Shnougle

Except you can't. The DayZ staff can blacklist your server for having side chat on.

What I don't understand is why there isn't a choice. Shouldn't it be up to the server owners whether they want it or not? There's so many servers out there that if you wanted to play without side chat you could simply join a server without side chat, and visa versa. There is absolutely no reason to have it off or on. It's all a matter of perspective and preference. It gives no advantages or disadvantages to anyone. Playing on a server with side chat isn't going to help you get rare drops any faster than on a server without side chat. Yes, it is unrealistic in a game where the point is realism. But there are tons of things that are far more unrealistic; your inability to switch weapons while moving, the fact that everyone looks almost exactly the same, falling 10 feet breaks your leg and knocks you unconsious, zombies phasing through walls, third person mode, etc. If you want to be hardcore and play without side chat on veteran with no crosshairs in first person (and sometimes I like to do just that), fine. Thats on you. But don't force everyone else to play it your way. On a side note, on most servers where I had side chat enabled I was simply chatting and cracking jokes with other people on the server. We all seemed to be having a good time, it wasn't hindering anyone or causing any problems. It was simply us, talking and having a good time. Whats wrong with having fun playing a game your own way?

This would be amazing, I would love this! Although I would limit the quiver to only be able to carry 3-5 bolts and you can only have one at a time.

This.