Have you ever logged into the game, wanting to play with your friends online, but you don't know how to get it working? Don't worry, this step-by-step guide should help.

Step 1: Set up a call with your friend/s (Steam VC, Discord, teamspeak)

Step 2: Find a server you want to play on

Step 3: Send your friend/s the code at the beginning of the server name in the chat, and make sure you're both on the right server. (You might wanna favorite the server so you can access it easier).

Step 4: Once you all log in as fresh spawns, look around and see if your friend/s is there. If so, try having both of you use the in-game proximity chat. If you hear an echo when they speak, it's your friend and not just some random guy.

Step 5: If you both spawn in completely different spaces, have both of you find a way to commit suicide. you can do this by equipping just about any weapon, and hitting F11+LMB.

Step 6: Have both of you hit ESC and click "respawn".

Step 7: Once your both in the respawn menu, try and time up when you both click either of the "respawn-custom" or "respawn-random" buttons. If you both click them at the same time, it has a high chance of you both respawning in the same town. this should work on most servers.

Step 8: Repeat step 4.

Alternatively, you could do it the hard way by trying to find each other based off of which town you are in. If you have an intimate knowledge of the map you are playing on, or have a picture of the map, you should be able to find your friend if they are in a town.This can be very time-consuming though, and there's no guarantee that either of you will survive the journey. So only do it this way if you have to.

Think about every zombie movie you've ever seen. Almost all of the same rules apply, except for the don't get bit rule. The basic zombie combat rules include:

1. Only use your gun in emergencies, this can not only attract a ton of zombies, but also alert other people/players to your position. Also, ammo and guns are extremely limited, since the game takes place in some backwards Russia-like country or something. I'm telling you, the game would be about half as hard if it took place in the U.S.A. (Although, the zombie population would be through the roof).

2. Try to kill zombies as stealthily as possible, unless you have good gear on you. You can sneak up from behind zombies and stealth kill them with just about any sharp weapon, as long as they don't notice you first.

3. You can block incoming attacks by holding RMB (Right Mouse Button), and walking backwards.

4. Every zombie in the game has the same attack pattern.

5. In case you haven't even played the game yet, these zombies are FAST. They also have really good navigational skills, and I've even seen them hop fences. So try to keep that in mind.

6. You can actually trap most NPC's in buildings, as long as you are fast enough, and there is more than one entrance.

7. The zombies in this game are not dead, so you don't have to only aim for the head. Body shots can still be lethal.

8. Zombies can be seen going after wild animals, so they can prove as an excellent distraction. They don't do this for food though, so if they kill one it's still edible. (unless it's a predator animal. Do not eat those).

9. This isn't like "The Walking Dead". Regular people don't reanimate once killed, as every player is immune to zombie infection. (But just about any other disease can kill you. Also, I'm pretty sure there's a Walking Dead server where this rule doesn't apply).

Zombies are not the only enemies you will come across. Other players can be even more dangerous. So when you find yourself in a situation where you have no other choice, you'll have to fight for survival. Here's how.

The basics of melee combat

Ready your weapon or fists: Hold down the right mouse button (PC) to enter a combat stance. This raises your weapon or clenches your fists.

Normal attack: While in a combat stance, click the left mouse button to perform a standard attack.

Heavy attack: Hold the Shift key while performing a normal attack. This delivers a more powerful, stamina-draining strike that can knock an enemy down or stun them.

Sprint attack: Sprint towards your target and use the normal attack button for a running strike. This can be effective against zombies but risky against players.

Blocking: While in a combat stance, walk backward to block incoming attacks. This can negate damage from regular melee hits but not power attacks. Blocking can also help you regain stamina during a fight.

Dodge: Press Q or E to dodge left or right. This is a more advanced technique for avoiding heavy attacks.

Melee combat tips

Fighting zombies

Use the heavy attack: Against zombies, a heavy attack to the head with a powerful weapon like a sledgehammer can be a one-hit kill.

Mind your stamina: Sprinting and heavy attacks consume a lot of stamina. Walk backward while blocking to safely regenerate it.

Bait their attacks: Wait for a zombie's overhead two-handed attack. Block it, then retaliate with your own heavy attack while they are recovering.

Use the environment: If overwhelmed, get to higher ground by climbing on a car or rock where zombies cannot reach you. You can also trap them by luring them into a building and closing the door.

Stealth kills: With a sharp weapon like a knife, you can perform a stealth kill on a zombie. While crouching, get close behind an unsuspecting target and attack.

Fighting players

Aim for the head: As with zombies, headshots are the most effective way to deal damage. Aim slightly higher to compensate for DayZ's hit registration.

Time your attacks: With slower two-handed weapons, be mindful of your attack speed. You can easily get stun-locked by a faster opponent.

