DayZ cfggameplay.json, Spawn Points and Starting Gear
Turn on cfggameplay.json and use it to change stamina, carry weight, base building checks and the map, then set fresh-spawn locations and starting loadouts.
Turning cfggameplay.json On
cfggameplay.json lives in your mission folder, mpmissions/<mission>/cfggameplay.json, and holds gameplay tuning that serverDZ.cfg has no keys for. DayZ only reads it when enableCfgGameplayFile = 1; is in serverDZ.cfg.
1. Set enableCfgGameplayFile to 1: on the Settings tab if your server shows it there, otherwise by adding enableCfgGameplayFile = 1; to serverDZ.cfg in the Files tab while the server is stopped. Then start or restart the server.
2. Edit the file in the Files tab. Take a backup first.
3. Restart again after each edit.
Once the file is on, five
serverDZ.cfgsettings are ignored and theircfggameplay.jsonversions are used instead: base damage, container damage, the respawn dialog, personal light and night lighting. The vanilla file leaves personal light on, while the defaultserverDZ.cfgturns it off, so checkPlayerData.disablePersonalLightafter switching.
Stamina and Carry Weight
Stamina lives under PlayerData.StaminaData:
| Key | Vanilla | Effect |
|---|---|---|
sprintStaminaModifierErc | 1 | Stamina used sprinting upright. 0.5 halves it, 0 makes sprinting free |
sprintStaminaModifierCro | 1 | Stamina used sprinting crouched |
meleeStaminaModifier | 1 | Stamina used by melee attacks |
staminaMax | 100 | Size of the stamina bar |
staminaWeightLimitThreshold | 6000 | Grams carried before extra weight shrinks the stamina bar |
staminaKgToStaminaPercentPenalty | 1.75 | Stamina lost per kilogram above the threshold |
A popular "less exhausting" setup is sprint modifiers of 0.5 to 0.7 and a weight threshold of 15000 to 20000 grams.
Never set
staminaMaxto 0. DayZ rejects the value and falls back to vanilla for the whole stamina group, so every other stamina change you made is silently ignored too. The.RPTlog records a validation failure forcfggameplay.jsonwhen this happens.
Base Building Checks
BaseBuildingData.HologramData and BaseBuildingData.ConstructionData hold switches that turn off the placement and building checks: collisions, roof clipping, placement angle, height, underwater and in-terrain placement, and building distance.
- Build through objects (
ConstructionData.disableIsCollidingCheck) is the one most servers turn on, to allow building inside houses. - Ignore placement angle (
HologramData.disableIsCollidingAngleCheck) helps on hilly ground.
Every check you disable also makes "glitch bases" easier: storage pushed into rocks or walls where raiders cannot reach it. On PvP servers turn off as few as possible, and say which ones in your server rules.
Making bases indestructible is GeneralData.disableBaseDamage and GeneralData.disableContainerDamage, the usual choice for PvE servers.
Map, Navigation and Other Useful Switches
| Key | Effect |
|---|---|
MapData.ignoreMapOwnership | Players can open the map with the M key without carrying a map item |
MapData.ignoreNavItemsOwnership | Compass and GPS information without carrying them |
MapData.displayPlayerPosition | Shows the player their own position on the map. Never other players |
UIData.use3DMap | The map is held in the hands instead of full screen |
GeneralData.disableRespawnInUnconsciousness | Unconscious players cannot respawn to escape |
WorldsData.lightingConfig | 0 brighter nights, 1 dark nights, 2 Sakhal lighting |
PlayerData.disablePersonalLight | Removes the glow around players at night |
Temperatures, wetness and other arrays are in the file too. Change array values only if you are sure of the format: some groups must keep an exact number of entries, or DayZ reverts the group to vanilla.
Where Fresh Characters Spawn: cfgplayerspawnpoints.xml
mpmissions/<mission>/cfgplayerspawnpoints.xml controls where new characters appear. It has separate sections for fresh spawns and for players who hop between servers, each with a list of spawn positions and rules about keeping distance from infected and other players.
- To move fresh spawns inland or to one part of the map, edit the position list in the fresh section.
- Positions are map coordinates, so a tool such as the iZurvive map is useful for reading them.
- Keep the XML valid, and back up first. A broken file stops players from spawning properly.
Starting Gear
There are two ways to give new characters items:
Spawn gear presets (recommended)
PlayerData.spawnGearPresetFiles in cfggameplay.json lists JSON files in the mission folder, each describing a loadout: clothing, items in each slot and cargo, with a weight so presets can be picked at random.
1. Create a file such as custom/spawn_gear.json in the mission folder, following Bohemia's documented preset format.
2. Add its path to spawnGearPresetFiles.
3. Restart and test with a fresh character.
Items that do not fit in the clothing you give are not spawned, and there is no error. If something is missing, give the character a bigger container.
init.c
The mission's init.c also sets starting equipment in script. Presets are easier and safer: a single typo in init.c stops the server loading the mission.
Validate Before You Restart
A JSON syntax error means DayZ cannot use the file. Before restarting:
1. Paste the file into any JSON validator, or open it in an editor that highlights JSON errors.
2. Check for trailing commas and missing quotes, the two most common mistakes.
3. Restart, then look in the newest .RPT in profiles/ for lines mentioning cfggameplay.
If something goes wrong, restore the file from your backup rather than guessing.