DayZ Epoch Server Hosting

What DayZ Epoch Is and Why It Still Has Servers

DayZ Epoch is a free mod for Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead, made by the Epoch Mod Team and based on the community edition of the original DayZ Mod. Where the DayZ Mod was about scavenging and surviving, Epoch added a layer of permanence: you cut logs, craft lumber, raise walls and gates, lock your gear in safes and buy or sell at trader cities.

That permanence is the reason people still run Epoch servers more than a decade after Arma 2 came out. A base is only worth building if the world remembers it, and the world only remembers it if a server keeps running with a database behind it. Epoch saves characters, vehicles, storage and building pieces to MySQL, so every restart picks up where the last one stopped.

Your own server also gives you the rules. Public Epoch servers each have their own loot settings, trader prices and raid policies. On yours, you decide how generous the loot is, whether players can damage each other at all, and how long a base survives without being maintained.

Arma 2, Operation Arrowhead and the Epoch Files

An Epoch server is built in layers. At the bottom sits the Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead dedicated server. Operation Arrowhead is a standalone game, but Epoch also needs the content of the original Arma 2, which it loads through the -mod line alongside the Expansion folder. On top come the Epoch server add-on, the database extension and a mission for one map.

• Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead on the current stable build. The Epoch team asks for 1.64.0.144629 or newer on both server and client, and warns against beta builds.
• Arma 2 content loaded with -mod rather than copied into the Expansion folder, which the team says causes problems.
• Epoch server files: the @DayZ_Epoch_Server add-on, the HiveExt database extension and its libraries, and the BattlEye filters.
• A mission for your chosen map, plus its matching map config and launch settings.
• MySQL: a database for the Hive, with the tables and scheduled events the Epoch SQL files create.

On our servers that stack is installed for you, with the database created and connected. What is left is the part that makes the server yours: the mission settings, the traders and the rules.

The Hive: How Epoch Uses Its Database

Epoch calls its save system the Hive. HiveExt.dll on the server talks to a MySQL database that belongs to your server alone. Version 1.0.7.1 shipped a new HiveExt.dll that works with MySQL 8.0.33 and newer, together with the libraries it needs.

Everything persistent lives in that database: characters and their gear, vehicles and their keys, safes, lockboxes, tents and every placed building piece. The Epoch install guide also adds a set of recommended scheduled events to the database, which is why the team asks for MySQL's event scheduler to be switched on.

In our panel the database login sits behind the Database Details button. Install phpMyAdmin from the Mod Manager's Tools section and you can browse tables, export a dump before a big change, or fix a stuck vehicle without a remote desktop.

Choosing a Map for Your Epoch Server

The official server files carry 17 ready missions. Chernarus has two of them, and the rest cover Takistan, Chernarus Winter, Isla Duala, Taviana, Namalsk, Panthera, FDF Podagorsk, Caribou, Sahrani, Ovaron, Napf, Sauerland and its winter version, Ruegen and Lingor.

Map choice is mostly about what players have to download. Chernarus comes with Arma 2 and Takistan with Operation Arrowhead. The Epoch client also bundles Sauerland, Napf, FDF Podagorsk and Chernarus Winter. Every other map needs its own add-on, on the server and on each player's PC, which is a real barrier for a public server.

Pick once and stay. Each mission is tied to its map and carries its own instance number, so moving from Napf to Chernarus means starting a new world rather than moving the old one. If you want to try maps, do it before you open the server to players.

Base Building, Safes, Traders and Coins

Building is where Epoch spends most of its depth. Logs become lumber, lumber becomes walls and floors, and metal parts turn into gates and doors with codes. Version 1.0.7 added more than 30 new building items, including a drawbridge, metal and wooden gates and glass floors, plus fences and gates from the DayZ Mod that snap and upgrade like the rest.

Storage is the other half. Safes and lockboxes keep gear behind a code, and 1.0.7 made each failed code attempt cost more waiting time, which slows down brute-force raiders. Gun racks, sheds and safes can be upgraded to versions with more slots.

