Guide

🚀 Quick Start

Welcome to XDC DayZ. This is the short version — just enough to get you in, alive, and pointed at the right guide for whatever you want to do next. Everything here links to a fuller guide if you want the detail; you can always browse the whole set on the Guides page.

Your first few minutes

Step 1

Join a server

Chernarus, Sakhal

or Deer Isle

Pick a server from the DayZ community browser (search "XDC") or use the connect links in our Discord. Your character is separate on each map.

Step 2

Survive the first hour

Food, water,

warmth — then loot

Keep your stomach and thirst up, stay warm, and avoid other players until you're geared. Head inland to towns to find food, tools and a backpack.

Step 3

Gear up

Tools first,

fights later

A knife, a way to make fire, and a digging/building tool go a long way. Don't rush into military zones fresh-spawned — that's how first hours end early.

The servers

We run three maps — Chernarus, Sakhal and Deer Isle — each with its own character, stash and bases. They share the same XDC mods and rules, so what you learn on one carries over. You can compare population and activity on Server Stats.

Staying alive

Watch the status icons: eat and drink before they flash, and keep an eye on temperature — being wet and cold will kill you as surely as a bullet. Sleep restores fatigue, and a proper bed does it faster (see How to Sleep). Carry a rag or bandage for bleeding and disinfect wounds so they don't get infected.

Team up

Playing with friends is far safer. The XDC Groups mod lets you form a squad, see each other in the world and on the map, and manage ranks — press O in-game to open it. Full details in the Groups guide. (Every XDC hotkey is rebindable under Controls → XDC if a key clashes.)

Build a base

Two ways to build a home:

Surface bases with Base Building Plus — walls, floors, doors and tiers. Start with the Base Building guide and the cost tables in Building Costs.
Underground bases — hidden, dug-out bases. The new XDC Underground / Tunnel System lets you tunnel out cube by cube; start at the Tunnel System hub (the older Underground Bases mod runs alongside it for now).

Raise a flag to claim a territory and stop your base and stashes despawning — see Flags & Territories.

Raiding — and getting raided

Raiding is done mainly with explosives (bullets only finish a weakened structure). If you defend, a flag and claimed cubes stop outsiders dismantling their way in, and a cube that's just been hit is locked from repairs for a while. The full picture — costs, tools and defence — is in How Raiding Works.

Vehicles

Cars, trucks and helicopters are found and repaired in the world. Important: admins will not replace a vehicle or its contents under any circumstances — DayZ vehicles bug out, lag into the ground and vanish, and you take that risk on yourself. Don't store anything you can't afford to lose in one. See Vehicle Info.

Find your way

Our Map Link system helps you get your bearings in-game — how it works is covered in Map Link Info. A paper map and compass never hurt either.

Track your progress

Link a website account to your character to see your personal stats and control how your name appears — the Account guide walks you through it. Then check your own breakdown on My Stats, see where you rank on the Leaderboard, and use the Weapons and build Calculator tools.

Get help

Stuck, or something's not working? Ask in the XDC Discord — it's the fastest way to reach admins and other players. And whenever you want the detail on any system, it's on the Guides page. Good luck out there.

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