Derleth

As soon as a server becomes popular there will be a certain amount of players who only come there to shoot at other players, as that is their only purpose with playing the game and they gravitate to high population servers since there are more targets there - and an RP server with mostly friendly people makes for easy targets as well. I have played on - and abandoned - a number of RP servers for this reason. When every single interaction is boom boom pewpew shoot-on-sight I get bored. My recommendation would be to search for servers tagged as RP and/or PvE, possibly passworded or whitelisted, to get away from the pewpew mindset. Sadly, most such servers are sparsely populated for the very same reason popular servers become KOS-fests. So, you'll have less interactions on these servers, but the upside is when you finally meet someone the encounter will be far more interesting. Downside is when there is NO pvp a crucial part of DayZ is missing too, the element of mistrust and uncertainty.

Thanks, I will locate the logs and upload them tonight.

Hey! Had my first (!) server crash yesterday, an ugly one that caused all connected clients to also crash to desktop. Since I was driving through Gorka when it happened it also cost me a car, when I logged back in the car was nowhere to bee seen. Anyway, since we were only three people connected at the time I wanted to check logs to see what could have caused the crash, and forward it to devs, but I was unable to find any log or dump at all. In what folder do they go by default? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here...

I just built a stronger PC to have my server on, but after installing DayZ server and trying to launch it, the program closes instantly on launch, without any error messages or logs. What is happening? I've tried reinstalling and verifying steam files, nothing helps. Getting desperate here, I slaughtered the old dedicated computer for this and now the program won't even launch properly... Does anyone know what the issue could be?

Nope, it is a pure vanilla server. All I've done is disable night light and some other mere config changes, plus added the new car to the events xml since it is still missing in the stable server files. Problem was the program closed instantly, before even starting the init sequence. So no error messages, logs or anything. However, when I tried running the dayz server executable directly in the folder (just double clicking the thing) it complained about a missing .dll file. I found this file on my original server PC and copied it to the corresponding windows folder on the new one, and now the server will launch without issues.

This is fixed in 1.03. I could fill the radiator of an Olga from my cooking pot. However, now transferring water from a pot to a canteen doesn't work instead...

Yeah, I believe some cars that existed before the update became corrupted somehow and are tossed around every restart until completely ruined and cleaned away by the server. I had a 4x4 that had moved about 5 meters after the server was updated to 1.03. One wheel and the trunk door were ruined, and it had a fuel leak. I repaired it and drove to NWAF, before next restart I parked near a concrete wall. After the restart it had jumped over the wall into a tree and was ruined. Managed to salvage some loot and parts but man that was annoying... None of our other assembled cars have had any problems, but I noticed many newly spawned chassis around the map so I'm assuming other cars had been ruined and cleaned up from elsewhere. It would be interesting to see if this happens to any cars on a fresh/wiped server, in that case it is a bug that really needs looking into. Otherwise I'll write it off as an unfortunate update corruption. (Kind of like when characters had dehydration and multiple bleeding wounds after some update a while back.)

So, since 1.03 there are reports/rumours of cars despawning left and right after being left unattended just a day or two. I've noticed many new cars spawning here and there on my server which should mean they despawned from elsewhere. In the 1.03 types.xml all cars have their lifetime set to 3. Now they obviously don't despawn after only three seconds, so what does this actually mean? Did someone mess up when copy/pasting and it is supposed to be 3,888,000 as with all other persistent items, or does the value "3" have some other significance? Does anybody know? I've been looking for answers here and there and drawn a blank...

Aye, would be a nice addition. I know they have a bunch of ambient animals in the backlog, including birds. Not the highest priority right now of course, but it would do a lot to make the world feel more "real" so I hope it doesn't take too long.

Yeah, it is a bug with hair on a few character models. Try another character and you should be fine, it is fixed on experimental already, hopefully the fixes on exp will be pushed to stable before the end of the week.

I was browsing around in the types.xml file when I noticed the vehicles (civiliansedan and offroadhatchback) have their lifetime set to "3". They obviously don't despawn after just three seconds, so is the value "3" some kind of tag to make things last indefinitely, or how does this work?

I meant gain for the game as a whole. Moving between servers allows you to bring along an already active and geared character for whatever reason. That's it. It makes a mess of server economy, enables ghosting, duping and loot cycling, and for the stated purpose of playing with friends it is borderline useless anyway, since there is no character progress beyond gear, and the fact bases, cars and stashes stay on the server. Those who want to keep the system will say it is because it makes it easier to play with friends, but the truth is that most server hopping is made for loot or ghosting.

The ghosting part is what the question is about though, right? And no, it really should not be like that. Ghosting is something that just shouldn't be possible. Period. Server hopping in general creates so many issues for very little gain, it should be done away with permanently. Wanna play with your buddies on another server? - Start a new character there. It's not the end of the world and it is always just a bullet away anyhow.

"Torches aren't safe to use..." That's it just there, the primary reason people are complaining about nights being dark in DayZ. They don't want to use light sources because this gives away their position which is, of course, dangerous. They want to see without light sources, and when they can't they'll rather quit and whinge on the forums than light a flare and push on in the dark and play the game as it is supposed to be played. That said, as has been mentioned numerous times in this and other threads on the subject - in real life the moon sheds light. It illuminates the ground and the light reflects off surfaces. This worked fine in the pre-release iterations of the game but was removed when the anti-gamma system was introduced. Apparently the anti-gamma system and moonlight don't mix. The way night lighting should work is the light levels dynamically changing between pitch black (overcast and no moon) and 0.63 lighting (atmospherically moonlit terrain). Hopefully they can get the anti-gamma to work with this in the future, because the moon being a dead texture in the skybox is ugly and unnatural.

