Chapter 9.12: Advanced Server Topics

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Summary: Deep configuration files, multi-map setups, economy splitting, animal territories, dynamic events, weather control, automated restarts, and the messages system.

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Table of Contents

• cfggameplay.json Deep Dive
• Multi-Map Servers
• Custom Economy Tuning
• cfgenvironment.xml and Animal Territories
• Custom Dynamic Events
• Server Restart Automation
• cfgweather.xml
• Messages System

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cfggameplay.json Deep Dive

The file cfggameplay.json lives in your mission folder and overrides hardcoded gameplay defaults. Enable it in serverDZ.cfg first:

enableCfgGameplayFile = 1;

Vanilla structure:

{
  "version": 123,
  "GeneralData": {
    "disableBaseDamage": false,
    "disableContainerDamage": false,
    "disableRespawnDialog": false,
    "disableRespawnInUnconsciousness": false
  },
  "PlayerData": {
    "disablePersonalLight": false,
    "StaminaData": {
      "sprintStaminaModifierErc": 1.0, "sprintStaminaModifierCro": 1.0,
      "staminaWeightLimitThreshold": 6000.0, "staminaMax": 100.0,
      "staminaKg": 0.3, "staminaMin": 0.0,
      "staminaDepletionSpeed": 1.0, "staminaRecoverySpeed": 1.0
    },
    "ShockHandlingData": {
      "shockRefillSpeedConscious": 5.0, "shockRefillSpeedUnconscious": 1.0,
      "allowRefillSpeedModifier": true
    },
    "MovementData": {
      "timeToSprint": 0.45, "timeToJog": 0.0,
      "rotationSpeedJog": 0.3, "rotationSpeedSprint": 0.15
    },
    "DrowningData": {
      "staminaDepletionSpeed": 10.0, "healthDepletionSpeed": 3.0,
      "shockDepletionSpeed": 10.0
    },
    "WeaponObstructionData": { "staticMode": 1, "dynamicMode": 1 }
  },
  "WorldsData": {
    "lightingConfig": 0, "objectSpawnersArr": [],
    "environmentMinTemps": [-3, -2, 0, 4, 9, 14, 18, 17, 13, 11, 9, 0],
    "environmentMaxTemps": [3, 5, 7, 14, 19, 24, 26, 25, 18, 14, 10, 5]
  },
  "BaseBuildingData": { "canBuildAnywhere": false, "canCraftAnywhere": false },
  "UIData": {
    "use3DMap": false,
    "HitIndicationData": {
      "hitDirectionOverrideEnabled": false, "hitDirectionBehaviour": 1,
      "hitDirectionStyle": 0, "hitDirectionIndicatorColorStr": "0xffbb0a1e",
      "hitDirectionMaxDuration": 2.0, "hitDirectionBreakPointRelative": 0.2,
      "hitDirectionScatter": 10.0, "hitIndicationPostProcessEnabled": true
    }
  }
}

• version -- must match what your server binary expects. Do not change it.
• lightingConfig -- 0 (default) or 1 (brighter nights).
• environmentMinTemps / environmentMaxTemps -- 12 values, one per month (Jan-Dec).
• disablePersonalLight -- removes the faint ambient light near new players at night.
• staminaMax and sprint modifiers control how far players can run before exhaustion.
• use3DMap -- switches the in-game map to the terrain-rendered 3D variant.

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Multi-Map Servers

DayZ supports multiple maps through different mission folders inside mpmissions/:

Map	Mission Folder
Chernarus	mpmissions/dayzOffline.chernarusplus/
Livonia	mpmissions/dayzOffline.enoch/
Sakhal	mpmissions/dayzOffline.sakhal/

Each map has its own CE files (types.xml, events.xml, etc.). Switch maps via template in serverDZ.cfg:

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

Or with a launch parameter: -mission=mpmissions/dayzOffline.enoch

To run multiple maps simultaneously, use separate server instances with their own config, profile directory, and port range.

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Custom Economy Tuning

Splitting types.xml

Split items into multiple files and register them in cfgeconomycore.xml:

<economycore>
    <ce folder="db">
        <file name="types.xml" type="types" />
        <file name="types_weapons.xml" type="types" />
        <file name="types_vehicles.xml" type="types" />
    </ce>
</economycore>

The server loads and merges all files with type="types".

