Chapter 9.3: serverDZ.cfg Complete Reference

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Summary: Every parameter in serverDZ.cfg documented with its purpose, valid values, and default behavior. This file controls server identity, network settings, gameplay rules, time acceleration, and mission selection.

File Format
Server Identity
Network & Security
Gameplay Rules
Time & Weather
Performance & Login Queue
Persistence & Instance
Mission Selection
Complete Example File
Launch Parameters That Override Config

File Format

serverDZ.cfg uses Bohemia's config format (similar to C). Rules:

Every parameter assignment ends with a semicolon ;
Strings are enclosed in double quotes ""
Comments use // for single-line
The class Missions block uses braces {} and ends with };
The file must be UTF-8 or ANSI encoded -- no BOM

A missing semicolon will cause the server to fail silently or ignore subsequent parameters.

Server Identity

cpp

hostname = "My DayZ Server";         // Server name shown in browser
password = "";                       // Password to connect (empty = public)
passwordAdmin = "";                  // Password for admin login via in-game console
description = "";                    // Description shown in server browser details

Parameter	Type	Default	Notes
`hostname`	string	`""`	Displayed in the server browser. Max ~100 characters.
`password`	string	`""`	Leave empty for a public server. Players must enter this to join.
`passwordAdmin`	string	`""`	Used with the `#login` command in-game. Set this on every server.
`description`	string	`""`	Multi-line descriptions are not supported. Keep it short.

Network & Security

cpp

maxPlayers = 60;                     // Maximum player slots
verifySignatures = 2;                // PBO signature verification (only 2 is supported)
forceSameBuild = 1;                  // Require matching client/server exe version
enableWhitelist = 0;                 // Enable/disable whitelist
disableVoN = 0;                      // Disable voice over network
vonCodecQuality = 20;               // VoN audio quality (0-30)
guaranteedUpdates = 1;               // Network protocol (always use 1)

Parameter	Type	Valid Values	Default	Notes
`maxPlayers`	int	1-60	60	Affects RAM usage. Each player adds ~50-100 MB.
`verifySignatures`	int	2	2	Only value 2 is supported. Verifies PBO files against `.bisign` keys.
`forceSameBuild`	int	0, 1	1	When 1, clients must match the server's exact executable version. Always keep at 1.
`enableWhitelist`	int	0, 1	0	When 1, only Steam64 IDs listed in `whitelist.txt` can connect.
`disableVoN`	int	0, 1	0	Set to 1 to completely disable in-game voice chat.
`vonCodecQuality`	int	0-30	20	Higher values mean better voice quality but more bandwidth. 20 is a good balance.
`guaranteedUpdates`	int	1	1	Network protocol setting. Always use 1.

Shard ID

cpp

shardId = "123abc";                  // Six alphanumeric characters for private shards

Parameter	Type	Default	Notes
`shardId`	string	`""`	Used for private hive servers. Players on servers with the same `shardId` share character data. Leave empty for a public hive.

Gameplay Rules

cpp

disable3rdPerson = 0;               // Disable third-person camera
disableCrosshair = 0;               // Disable the crosshair
disablePersonalLight = 1;           // Disable the ambient player light
lightingConfig = 0;                 // Night brightness (0 = brighter, 1 = darker)

Parameter	Type	Valid Values	Default	Notes
`disable3rdPerson`	int	0, 1	0	Set to 1 for first-person-only servers. This is the most common "hardcore" setting.
`disableCrosshair`	int	0, 1	0	Set to 1 to remove the crosshair. Often paired with `disable3rdPerson=1`.
`disablePersonalLight`	int	0, 1	1	The "personal light" is a subtle glow around the player at night. Most servers disable it (value 1) for realism.
`lightingConfig`	int	0, 1	0	0 = brighter nights (moonlight visible). 1 = pitch-black nights (requires flashlight/NVG).

Time & Weather

cpp

serverTime = "SystemTime";                 // Initial time
serverTimeAcceleration = 12;               // Time speed multiplier (0-24)
serverNightTimeAcceleration = 1;           // Night time speed multiplier (0.1-64)
serverTimePersistent = 0;                  // Save time between restarts

Parameter	Type	Valid Values	Default	Notes
`serverTime`	string	`"SystemTime"` or `"YYYY/MM/DD/HH/MM"`	`"SystemTime"`	`"SystemTime"` uses the machine's local clock. Set a fixed time like `"2024/9/15/12/0"` for a permanent daytime server.
`serverTimeAcceleration`	int	0-24	12	Multiplier for in-game time. At 12, a full 24-hour cycle takes 2 real hours. At 1, time is real-time. At 24, a full day passes in 1 hour.
`serverNightTimeAcceleration`	float	0.1-64	1	Multiplied by `serverTimeAcceleration`. At value 4 with acceleration 12, night passes at 48x speed (very short nights).
`serverTimePersistent`	int	0, 1	0	When 1, the server saves its in-game clock to disk and resumes from it after restart. When 0, time resets to `serverTime` on every restart.