Most community servers I've played on restart several times a day, sometimes as often as every two hours. I realise this is to improve server stability but since I brought my dedicated server online I'm starting to wonder what it is that actually causes server instability. My server is pure vanilla without any alterations whatsoever - including restart messages. So it is on around the clock without restarts, and so far it hasn't crashed a single time. The only times it has gone down is upon windows updates or when my kids have accidentally shut off the computer. So, what is it that makes stability degenerate and require restarts? Just player numbers and activity? Base building? Mods? Logs? All of those things combined? For the time being I'm happy just letting this thing hum along without restarting, it is refreshing to return to a town several days after you were through last time and find doors still open on buildings you looted, locked doors still locked, tent openings as you left them and so on.

Thanks Matiman, figured as much. My server is obviously low pop as well and I'm happy to let it stay that way. Not passworded mind you - DayZ needs that risk that you might bump into somebody hostile - but I'm not actively trying to get people to play there. Just me and my brother goofing around letting him learn the mechanics without getting shot wherever he goes...

Just be done with server hopping for good and all is well. Seriously, in a game where there is no character progression beyond gear, why should anyone care about needing to start on a new character if we swap servers? That it still is so unregulated in DayZ is an enigma to me, with DayZ's outspoken aim to achieve authenticity. Most other MMO:s out there have strictly server-bound characters - or slow and/or expensive processes to transfer characters between servers - making it something you only do if you really have to. Starting over is not the end of the world in DayZ - for heaven's sake we are all one measly headshot from getting tossed back to the coast at ALL TIMES anyway. So what if you have mates on another server? Just log in on that server then, and play the game. Pretend you got shot. Easy. Server hopping makes a mess of server economy, enables duping and enables ghosting, which in turn makes building bases on public servers utterly meaningless. In short, it creates a heap of major issues for very little gain. I just don't understand why we are even talking about this...

Oh I agree, the night light has just become something of my personal crusade. Night lighting looked much better in earlier iterations of the game. Then when the anti-gamma system was introduced the ambient light from the moon disappeared entirely (apparently since any level of ambient brightness more or less kills the anti-gamma thing). Ideally, on a clear night with a full moon it would be fairly easy to navigate, while on cloudy nights or with a new moon it would be much darker all the way to the 1.01 ultra darkness. It should be dynamic. Now it's just as dark with a full moon which makes the game look bad, it's simply unrealistic.

You missed the focus of the post. It was not that the night is dark - he was commenting on the horrid "night light" that makes trees and other bright textures glow in the dark near the player. it looks utterly crap, and PC players have been calling them out on this since this thing was introduced. Instead of adjusting moonlight to actually provide some illumination they create this fake personal night light that only the player can see. Very weird decision.

Alright, thanks for answering! Will there be impacts on obstacles and other objects implemented too? Feels a bit silly that there is no impact or change in the animation when swinging near a wall, I was actually able to kill a few zombies outside a barracks by spamming melee attacks against the window, with the infected milling about outside. Granted, the zeds can sometimes hit me too when I'm too close to walls or windows, but ideally these things shouldn't happen. Also, will breaking down locked doors with axes be back as well?

To be fair that was said in context of the in-game server browser. Since the game can't load or unload mods without exiting, the browser can't do it. The DayZ launcher should be possible to upgrade to do what the DZSA launcher does without problem. As for the bow what they've said is that it will take time to do it right. The modded crossbow is basically just a reskinned rifle.

So I just had time to watch the entire Q & A live stream, and I didn't find it as bleak as some would have it. Peak moment was the sheer panic when they saw another player in Tisy and just didn't know what to do. "You don't talk to people in Tisy." True words. It made me happy that Martin was so honest about how much he wants the bow and arrow back, I've seen Eugen or Peter say the same in another interview so I have no doubt that the bow will be back eventually, and that it will be worth the damn wait when it comes. One thing though, hopefully @ImpulZ can answer this (please!), when is the stabbing animation coming back? Using spears and sticks feels very awkward at the moment - you are just not supposed to smack zeds over their heads with a spear... Also, as the video of Baty fighting zeds showed several times just as you were speaking about it, the zeds running through players in melee is still not 100% fixed. I trust your words when you say this is being tweaked though.

Me, I check on their twitter a few times a week to see if anything interesting has been said. Aside from that I just play the game and let stuff come when it comes. I don't give a toss about helicopters here or more guns there (the former is not needed and the latter is provided by modders anyway) but I am disappointed with lacking survival elements, arcade medical system, throwing and vaulting not being implemented yet and the missing bow. You know, basic elements of the game that had no business being left out of a 1.0 release. As stated so many times before... Not going to work myself into a rage over it though, the game is still fun, and as long as I'm having fun I'll just keep playing and let stuff arrive whenever it arrives. Recently my brother started playing and I'm having a blast keeping him company as he learns the game and makes noob mistakes. And since he never played 0.62 he has no idea what is missing that used to be in, it is very refreshing to run with someone not constantly whinging about how crap the devs are for removing whatever.

Yeah, hopefully this is getting some attention soon. I get the feeling that they don't want to mess too much with the medical until fractures are back, since that is an important part of the whole. Consequence is we still have a medical system nearly as arcade as CoD or BF. You're either dead or fine, basically. If you survive a fight you just need to stay in cover a few minutes and you're good to go again. Bollocks. Funny thing though, some peeveepee focused players still have the stomach to complain that medical is too harsh, how limping when wounded makes it hard to fight back. Yeah dudes I think you would also find it hard to sprint and shoot if you just took a bullet to the chest, plate carrier or not...

You made it pretty far, good effort! R.I.P