Custom Categories and Tags

cfglimitsdefinition.xml defines categories/tags for types.xml but gets overwritten on updates. Use cfglimitsdefinitionuser.xml instead:

<lists>
    <categories>
        <category name="custom_rare" />
    </categories>
    <tags>
        <tag name="custom_event" />
    </tags>
</lists>

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cfgenvironment.xml and Animal Territories

The file cfgenvironment.xml in your mission folder links to territory files in the env/ subdirectory:

<env>
    <territories>
        <file path="env/zombie_territories.xml" />
        <file path="env/bear_territories.xml" />
        <file path="env/wolf_territories.xml" />
    </territories>
</env>

The env/ folder contains these animal territory files:

File	Animals
bear_territories.xml	Brown bears
wolf_territories.xml	Wolf packs
fox_territories.xml	Foxes
hare_territories.xml	Rabbits/hares
hen_territories.xml	Chickens
pig_territories.xml	Pigs
red_deer_territories.xml	Red deer
roe_deer_territories.xml	Roe deer
sheep_goat_territories.xml	Sheep/goats
wild_boar_territories.xml	Wild boars
cattle_territories.xml	Cows

A territory entry defines circular zones with position and animal count:

<territory color="4291543295" name="BearTerritory 001">
    <zone name="Bear zone" smin="-1" smax="-1" dmin="1" dmax="4" x="7628" z="5048" r="500" />
</territory>

• x, z -- center coordinates; r -- radius in meters
• dmin, dmax -- min/max animal count in the zone
• smin, smax -- reserved (set to -1)

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Custom Dynamic Events

Dynamic events (heli crashes, convoys) are defined in events.xml. To create a custom event:

1. Define the event in events.xml:

<event name="StaticMyCustomCrash">
    <nominal>3</nominal> <min>1</min> <max>5</max>
    <lifetime>1800</lifetime> <restock>600</restock>
    <saferadius>500</saferadius> <distanceradius>200</distanceradius> <cleanupradius>100</cleanupradius>
    <flags deletable="0" init_random="0" remove_damaged="1" />
    <position>fixed</position> <limit>child</limit> <active>1</active>
    <children>
        <child lootmax="10" lootmin="5" max="3" min="1" type="Wreck_Mi8_Crashed" />
    </children>
</event>

2. Add spawn positions in cfgeventspawns.xml:

<event name="StaticMyCustomCrash">
    <pos x="4523.2" z="9234.5" a="180" />
    <pos x="7812.1" z="3401.8" a="90" />
</event>

3. Add infected guards (optional) -- add <secondary type="ZmbM_PatrolNormal_Autumn" /> elements in your event definition.

4. Grouped spawns (optional) -- define clusters in cfgeventgroups.xml and reference the group name in your event.

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Server Restart Automation

DayZ has no built-in restart scheduler. Use OS-level automation.

Windows

Create restart_server.bat and run it via Windows Scheduled Task every 4-6 hours:

@echo off
taskkill /f /im DayZServer_x64.exe
timeout /t 10
xcopy /e /y "C:\DayZServer\profiles\storage_1" "C:\DayZBackups\%date:~-4%-%date:~-7,2%-%date:~-10,2%\"
C:\SteamCMD\steamcmd.exe +force_install_dir C:\DayZServer +login anonymous +app_update 223350 validate +quit
start "" "C:\DayZServer\DayZServer_x64.exe" -config=serverDZ.cfg -profiles=profiles -port=2302

Linux

Create a shell script and add it to cron (0 */4 * * *):

#!/bin/bash
kill $(pidof DayZServer) && sleep 15
cp -r /home/dayz/server/profiles/storage_1 /home/dayz/backups/$(date +%F_%H%M)_storage_1
/home/dayz/steamcmd/steamcmd.sh +force_install_dir /home/dayz/server +login anonymous +app_update 223350 validate +quit
cd /home/dayz/server && ./DayZServer -config=serverDZ.cfg -profiles=profiles -port=2302 &

Always back up storage_1/ before each restart. Corrupted persistence during shutdown can wipe player bases and vehicles.

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cfgweather.xml

The file cfgweather.xml in your mission folder controls weather patterns. Each map ships with its own defaults:

Each phenomenon has min, max, duration_min, and duration_max (seconds):

Phenomenon	Default Min	Default Max	Notes
overcast	0.0	1.0	Drives cloud density and rain probability
rain	0.0	1.0	Only triggers above an overcast threshold. Set max to 0.0 for no rain
fog	0.0	0.3	Values above 0.5 produce near-zero visibility
wind_magnitude	0.0	18.0	Affects ballistics and player movement

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Messages System

The file db/messages.xml in your mission folder controls scheduled server messages and shutdown warnings:

<messages>
    <message deadline="0" shutdown="0"><text>Welcome to our server!</text></message>
    <message deadline="240" shutdown="1"><text>Server restart in 4 minutes!</text></message>
    <message deadline="60" shutdown="1"><text>Server restart in 1 minute!</text></message>
    <message deadline="0" shutdown="1"><text>Server is restarting now.</text></message>
</messages>

• deadline -- minutes before the message triggers (for shutdown messages, minutes before server stops)
• shutdown -- 1 for shutdown-sequence messages, 0 for regular broadcasts

The messages system does not restart the server. It only displays warnings when a restart schedule is configured externally.

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