Trader cities tie the economy together. 1.0.7 added global banking with coins, so money can be stored rather than carried, and the Virtual Garage can be maintained with coins. Heroes and bandits drop dog tags that can be traded for humanity at their own traders, which gives both play styles something to chase.

PvP, PvE, Weather and the Feel of Your World

Most of Epoch's character is set in the mission's configuration variables. Since 1.0.7 a PvE mode can turn off player damage for groups who want the building and zombies without the betrayal, and it is off by default.

The same release added snow, snow storms, ground fog and cold breath, plus warm clothing and shivering when a player gets too cold. On a winter map that turns the weather into a reason to build shelter. More than 100 new weapons and over 200 zombie models arrived too, so loot tables are worth a look before launch.

1. Decide PvP or PvE and set it before anyone builds.
2. Set loot and zombie levels for your group size.
3. Choose whether weather and cold play a part.
4. Write down raid and base rules and post them where players will see them.

Slots, Memory and Server Performance

Arma 2 is a 32-bit engine, and Bohemia's community wiki gives 2047MB as the hard maximum for its -maxMem setting. In practice that means the Epoch server process will not use much more than 2GB however much memory the machine has. Our plans all include the free 5GB tier, which covers that process, the MySQL database and BattlEye with room to spare.

What does change with player count is CPU load: more players means more zombies, vehicles and loot being simulated at once. Every plan runs on 5.0GHz cores, with faster options on the order form for servers that run many AI missions.

Slots are the main choice. A clan map runs happily on 10 or 20 slots; a public server can match the 50-player battles Bohemia advertises for Operation Arrowhead, or go further. You can change slots later from the client area without touching the world.

Security, Restarts and Backups

The Epoch team's own security advice is short and worth following. Change the admin password in the map config and the RCon password in BEServer.cfg, keep the server's config and profile folder outside the game folder, and use the BattlEye filters that ship with your version.

Schedule a daily restart at a quiet hour and announce it with the Server Messages plugin, so players are not mid-build when the server goes down. Server messages run on server time, so check the clock in Server Details before you set them.

Back up two things: the files and the database. A panel backup covers the mission, configs and add-ons; a phpMyAdmin export covers characters and bases. Take both before every update or script merge, and keep at least one copy from before the start of a season.

What to Compare Before You Rent a DayZ Epoch Server

An Epoch server is only as good as the parts around the game.

1. A real MySQL databaseCheck that the database comes with the server and that you can reach it with phpMyAdmin or a dump.
2. Epoch versionAsk which release is installed. 1.0.7.1 needs the newer HiveExt.dll and MySQL 8.0.33 or later.
3. File accessYou will merge scripts into the mission, so a browser file manager and SFTP matter more than on most games.
4. Backups you can restoreLook for on-demand snapshots of files, and a way to export the database yourself.
5. Clock speedZombies, AI missions and dozens of players all run on the server. Compare CPU speed, not just slot price.
6. DDoS protectionPublic DayZ servers draw attacks. Filtering should come as standard.
7. Billing termsCompare monthly against 3, 6 and 12 month prices and look for setup fees.

DayZ Epoch Server Glossary

Hive

The system that saves characters, vehicles and buildings. On Epoch it is a local MySQL database.

HiveExt.dll

The server extension that connects Arma 2 to the Epoch database.

Mission (PBO)

The packed file that defines the map, loot, traders and scripts for your server.

dayz_server.pbo

The server-side Epoch add-on. Keep it in step with your mission when updating.

Plot pole

The object that claims an area for a player's base and its building permissions.

Humanity

Epoch's hero and bandit score. It changes with how a player treats others.

BattlEye

The anti-cheat that runs on Arma 2 servers and provides remote admin (RCon).

Combined Operations

Arma 2 plus Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead, the pair every Epoch player needs.

DayZ Epoch Server Help and Next Steps

Official pages and our own guides for running your server.

• Epoch Mod forumsThe Epoch team's community and release threads.
• DayZ Epoch on GitHubServer files, change logs and the install guide.
• Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead on SteamThe base game and the Combined Operations bundle.
• phpMyAdmin on your serverOur step-by-step guide.
• Gaming Deluxe control panelWhat the panel does and how to log in.
• Contact support24/7 help with setup, databases and backups.