How to Configure Your DayZ Server

Context

With a DayZ server at Winheberg, most of the configuration is done from the gaming panel, with no command line. The name shown in the server list, the password, the player count, third-person view, the speed of days and nights, the description and the whitelist all have their place.

These settings live in two places. The ones shown in the Startup tab are written back into the serverDZ.cfg file by the panel every time the server starts, so they must be changed in Startup and nowhere else. The others, such as the description, the whitelist or third-person view limited to vehicles, are edited directly in serverDZ.cfg from the Files tab.

This guide shows you where to find each setting and how to apply it.

Prerequisites

• An active DayZ server at Winheberg, available with our DayZ server offer
• Access to the Winheberg gaming panel (https://panel.winheberg.com/)
• The initial installation completed, the first game download takes several minutes (Running Installer screen)

Where each setting is changed

Setting	Location	Field or line
Server name	Startup	Server Name
Password to join	Startup	Server Password
Admin password	Startup	Admin Password
Maximum number of players	Startup	Max Players
Third-person view and crosshair	Startup	Disable Third Person, Disable Crosshair
Day and night speed	Startup	Time Multiplier, Night Multiplier
Time kept between restarts	Startup	Persistent Time
Description in the server list	serverDZ.cfg	description
Whitelist	serverDZ.cfg and whitelist.txt	enableWhitelist
Third-person view in vehicles only	serverDZ.cfg	thirdPersonView
Starting time	serverDZ.cfg	serverTime

1. Change the name, passwords and player count

Log in to the Winheberg panel, select your DayZ server, then click Startup in the CONFIGURATION section of the side menu. The relevant fields are in the Variables block.

Field	Default value	Purpose
Server Name	DayZ Server	Name shown in the server list
Max Players	64	Maximum number of players allowed on the server
Server Password	empty	Password required to join, leave it empty for a server with no password
Admin Password	empty	Password used to log in as an admin on the server

The new values take effect the next time the server starts (see step 5).

2. Set third-person view and the crosshair

Still in Startup, scroll down to the Disable Third Person and Disable Crosshair toggles. Both are set to False by default.

Field	Default value	Effect when True
Disable Third Person	False	Disables third-person view, players stay in first-person view
Disable Crosshair	False	Hides the crosshair on screen

To allow third-person view only inside vehicles, leave Disable Third Person on False and follow step 4.3.

3. Set the time and the day/night cycle

The speed of in-game time is also set in Startup, with the Time Multiplier and Night Multiplier fields shown in the previous screenshot.

Field	Default value	Purpose
Time Multiplier	12	Speeds up in-game time, from 0 to 24. At 12, a 24-hour day lasts 2 real hours
Night Multiplier	1	Speeds up the night on top of that, from 0.1 to 64. This value is multiplied by Time Multiplier
Persistent Time	False	When True, the server time is saved and reused at the next start
Darker Nights	False	When True, nights are darker and hard to get through without a light
Disable Personal Light	True	Disables the personal light placed above players at night

A few examples to picture how the two multipliers work.

Time Multiplier	Night Multiplier	Days pass	Nights pass
1	1	At real-time speed	At real-time speed
12	1	12 times faster than real time	12 times faster
12	2	12 times faster	24 times faster
2	4	2 times faster	8 times faster

To choose the time at which the server starts, go to step 4.4.

4. Edit the serverDZ.cfg file

Settings that are not in Startup are changed in serverDZ.cfg, at the root of the server. In the side menu, click Files (MANAGEMENT section), then open serverDZ.cfg.

Each line follows the parameter = value; syntax. The trailing semicolon is required, text values go between double quotes, and anything after // is a comment. Once your change is made, click Save Content.

4.1 Add a description

The description line holds the text shown to players in the in-game server browser, up to 255 characters. Write your text between the quotes.

description = "English-speaking PvE server, friendly community";

4.2 Enable the whitelist

The whitelist restricts access to the players you have listed. First, set the enableWhitelist line to 1.

enableWhitelist = 1;

Then open the whitelist.txt file, also located at the root of the server, and add the SteamID64 (17-digit Steam identifier) of each allowed player, one per line. Click Save Content.

76561198000000001
76561198000000002

To turn the whitelist off, set the line back to enableWhitelist = 0;.

4.3 Allow third-person view in vehicles only

The thirdPersonView line accepts three values.

Value	Effect
0	Third-person view disabled
1	Third-person view enabled (value present by default)
2	Third-person view in vehicles only

To limit third-person view to vehicles, replace the value with 2.

thirdPersonView=2;

4.4 Choose the starting time

The serverTime line sets the server time. With the default "SystemTime" value, the server uses the local time of the machine. You can also enter a date and time in the YYYY/MM/DD/HH/MM format (year, month, day, hour, minute), for example to start on June 21 at 8am.

serverTime="2026/06/21/08/00";

5. Apply the changes

All these changes, in Startup as well as in serverDZ.cfg, take effect at the next start. Restart the server from the Console. A DayZ server takes a few minutes to start, its status goes from Starting to Online once it is ready.

If you run into trouble

❌ A name or password changed in serverDZ.cfg goes back to the old value

• This is expected, the panel rewrites the values it manages in Startup at every start
• Make the change in Startup, then restart the server

❌ Changes don't show up in game

• Check that the server was actually restarted after the change
• Wait for the status to switch to Online, startup takes a few minutes
• For serverDZ.cfg, check that you clicked Save Content before restarting

❌ A serverDZ.cfg line seems to be ignored

• Check that the line ends with a semicolon
• Check that text values are between double quotes
• Look at the Console and at the .RPT logs in the profiles folder to spot an error at startup

❌ A player can no longer join after the whitelist was enabled

• Check that their SteamID64 is in whitelist.txt, on its own line
• Check that the file was saved and that the server has restarted since

Best practices

• Change the RCON Password in Startup, it holds the placeholder value remplaceme by default (20 characters maximum)
• Use two different passwords for Server Password and Admin Password, so a player who knows the join password does not get admin rights
• Back up before editing serverDZ.cfg or whitelist.txt, restoring is faster than hunting for an error

Need help?

If a setting doesn't apply, if your server no longer starts after editing serverDZ.cfg, or if you're unsure about a value, our team is here to help. Open a ticket in the Technical department from your client area, fill in the Related Product field with your DayZ server, and specify the setting you changed along with the behavior you observed.

Your DayZ server is now set up the way you want it, good luck surviving 🎮