Mix it up: Use a combination of quick and heavy attacks to throw off your opponent. Since players can dodge out of stunlocks, a combo of attacks may not land all your hits.

Use your firearm for melee: If you have a gun with a bayonet, hold the right mouse button and press F (PC) for a bayonet stab. If there's no bayonet, you will perform a rifle butt smash.

In DayZ, a wide variety of firearms can be found across the map, each using a specific ammunition type. The following is a comprehensive list of firearms organized by the type of ammo they use.

Pistols and submachine guns

.22 Rounds: MK II, Sporter 22.
.380 ACP Rounds: CR-61 Skorpion, IJ-70.
9x19mm Rounds: CR-75, Mlock-91, SG5-K.
.45 ACP Rounds: FX-45, Kolt 1911, USG-45.
.357 Rounds: Deagle, Magnum, Repeater Carbine, Revolver.
9x39mm Rounds: SVAL, VSS, Vikhr.

Rifles and assault rifles
5.45x39mm Rounds: KA-74, KAS-74U.
5.56x45mm Rounds: AUR A1, AUR AX, KA-101, LE-MAS, M4-A1, M16-A2.
7.62x39mm Rounds: BK-18, KA-M, SKS, CR-527 Carbine.
.308 Rounds: Blaze, LAR, M70 Tundra.
7.62x54mmR Rounds: Mosin 91/30, VSD.

Shotguns
All shotguns use 12 Gauge Buckshot, 12 Gauge Slugs, and 12 Gauge Rubber Slugs.
BK-12 (including sawed-off)
BK-133
BK-43 (including sawed-off)
R12
Vaiga

Explosives and launchers
40mm Grenades: M79 Grenade Launcher, available in explosive, smoke, and gas rounds.
Flare Cartridges: Flaregun.

Archery
Bolts: Crossbow, available in standard, improvised, and feathered variations.
I think there used to be a bow and arrow, but they removed it for some reason.

You've been playing this overpriced zombie game for a little while now, and a thought occurs to you: Isn't this game supposed to be multiplayer? Next thing you know, somebody is walking towards you, intentions unclear. What should you do? Well, here's some tips on what to do if you run into other people:

1. If you are armed and they are unarmed, then do not aim your gun at them and simply ask if they are friendly. If they take a long time to respond, they are likely untrustworthy. Open fire if they try to punch or stab you.

2. If they are armed and you are unarmed, hit F5 to surrender, and do not attack them. Try to convey to them that you are not a bad person, and your intent is not to harm. Only attack if provoked.

3. If they are armed and you are armed, talk to them, and try not to turn the scene into a standoff. only aim your gun at them if they do first.

4. If you are both unarmed, treat them as you would a regular person. Try to be friendly.

5. If there are multiple armed people (in a group) whether you are armed or unarmed, then repeat step 2

That is unless you are a bloodthirsty psychopath who kills everyone they see. In that case, you can completely disregard this section of the guide. But if you do follow this guide, this should hopefully get you through player interactions alive, and maybe even make you some new friends.

In this part of the guide, I will discuss ways to identify cannibals. You see, Cannibalism gives players the incurable disease called "Kuru". Payers with no morals often eat zombies and humans alike, because it is a quick and easy short-term way to get food, but is extremely detrimental in the long-term.

Here are signs that someone is a cannibal:

1. Their player character randomly bursts out laughing.

2. They twitch, usually seen when they aim down the sights of a gun. (kinda reminds me of this scene in "The Book of Eli"). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iriuqMITdR8

3. They keep human steak in their inventory and eat human steak right in front of you

4. They can be seen slicing up survivor and zombie corpses, then eating the meat.

5. They tell you that they are cannibals.

As you can see, cannibals can be very hard to detect, but if they display any of these signs, they are likely a cannibal.

However, players often like to backstab other players. This is not a very surprising fact, but what is surprising is a new method of backstabbing that has only been around recently. This method involves tricking teammates into eating food made from humans or zombies. This is often either done by players giving other players fat as food, unbeknownst to them the source being humans or zombies, or it can be done by players force feeding other players human food when they aren't looking. (Like if they're in the midst of looting, changing settings, or checking their inventory). So be careful who you call your friend. And even when desperate for food, NEVER resort to cannibalism.




















(If you couldn't tell, I was being sarcastic on all of the signs of cannibals except for 1 and 2)

Here are various emotes you can use on other players, if you don't have a microphone. You can also hit enter to chat if you don't have a microphone.

