight.
How they work
Unofficial, PC only, and often brilliant
Community maps are terrains built by players and published on the Steam Workshop. A community server loads the map as a mod, your game downloads it the first time you join, and you play DayZ with the same rules, loot economy and infected on a different piece of ground. Bohemia Interactive does not make or support them, and they do not run on consoles: Xbox, PlayStation and Switch 2 players have the four official maps only.
The four official maps are compared on the maps page, with our full guides to Chernarus, Livonia, Sakhal and Nasdara.
The big five
The maps most people actually play
Namalsk
27 km² (63 km² with the sea ice) · cold archipelago · by Sumrak. The oldest and most played community map, born in the Arma 2 mod days and rebuilt for DayZ. It is small, dense and freezing, with the Athena underground labs, EVR storms that force you under cover, and a Namalsk Survival set of rules that makes everything scarcer. The author recommends 30 to 40 players, and the Hardcore mission strips out vehicles and most base building. Updated for 1.30 on 21 October 2026. The hardest community map, and the one to try first.
Deer Isle
Large island · USA, inspired by Maine · by John McLane. The second most played, and by far the biggest download at almost 12 GB. A huge island with towns, mountains, a bridge network and the things no official map has: scuba diving and salvage on the sea floor, an underground, and a supernatural streak. Server files and documentation live on its own wiki and Discord. Its last Workshop update was June 2025, so check that the server you join has a 1.30 build.
Banov
256 km² · Slovak countryside · by Kubelo. The biggest map of all, official or not: one city, 35 villages, three airfields and four large underground complexes, built for 60 to 120 players. A frost variant (banovfrost) swaps the season. Navmesh updated for 1.30 on 15 October 2026, the day the update shipped.
Takistan Plus
Desert · Afghanistan, from the Arma 2 terrain · by CypeR79. Sandstorms, heat and dust without buying Badlands. The sandstorm is configurable by the server owner. Updated for 1.30 on 25 October 2026. If you want to know whether you would like Nasdara, this is the free trial.
Chiemsee
Bavarian lake region · Germany. Alpine villages, forest and the lake itself, with a quieter, more rural feel than Chernarus. About 80,000 subscribers. Its last update was December 2024, so it needs a server owner who has done the 1.30 work.
And the one coming
Bitterroot, about 155 km² of fictional Montana by MattyIce, with American weapons, a cult called the Children of Man and a long list of hidden places. Still in development; the mission files are not out, so servers running it are running a preview.
Every map
The full list
Every community map in the game launcher as of 1 November 2026, with the real place or world it is based on. Subscriber counts and update dates are from the Workshop on 25 October 2026 and will have moved.
| Map | Based on | Size | Notes | Subscribers | Last update |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Namalsk | Norway / Russia, fictional island | 27 km² (63 with ice) | Cold, EVR storms, Athena labs, hardcore mission | 1,259,000 | 21 Oct 2026 |
| Deer Isle | USA, Maine | Large | Scuba, salvage, underground, Easter eggs | 860,000 | 4 Jun 2025 |
| Takistan Plus | Afghanistan (Arma 2 Takistan) | – | Desert, sandstorms | 238,000 | 25 Oct 2026 |
| Banov | Slovakia, Bánov district | 256 km² | One city, 35 villages, 3 airfields, 4 undergrounds | 229,000 | 25 Oct 2026 |
| Esseker | Balkans, fictional town | – | Dense urban fighting; not updated since 2021 | 152,000 | 20 Jul 2021 |
| Bitterroot | USA, Montana | About 155 km² | In development, American weapons | 149,000 | 19 May 2025 |
| Melkart | Canada | – | Not updated since 2024 | 145,000 | 3 Apr 2024 |
| NH Chernobyl | Ukraine, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. | – | Exclusion zone; mission files ship inside the mod | 91,000 | 22 Oct 2026 |
| Valning | France / Germany | 105 km² | Not updated since 2020 | 84,000 | 26 Nov 2020 |
| Alteria | Greece | – | Mediterranean; experimental dev build, updated after 1.30 | 81,000 | 18 Oct 2026 |
| Chiemsee | Germany, Bavaria | – | Lake and alpine villages | 80,000 | 24 Dec 2024 |
| Pripyat | Ukraine | – | The real city, PripyatGamma | – | – |
| Area of Decay | S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe | – | Exclusion zone map | – | – |
| Heart of Moscow | Metro 2033 universe | – | Metro tunnels under Moscow | – | – |
| Sarov | Ukraine (remake of Rostow) | – | Replaces the old Rostow map | – | – |
| Takistan | Bohemia’s Arma 2 terrain, ported | – | The original, without the Plus additions | – | – |
| Utes | Bohemia’s Arma 2 island, ported | Small | Tiny island with an airfield; deathmatch pace | – | – |
| Avalon | USA, Catalina Island | – | Island off California | – | – |
| Arsteinen | Norway | – | Fjords and mountains | – | – |
| Iztek | Sweden | – | Nordic forest | – | – |
| Antoria | England | – | English countryside | – | – |
| Nyheim | Fictional | – | Northern, winter | – | – |
| Vela | USA | – | American setting | – | – |
| Anastara, Yiprit | Fictional | – | Smaller projects | – | – |
A dash means the Workshop page does not state it or we have not verified it. Deadfall, Panthera, Fallujah and other Arma-era terrains turn up on individual servers but are not in the launcher list above.
