Survival
Survive DayZ
The short guide: what your icons mean, what’s wrong when you feel bad, and how to get through the first hour. Deeper pages are linked throughout.
Facts as of update 1.30 · last checked 18 October 2026
The one rule
Eat and drink first, then heal
Most deaths come from ignoring one of a few linked stats. Health is your life. Blood refills it. Energy (food) and hydration (water) decide whether you regenerate. Shock knocks you out when it spikes, and temperature drains everything else when you’re too cold or too hot.
If your food and water icons are both white or green, blood regenerates and health follows. If either is low, nothing heals. Fix those two before anything else.
What’s wrong with me?
Symptom to cure
Search for what you see, or filter by type.
| What you notice | Likely cause | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| Blood on screen, a drop icon | Bleeding: a gunshot, an infected hit, a fall, glass or barbed wire | Bandage, a disinfected rag, a sewing kit or duct tape from your inventory. Each wound needs its own application. More |
| Grey, pulsing vision | Blood loss: a bleed left too long | Stop the bleed, then eat and drink. A saline bag with an IV start kit, or a compatible transfusion, restores blood fast. More |
| Can’t run or jump, limping | Broken leg: a fall, a bear trap or a heavy hit | A splint (two sticks and a rag) heals it over time. Morphine lets you walk now, for a while. More |
| Black screen, can’t move | Shock: heavy damage or blood loss | Wait for it to drain. An epinephrine injector wakes you or a friend at once. More |
| Vomiting and fast dehydration | Cholera: unpurified pond, river or lake water | Tetracycline and plenty of clean water. Chlorine tablets or boiling prevent it. More |
| Vomiting, losing food and water | Salmonella: raw meat, fat or fish, or a bloody knife | Tetracycline. Cook your meat. More |
| Vomiting and stomach pain | Food poisoning: rotten or burnt food, some mushrooms | Charcoal tablets, and stop eating the bad food. More |
| Sneezing, coughing, shaking | Influenza: too long cold and wet. Ignored, it becomes pneumonia | Get warm and dry, eat and drink, take multivitamins and tetracycline. More |
| Fever, grey vision, slow health drain | Wound infection: bandaging with a dirty rag | Tetracycline or disinfectant. Disinfect rags before you use them. More |
| Uncontrollable laughing and shaking | Kuru: eating human meat | No cure. Don’t eat people. More |
| Blue thermometer, shivering, shaky aim | Cold: rain, night, swimming or wet clothes | Dry off by a fire, wear insulated layers, get indoors. Take multivitamins before symptoms start. More |
| Red thermometer, water draining fast | Heat: direct sun and heavy clothes, mostly on Nasdara | Shade, water, lighter clothing, and travel at night. Goggles and a dust mask or shemagh help in sandstorms. More |
| Pain in hands and feet in extreme cold (Sakhal) | Frostbite: exposed skin in the cold | Warm up: a fire, shelter, a hot spring, warm clothing. More |
| Coughing, blurred vision, health dropping fast | Chemical poisoning: a toxic gas zone without an NBC suit and filtered mask | Leave the zone. The cure is the PO-X antidote, and it is often fatal. More |
| Vomiting after eating snow (Sakhal) | Heavy metal poisoning: volcanic ash in the snow and melt water | Purify water by boiling or tablets, never eat snow. Charcoal tablets help. More |
First hour
Six steps from spawn to a first fire
- STEP 1Leave the spawn. On Chernarus and Sakhal you spawn on the coast, where the towns are stripped and watched. Go inland at once. On Livonia and Nasdara you spawn inland.
- STEP 2Water first. A well or hand pump in any village is unlimited clean water. Drink until the icon is bright, and fill a bottle if you find one.
- STEP 3A knife and a bag. A kitchen knife or a stone knife, and any bag, so you can carry food and cut sticks.
- STEP 4Food that won’t kill you. Apples and pears from trees, pull-tab cans, crackers. Keep raw meat until you have a fire.
- STEP 5A quiet weapon. An axe, machete or knife. A gunshot in town brings the infected from the whole street, and a rifle without ammo only attracts other rifles.
- STEP 6A fire before dark. Sticks, rags and matches or a lighter. Cook, dry off and warm up, then put it out and move a few hundred metres before you rest.
The full plan is on DayZ survival strategies, and fire is explained step by step on Crafting & fire.
Kit
What to carry
What each item treats is in the medical kit table.
By map
What each map throws at you
Temperate, post-Soviet
Chernarus
Main pressure: Other players, the airfields, cold nights.
Water: Wells in most villages, ponds inland.
Late summer, wet
Livonia
Main pressure: Rain that soaks you, bears in the forests, thick woodland.
Water: Rivers, lakes and wells.
Late winter, snow
Sakhal
Main pressure: Cold, frostbite and heavy metal poisoning from snow. Frozen food has to be warmed at a fire before you can eat it. Keep a fire kit on you.
Water: Inland lakes are frozen: use the coast, hot springs and a boiled or purified source.
Arid spring, desert
Nasdara
Main pressure: Heat, sandstorms and thirst. Direct sun hits your stats and the nights are cold.
Water: Scarce. Wells are often broken and can be repaired.
Go deeper
The full wiki pages
Questions
Quick answers
Why isn’t my health regenerating?
Health recovers through blood, and blood only regenerates while your food and water icons are both white or green. If either is low, nothing heals. Eat and drink first, then treat the injury.
How do I stop bleeding?
Apply a bandage, a disinfected rag, a sewing kit or duct tape from your inventory. Each wound needs its own application, and disinfecting rags first avoids a wound infection.
Is the water safe to drink?
Wells and hand pumps are always safe. Ponds, rivers, lakes and snow aren’t: boil the water over a fire or use chlorine tablets first.
How do I warm up?
Get out of the rain, dry your clothes by a fire and wear insulated layers. If you were cold and wet for a while, take multivitamins. An ignored cold turns into influenza and then pneumonia.
What kills most new players?
Thirst, a bleed or another player. Find water first, bandage early, and stay quiet in towns.
Does this apply to DayZ 2?
We can’t say. Bohemia Interactive hasn’t publicly announced DayZ 2, so everything here is about DayZ as of update 1.30. See what we know for the evidence.
Facts reflect DayZ as of update 1.30 (October 2026) and can change with patches. Independent fan site, not affiliated with Bohemia Interactive.