Common Time Configurations

Always daytime:

cpp

serverTime = "2024/6/15/12/0";
serverTimeAcceleration = 0;
serverTimePersistent = 0;

Fast day/night cycle (2-hour days, short nights):

cpp

serverTime = "SystemTime";
serverTimeAcceleration = 12;
serverNightTimeAcceleration = 4;
serverTimePersistent = 1;

Real-time day/night:

cpp

serverTime = "SystemTime";
serverTimeAcceleration = 1;
serverNightTimeAcceleration = 1;
serverTimePersistent = 1;

cpp

loginQueueConcurrentPlayers = 5;     // Players processed at once during login
loginQueueMaxPlayers = 500;          // Max login queue size

Parameter	Type	Default	Notes
`loginQueueConcurrentPlayers`	int	5	How many players can load in simultaneously. Lower values reduce server load spikes after a restart. Raise to 10-15 if your hardware is strong and players complain about queue times.
`loginQueueMaxPlayers`	int	500	If this many players are already queuing, new connections are rejected. 500 is fine for most servers.

Persistence & Instance

cpp

instanceId = 1;                      // Server instance identifier
storageAutoFix = 1;                  // Auto-repair corrupted persistence files

Parameter	Type	Default	Notes
`instanceId`	int	1	Identifies the server instance. Persistence data is stored in `storage_<instanceId>/`. If you run multiple servers on the same machine, give each a different `instanceId`.
`storageAutoFix`	int	1	When 1, the server checks persistence files on startup and replaces corrupted ones with empty files. Always leave this at 1.

Mission Selection

cpp

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

The template value must exactly match a folder name inside mpmissions/. Available vanilla missions:

Template	Map	DLC Required
`dayzOffline.chernarusplus`	Chernarus	No
`dayzOffline.enoch`	Livonia	Yes
`dayzOffline.sakhal`	Sakhal	Yes

Custom missions (e.g., from mods or community maps) use their own template name. The folder must exist in mpmissions/.

Complete Example File

This is the complete default serverDZ.cfg with all parameters:

cpp

hostname = "EXAMPLE NAME";              // Server name
password = "";                          // Password to connect to the server
passwordAdmin = "";                     // Password to become a server admin

description = "";                       // Server browser description

enableWhitelist = 0;                    // Enable/disable whitelist (value 0-1)

maxPlayers = 60;                        // Maximum amount of players

verifySignatures = 2;                   // Verifies .pbos against .bisign files (only 2 is supported)
forceSameBuild = 1;                     // Require matching client/server version (value 0-1)

disableVoN = 0;                         // Enable/disable voice over network (value 0-1)
vonCodecQuality = 20;                   // Voice over network codec quality (values 0-30)

shardId = "123abc";                     // Six alphanumeric characters for private shard

disable3rdPerson = 0;                   // Toggles the 3rd person view (value 0-1)
disableCrosshair = 0;                   // Toggles the cross-hair (value 0-1)

disablePersonalLight = 1;              // Disables personal light for all clients
lightingConfig = 0;                     // 0 for brighter, 1 for darker night

serverTime = "SystemTime";             // Initial in-game time ("SystemTime" or "YYYY/MM/DD/HH/MM")
serverTimeAcceleration = 12;           // Time speed multiplier (0-24)
serverNightTimeAcceleration = 1;       // Night time speed multiplier (0.1-64), also multiplied by serverTimeAcceleration
serverTimePersistent = 0;              // Save time between restarts (value 0-1)

guaranteedUpdates = 1;                 // Network protocol (always use 1)

loginQueueConcurrentPlayers = 5;       // Players processed simultaneously during login
loginQueueMaxPlayers = 500;            // Maximum login queue size

instanceId = 1;                        // Server instance id (affects storage folder naming)

storageAutoFix = 1;                    // Auto-repair corrupted persistence (value 0-1)

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

Launch Parameters That Override Config

Some settings can be overridden via command-line parameters when launching DayZServer_x64.exe:

Parameter	Overrides	Example
`-config=`	Config file path	`-config=serverDZ.cfg`
`-port=`	Game port	`-port=2302`
`-profiles=`	Profiles output directory	`-profiles=profiles`
`-mod=`	Client-side mods (semicolon-separated)	`-mod=@CF;@VPPAdminTools`
`-servermod=`	Server-only mods	`-servermod=@MyServerMod`
`-BEpath=`	BattlEye path	`-BEpath=battleye`
`-dologs`	Enable logging	--
`-adminlog`	Enable admin logging	--
`-netlog`	Enable network logging	--
`-freezecheck`	Auto-restart on freeze	--
`-cpuCount=`	CPU cores to use	`-cpuCount=4`
`-noFilePatching`	Disable file patching	--

Full Launch Example

batch

start DayZServer_x64.exe ^
  -config=serverDZ.cfg ^
  -port=2302 ^
  -profiles=profiles ^
  -mod=@CF;@VPPAdminTools;@MyMod ^
  -servermod=@MyServerOnlyMod ^
  -dologs -adminlog -netlog -freezecheck

Mods are loaded in the order specified in -mod=. Dependency order matters: if Mod B requires Mod A, list Mod A first.

Previous: Directory Structure | Home | Next: Loot Economy Deep Dive >>

Chapter 9.3: serverDZ.cfg Complete Reference ​

Table of Contents ​

File Format ​

Server Identity ​

Network & Security ​

Shard ID ​

Gameplay Rules ​

Time & Weather ​

Common Time Configurations ​

Performance & Login Queue ​

Persistence & Instance ​

Mission Selection ​

Complete Example File ​

Launch Parameters That Override Config ​

Full Launch Example ​