How to Add Mods to Your DayZ Server | Nitrado

DayZ Mods Introduction

Zombies are roaming the deadly lands of DayZ, where you’ll have to fight your way through the hordes to collect resources, improve your gear, and survive against the ever-present threats around every corner. Mods add a new layer to that survival, giving your character and your world new gear, structures, and mechanics that change how each run plays out.

With DayZ mods, you and your friends can play together with custom community-created maps, unique collectibles such as Pokemon cards, and new features including code locks for your bases. In this Nitrado guide, we’ll show you how to install mods on your DayZ game and server.

Can You Mod DayZ on Xbox?

Zombies aren’t the only thing standing between you and a modded DayZ save on console. Steam Workshop, the source for every mod covered in this guide, is a PC and Steam feature: browsing, subscribing to, and downloading DayZ mods all happen through a Steam account on a PC. Console versions of DayZ don’t have access to the Steam Workshop, so mod support on Xbox depends entirely on what the console itself builds in, not on the Workshop library PC players use. If you’re planning to install mods on your own DayZ server using the steps below, you’ll need a PC copy of the game running through Steam to get there.

Finding And Installing DayZ Mods

How To Install DayZ Mods To Your Game

• Open Steam, go to your game library, select DayZ, and access the game’s Workshop.

• Go through and subscribe to all of the mods you’d like to use.

• Once you have subscribed to those mods, start the DayZ game.
• Using the DayZ launcher, select the MODS option and here, you can manage all of the mods you’ve subscribed to in Available mods and press the checkbox to load those mods to your game.

• You can now press the PLAY option to begin playing modded DayZ!
• If you’re wanting to play DayZ experimental, using the regular DayZ game launcher, press the dropdown arrow next to a specific mod and select Open folder in Windows Explorer.

• This will open your DayZ local mod files. Keep this safe and create a new folder on your computer named mods or DayZ mods.
• Access that folder for your DayZ local mods and copy the folders of each mod you’d like to install, including their requirements. Paste these files into the “mods” or “DayZ mods” folder you created on your computer.

• You can now open the DayZ experimental game and launcher and enter the MODS section of the menu. You will not see any mods installed here by default.
• On the launcher, press the Local mod option and then locate your “mods” or “DayZ mods” folder you created on your computer.

• Click on that folder and then press the Select Folder option.

• All of those mods will now import to the DayZ experimental game, where you can manage and activate those mods. You can repeat this process to install additional mods and then press PLAY to begin your DayZ modded adventure.

Using DZSA Launcher as a Mod Manager Alternative

Managing dozens of Workshop mods by hand isn’t the only option. DZSA Launcher is a popular third-party tool that a large share of the DayZ server community uses instead of, or alongside, the official launcher’s manual mod management shown above. It automates downloading and updating the mods a server needs, checking your local mod list against what a server runs and pulling in whatever’s missing or behind. Many community servers list DZSA Launcher alongside the official DayZ launcher as a supported way to connect, so check whether the server you’re joining, or the one you’re running, supports it before you settle on a tool.

Installing Mods On Your DayZ Server

Before beginning this process, it is recommended to follow the steps above for installing mods to your DayZ game to ensure the mods are prepared for your server.

• Open your DayZ game server Nitrado Web Interface and access your server’s FTP using an external FTP program. You can find your server’s FTP login information at the bottom of your dashboard:

• After connecting, access your local DayZ files again by opening the DayZ launcher, going to the MODS area, using the dropdown arrow for any mod, and pressing Open folder in Windows Explorer.

• Find the mods that you wish to upload to your server including their requirements and upload those files within the dayzstandalone folder in your server’s FTP.

• Next, enter each of the mod folders for the mods you’re adding and you’ll need to upload those keys to your DayZ server’s keys folder.

• Once uploaded, go back to your Web Interface and access your General server settings.

• The Additional Mods field is where your server manages which mods it loads, so this is where the folders you just uploaded start doing something. Scroll down through your settings until you see Additional Mods. Add each of your mods by their folder name, separating each mod with a semicolon (;) like this:

• After adding those mod files, press Save changes and restart your DayZ server.
• Your dedicated DayZ server will now be ready with mods!

Server Mods / Server-side Mods

This type of mod doesn’t need to be downloaded client-side, only server-side, and the installation process is fairly similar. You don’t have to activate these mods yourself; the install itself makes the server use the mod automatically.

Connect via FTP to your server. Instead of moving the whole mod to the server, just open the main mod folder. It should contain different folders: Addons, Keys, and other files.

Move the content of the Addons folder from the mod to the Addons folder in the server, as well as the rest of the matching folders between the mod and the server. Do not put anything from the keys folder into the server; this step matters.

Installation ready! Now every player joining the server will have to select ignore when the launcher asks what to do with the server mod. It will still be listed on the requirements to join the server but no further action will be needed.

Remember that some mods may have specific installation instructions of their own. Missing one step can prevent the server from starting correctly.

Common Issues With DayZ Mods

Unable to Start DayZ After Installing Mods

When adding mods to DayZ, the most common issue is with a missing mod requirement. Often, DayZ mods will require additional mods to work correctly. When installing mods through the Steam Workshop, most mods will inform you of this and will ask you to also install the dependencies required. Check the description of every DayZ mod you add before installing it, since mod authors will often list exactly what else you need there.

Airdrop Upgraded is a great example of a mod that provides that information, showing it does not have any requirements, therefore, allowing it to be installed on its own:

Can’t Compile Script Errors

This particular error occurs when you have a mod conflict between two mods that have similar functionality. As it can be difficult to find which of your mods are conflicting, read the descriptions of your mods before installing them. Many mods document known conflicts directly in their own Steam Workshop description, and a conflict between two mods with similar functionality is a common cause of this error, so checking first can save you the troubleshooting later:

In severe cases, remove your mods and activate them one by one, starting the game each time to see which mod is causing the errors.

Server Refusing To Start With DayZ Mods

Similar to the DayZ game, your server can run into the same issues, including mods missing requirements and script errors from mod conflicts.

Resolve mod issues on your DayZ game first using the steps above, then repeat the process of adding and activating those mods on your server using this guide. That order keeps your server mods working correctly, so you and your friends can actually play on your modded DayZ server instead of troubleshooting it.

Joining a Modded DayZ Server as a Player

Everything above covers installing mods on your own DayZ server. Joining someone else’s modded server as a player works differently, and it catches out plenty of players who assume a server’s mods get added to their game automatically.

To join a modded DayZ server, you need to be subscribed to the same Steam Workshop mods the server runs, using the same subscribe step covered earlier in this guide. The DayZ launcher checks your local mod list against the server’s requirements when you try to connect, and it flags any mod that’s missing or mismatched before it lets you in. Check the server’s mod list first; most servers publish their required mods in the server browser description or a linked mod list, so you know what to subscribe to before you try connecting. Keep those mods updated too, since an older copy of a mod can flag as mismatched even when you’re already subscribed, and some servers expect mods loaded in a specific order inside the launcher, which the server’s own mod list will usually note.

Line those up and the launcher should let you straight through to the server you’re trying to join.

Try Installing Mods On Your DayZ Server

Now that you know how to install mods to DayZ, what types of mods will you try? Having the ability to add nearly anything to your server from new maps, costumes, weapons, game features, vehicles, and so much more, you and your friends will have a blast. See what you can create and the fun you and your friends will have when you begin installing mods on your DayZ server!