F1: Greeting emote/wave.
F2: Wave emote or surrender (hands up).
F3: Heart with hands emote.
F4: Taunt/middle finger emote.
F5: Surrender (hands up).
F6: Point or Magnifique emote (depending on the DayZ branch).
F7: Point or Thumbs up emote (depending on the DayZ branch).
F8: Taunt elbow emote.
F9: Silent or Thumbs up emote (depending on the DayZ branch).
F10: Cut throat or Die emote. (not to be confused with suicide emote).
F11: Suicide (I changed the key binding to K to make it easier to remember).

To build a base in DayZ, you'll need a variety of materials and tools. Here's a breakdown:

Tools:
1.Shovel or pickaxe: To place logs and level the ground.
2.Axe or hatchet: To chop down trees for logs and potentially to use in constructing frames and walls.
3.Hacksaw or handsaw: To cut logs into wooden planks.
4.Hammer or hatchet: For building frames, walls, and other structures.
5.Pliers: To craft gates and use barbed wire.

Building materials:
6.Wooden logs: You can obtain these by chopping down trees with an axe or hatchet. Two logs are needed per fence section.
7.Wooden planks: You can obtain these from lumber piles or by cutting logs with a saw. You'll need many planks for various parts of the base.
8.Nails: These are crucial for most construction steps. You'll need many of them.
9.Rope: Used in crafting Fence Kits and Watchtower Kits.
10.Short sticks: Used in crafting Fence Kits and Watchtower Kits.
11.Metal wire: Needed to create a gate.
12.Combination lock: A rare item to lock gates. Make sure it's a 4-digit one, 3 digit ones are easy to pick.

Optional materials:
13.Sheet metal: Can be used for reinforced structures.
14.Barbed wire: For additional defense.
15.Camouflage nets: To blend your base into the environment.
16.Crowbar: Can be used to dismantle walls and recover some materials.
Kits

Fence Kit: Crafted from two sticks and one piece of rope, this is the most important starting point for creating fences and walls for your base.

Watchtower Kit: Crafted from four sticks and one piece of rope, allowing you to build watchtowers.

It's important to remember that DayZ base building requires a significant investment of time and effort to gather materials and construct the various elements of a secure base. You can also use existing structures to save time and resources.

To make a fire, you will need these materials:

-A knife of some sort (make sure it is in good condition, won't break on you halfway through.)

-2 tree bark (you can cut these off of trees.)

-At least 1 long stick (for cooking food)

-At least 2 short sticks (can get more of these by breaking long sticks in half.)


Steps:

1. Gather needed materials

2. Combine 1 tree bark and 1 short stick to make a campfire

3. Combine 1 tree bark and 1 short stick but then scroll down to make a hand drill kit (this is unnecessary if you have matches.)

4. Equip the hand drill kit/ matches in hands, then go to fire and use on it to ignite

5. Add more logs, short sticks or firewood to keep the fire going longer


To cook food:

6. Once you have the fire going, you can combine a knife and a long stick to get a sharpened stick

7. Combine the sharpened stick and raw meat

8. Equip the sharpened stick with meat on it and roast over fire for about 1 minute, or until the waiting circle (in center of screen) goes away.

This part covers the various medical sicknesses and injuries, and how to cure them.

NOTICE: when I say to take any kind of pills or tablets during this guide, I do NOT mean all at once.
I mean to take some more until the pill symbol dissapears, and to stop taking them altogether when the virus/illness symbol dissapears.

Wound infection:
1. Caused from using non disinfected bandages, rags, sewing kits, or bandannas to stop a cut. This can also be contracted if you don't bandage your wounds within 40 seconds.
2. To prevent it, only use disinfected items to stop bleeding. You can use disinfectant spray, iodine or alcohol to disinfect items.
3. Symptoms include: pain sounds, blurry vision, and 50% slower stamina regeneration.
4. To cure it, apply disinfectant spray, iodine or alcohol to the wound or take tetracycline pills.

Cholera:
1. Caused from drinking from ponds, rivers, stagnant water or from containers that spawn around the map. You can also get it from a blood transfusion from a sick survivor, or from contaminated food and water. Items become contaminated when a sick player uses them.
2. To prevent it, avoid drinking unclean water. You can purify unclean water by either boiling it, using water purification or chatelaine tablets, or by drinking from a filtering bottle. Try to only drink water from a water pump or a spring, because that water is always safe. Do NOT drink water from half-full bottles/canteens. Those have a 50% chance of giving you Cholera. (Do not drink or eat anything while your hands are bloody.)
3. Symptoms include: a fever, vomiting after eating and drinking, faster water loss.
4. To cure it, eat 2-5 tetracycline pills or 2-8 multivitamin pills.