Themed maps
Stalker, Metro and the exclusion zone
Three maps borrow another universe. NH Chernobyl (STALKER NewHorizon) and Area of Decay rebuild the Chernobyl exclusion zone with anomalies and radiation on top of DayZ’s own gas zones; Pripyat is the real city; Heart of Moscow moves the whole game underground into the Metro tunnels. They lean on the same mechanics you already know, the NBC suit, filters and the PO-X antidote, so read gas zones before you go, and expect the servers that run them to add their own mods on top.
Working on 1.30
The navmesh problem
Update 1.30 (15 October 2026) changed how the game builds the navigation mesh that infected and animals use to move. A map that has not been rebuilt for it loads, but its infected and wildlife stand still or walk through walls. As of 25 October 2026, Namalsk, Banov, Takistan Plus, NH Chernobyl and Alteria had shipped 1.30 updates; Deer Isle, Chiemsee, Esseker, Melkart and Valning had not. Server owners can sometimes patch a map themselves, so a server may be fine where the Workshop page looks stale. The simple test: join, find an infected, and see if it comes for you.
Owners: the 1.30 notes on Badlands and 1.30 and our server hosting guide cover the rest.
How to play
Getting on a community map
- PC only. Open the DayZ Launcher, go to Servers, and filter by map name. Community maps show their launcher name, such as namalsk, deerisle or banov.
- Join and wait. The launcher subscribes to the map and any other mods the server needs and downloads them. Namalsk is about 1.5 GB; Deer Isle is almost 12 GB.
- Read the server’s rules. Community servers set their own loot, player counts, base rules and sometimes their own economy. Namalsk’s author forbids paid queue slots; Banov allows VIP sales under Bohemia’s rules.
- Expect a new character. Your character is per server, so you start fresh. The starter loadout still applies; on Namalsk, so does everything in the Sakhal guide about cold.
Map tools fans use
Finding your way
Our interactive maps
Chernarus, Livonia, Sakhal and Nasdara with towns, military sites, wells and loot layers, built into this site.
iZurvive
The map most players keep open on a second screen or a phone: a website and an app with the official maps and the big community ones, loot filters, water pumps, hospitals and police stations, elevation contours, and custom markers you can share with a group. Its Nasdara satellite map was the first one available for Badlands.
WOBO’s map tool
A browser map from the WOBO stats site, useful when you want loot tiers and spawn areas rather than a tourist map.
In-game maps
The paper map item in your inventory, and the tourist map boards in towns. Free, and the only ones that work on consoles without a second screen. See never be lost.
Quick answers
Questions people ask
Can you play community maps on DayZ console?
No. Community maps are Steam Workshop mods and only run on PC community servers. Xbox, PlayStation and Switch 2 have the four official maps.
What is the most popular DayZ community map?
Namalsk, with about 1.26 million Workshop subscribers, then Deer Isle with about 860,000.
What is the biggest DayZ map?
Banov, a community map at 256 km². The biggest official map is Nasdara at 267 km², so Banov is a close second overall.
Do community maps work on DayZ 1.30?
Only if they have been rebuilt for the 1.30 navmesh. As of late October 2026 Namalsk, Banov, Takistan Plus, NH Chernobyl and Alteria had updates; Deer Isle, Chiemsee, Esseker, Melkart and Valning had not.
Are DayZ community maps free?
Yes. They are Workshop mods and cannot be sold. Some servers sell VIP slots or ask for donations under Bohemia’s monetization rules.
How do you join a Namalsk server?
On PC, open the DayZ Launcher, filter servers by the map name namalsk, join one, and let the launcher download the map (about 1.5 GB) and the server’s mods.
Keep going
More guides and tools
Checked 1 November 2026. Map list from the DayZ launcher and the Steam Workshop; subscriber counts, sizes and update dates as published on the Workshop on 25 October 2026 (reported, they change daily); 1.30 status as reported by server-hosting guides, verify on the server you join. Community maps are not made or supported by Bohemia Interactive.