How to Update Your DayZ Server

After a DayZ patch, players who updated their game cannot join a server that has not. The panel keeps the server current for you: it updates on every start, and it can restart the server as soon as Bohemia publishes an update.

1Updates on Start

• Log in to your game panel and click your DayZ server.
• Open Game Settings and check that Automatic Updates is on. It is on by default.
• Every start now checks the server files and every Workshop mod, and updates what changed. The console shows the SteamCMD progress.

2Restart When an Update Is Published

• Open Restarts in the left menu.
• Turn on Restart on updates. The panel watches the DayZ server app on Steam and restarts your server when a new build appears, so it updates before your players notice.
• Set a daily restart on the same page while you are there. A DayZ server that runs for days gets slower, and a restart at a quiet hour clears it.

3Update by Hand

• Press Restart on the Console page. With Automatic Updates on, that is all an update takes.

Good to Know

• DayZ cannot warn players. The server takes no console commands, so a restart happens without an in-game message. The world is kept by DayZ's own regular saves; players lose at most the last few seconds.
• Mods lag behind patches. After a big DayZ update a mod may be broken until its author updates it. If the server does not start after an update, the console names the mod; remove it on the Mods page or wait for the fix. See how to add mods.
• Experimental is a separate install. Switch Game Version on the Game Settings page and reinstall the server from the Settings page. Your mission files and mods are kept.
• Validate Files repairs a broken install on the next start if an update went wrong halfway. Turn it off again afterwards.

Finished

The server updates itself and restarts when DayZ does. If something went wrong with an update, take a manual backup first and then reinstall from the Settings page.