Salmonella:
1. Caused by eating unsafe foods,like raw meat. You can also get it from eating meat from a predator animal, such as wolves, bears, or foxes, even if it's cooked.
2. To prevent it, always cook raw meat and fat, wash your hands of blood before eating, and drinking. You can clean your hands from just about any water source. Also, avoid eating predator animal meat.
3. Symptoms include: light pain sounds, vomiting.
4. To cure it, eat 1-3 charcoal tablets, or 1 multivitamin pill.

Poisoning:
1. Caused from eating gasoline, burned or rotten food, or unknown food cans.
2. To prevent it, avoid eating gasoline, burned or rotten food, or unknown food cans.
3. Symptoms include: vomiting, reduced stamina regeneration,
4. There is no cure, you will have to wait it out for 7 minutes. 1 tetracycline pill can reduce this to 5 minutes.

Common cold:
1. Caused from low body temperature. You have a 40% chance of catching it for every hour that you're cold, and can also catch it from being within 3 meters of a sick person.
2. To prevent it, you have to stay warm and keep a high immune system. (having in both food and hunger bars white). You can also wear protective gear to keep from getting it.
3. Symptoms include: sneezing,
4. To cure it, take 1 multivitamin pill, a tetracycline pill, or by having in both food and hunger bars white.

The flu/Influenza
1. Caused from a common cold left untreated.
2. To prevent it, you have to stay warm and keep a high immune system. (having in both food and hunger bars white).
3. Symptoms include: sneezing, coughing, a fever that causes blurry vision and increased water loss.
4. To cure it, eat 5 tetracycline pills or 6 multivitamin pills.

Pneumonia
1. Caused from flu/Influenza left untreated.
2. To prevent it,
3. Symptoms include: Gasping for air, actions taking more stamina to preform, stamina regenerating 50% slower, losing health-killing you within 24 minutes.
4. To cure it, there is a slim chance that you will survive, if you keep warm, keep a high immune system (having in both food and hunger bars white), and take a multivitamin pill. But most of the time catching Pneumonia means certain death.

Heavy metal poisoning
1. Caused by drinking from untreated snow, or water from the hot springs on Sakhal.
2. To prevent it, treat any snow water with chatelaine tablets first, using a filtering bottle.
3. Symptoms include: Frequent shivers, increased water loss, slower stamina regeneration, frequent deafness, blurry vision, pain sounds, vomiting, health loss-killing you within 40 minutes.
4. To cure it, take 1-2 chatelaine tablets.

Kuru
1. Caused from eating human meat.
2. To prevent it, do not eat human steak, or fat & guts from survivors. Note that it's impossible to differentiate animal and human fat, so only eat if you're sure of the source.
3. Symptoms (occurs after 30 minutes) include: hands shaking when aiming down while using guns, random laughter outbursts.
4. There is no cure. You have these symptoms until you die and respawn, and other players will know you are a cannibal. You monster.

Hemolytic reaction
1. Caused from receiving a blood transfusion from an incompatible blood type.
2. To prevent it, refer to this blood type compatibility chart: https://images.steamusercontent.com/ugc/15021555426102725971/D66CB9B72A4CB7BC472E1BCD5809CCB5D8A6CCA9/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false
You can tell what blood type you have by using a blood test kit, which will display your blood type next to your blood level.
3. Symptoms include: falling unconscious after usage (over 15% of blood used), losing over 1,166 ml of blood over 3 minutes.
4. Incurable.

Toxic poisining:
1. Caused from entering a gassed zone without wearing a full set of NBC gear. You can also get it if other players throw gas grenades at you.
2. To prevent it, either stay away from toxic zones, or wear a full set of NBC gear. Make sure you have a gas mask with a filter.
3. Symptoms include: receiving cuts in a gassed area, Coughing/ vomiting up blood, falling unconscious. The more time you spend in a gassed zone, the worse things will get, until you pass out after 80 seconds/ 1 minute and 20 seconds and inevitably die.
4. To cure it, use a PO-X antidote, or get a blood transfusion from a healthy, compatible survivor. Takes 1-4 blood transfusions depending on severity.

Fractured leg:
1. Caused from stepping on a bear trap, landmine, falling from a high height, or generally taking a lot of damage to the leg.
2. To prevent it, avoid jumping from high-up places, and take it easy when a foot icon displays next to your water bar.
3. Symptoms include: a limp, taking shock damage when walking.
4. To cure it, make an improvised splint from 2 sticks, 4 rags/a bandage/duct tape. It will heal after 15 mins with a splint, 30 minutes without a splint.

If you prefer visual and audio guides, I used this video as a refrence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0MOoP35wfQ&t=713s

When you hit "play" on steam, there should be a DayZ window that opens up. When it does, you have to find the server you're trying to play on in there, click on it, click "more details", and configure/ install the mods needed. Once it's done installing, you should be good to go!