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Tuesday 22 May 2012

How to install DayZ (with ArmA 2 Free, Operation Arrowhead or Combined Ops)


Updated for 1.8.0.3 Article last updated 30th April 2014

30th April: Changes to ArmA 2 Free information and DayZ standalone
21st February: DayZ now available on Steam
16th February: Updated everything for 1.7.5.1
27th December: General article tidy-up
30th November: Steam sale over
23rd November: Updated article for 1.7.4.4
15th September: Updated article for 1.7.2.6 and added note about beta patch mirrors
7th September: Added holiday notice

If the comments go above 200, then things get a little messy, so I regularly remove older comments. I won't delete any with outstanding questions and I try to preserve any that I think are helpful to other players. I'm sorry if I remove your comment, but I only do so to make this more manageable.

Okay so you want to play DayZ. Good for you. But it's not easy to get set up.

Once you've read this article, there's also:
How to get on a server
How to play
How to stay alive for more than five minutes
DayZ offline single player / practice / training / (not really) cheating


DayZ is now available on Steam

The DayZ mod is available on Steam. This makes installation much easier. You must have ArmA 2 and Operation Arrowhead (or Combined Ops which consists of both) already installed and you must have run both of them at least once. I have not had time to properly test this, so cannot answer questions about it at this time. This is the Steam page for DayZ:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/224580/

DayZ standalone is now available on Steam

The standalone version of DayZ is now available. This does not require you to buy or install any ArmA games - it's complete in itself. The standalone is an alpha release which means that it is far from complete. It has less features than the mod version, but it is in active development.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/221100/



The first thing you need is a copy of the base game. Here are your options:
  1. ArmA 2 Combined Operations
  2. ArmA 2 + ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead (full version)
  3. ArmA 2 Free + ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead (full version)
DayZ uses the game map (Chernarus) from ArmA 2 and the game engine from Operation Arrowhead, so you need both. Combined Operations comprises ArmA 2 and Operation Arrowhead in one package.

It doesn't matter if you're using a retail boxed copy, a Steam version, or a version downloaded from Gamestop or anywhere else. You can even combine different versions form different sources.

Buying Operation Arrowhead and using ArmA 2 Free is the cheapest way of running the game, but it is not possible to play DayZ for free. Although DayZ costs nothing and you can get ArmA 2 Free, for uh... free, you will at least have to pay for Operation Arrowhead. A lot of people have asked if you can get it running with the demo or lite versions of Operation Arrowhead. I'm afraid this is not possible and you will get errors about corrupted files if you try.

It was previously possible to play using ArmA 2 Free, but this is no longer available. If you already have ArmA 2 Free, you're fine, but you can no longer obtain it. Bohemia use Gamespy for the server browser in multiplayer and Gamespy is shutting down. Most Bohemia games are going to be converted to use Steam's multiplayer stuff instead, but ArmA 2 Free is not, so it has been discontinued.

Bohemia are selling all their ArmA 2 games for 75% off at the moment (April 2014). These are the Steam versions (ie you buy from Bohemia and get a Steam code). Buying directly through Steam is more expensive.
http://store.bistudio.com/

Quite a few people ask about the difference between ArmA 2 Free and the full version of ArmA 2. The simple truth is that the graphics textures and the audio are slightly better in the full version and there's a single player campaign. The difference in graphics is not a big deal and, unless you have a £3,000 PC, you probably won't be able to tell the difference. Add to that the fact that DayZ gets most of its stuff from Operation Arrowhead anyway. Here's a video:



Well apparently that video isn't enough to satisfy people (I keep getting "I wantz the HD gruphicz" comments), so I've written an article showing you the visual differences between using ArmA 2 Free and ArmA 2 (full). It was a pain in the arse to do, so you'd better appreciate it.

http://kodabar.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/dayz-graphics-comparison-arma-2-free.html

You cannot run DayZ with the Operation Arrowhead demo!
(Nice big letters for the people who keep trying to use the demo version of OA and then complaining about corrupted files when they try to install the beta patch.)


You cannot run DayZ with a pirate version of  Operation Arrowhead or Combined Ops!
(Nice big colourful letters for the people who keep trying to use the pirate version and then asking for my help when they get a "Wrong CD Key" error. You will never, I repeat, never be able to play on the official servers with a pirated version.)

According to the chaps at Bohemia the next version of ArmA will contain DayZ so you might prefer to wait for that. At the moment you'll have to go through a slightly tortuous process although I have detailed the easiest most painless methods here. If you've got any problems, leave a comment and I'll try to answer your questions. If you do leave a comment, you do so anonymously, but please leave a name so that I can tell to whom I'm replying. Oh and please include as much information as possible - just saying "it doesn't work" doesn't really give me much to go on. List your OS, versions of the games, where you got them, what you've done already and the exact error message that comes up.


Step 1: Install ArmA 2 and Operation Arrowhead or Combined Operations

This is the easy bit. Install whatever you've got. 

If you're using Steam it'll update to the latest version automatically. If you've got a boxed version, you'll need to update to the latest version yourself. Note: The game updates do not include the beta patch. More on this later.

You can use ArmA 2 Free instead of ArmA 2 and it will work just as well. It'll save you a few bucks and about 8GB of your hard drive too.

If you can't get ArmA 2 Free from Steam, try this alternative:

ArmA 2 Free can be downloaded from Bohemia Interactive here:
http://www.arma2.com/free/



Step 2: If you're not using Steam, fully update everything

Boxed retail copies and versions downloaded from anywhere other than Steam (Gamestop included) may not be fully updated. I really do recommend you use Steam as it does all this for you.

ArmA 2
http://www.arma2.com/index.php?option=com_rokdownloads&view=file&Itemid=20&id=777%3Aarma2-patch-1&lang=en

ArmA 2 Free
http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=15833

It was previously possible to play using ArmA 2 Free, but this is no longer available. If you already have ArmA 2 Free, you're fine, but you can no longer obtain it. Bohemia use Gamespy for the server browser in multiplayer and Gamespy is shutting down. Most Bohemia games are going to be converted to use Steam's multiplayer stuff instead, but ArmA 2 Free is not, so it has been discontinued.


Operation Arrowhead
http://www.arma2.com/index.php?option=com_rokdownloads&view=file&Itemid=20&id=756%3Aarma-2-combined-operations--operation-arrowhead--reinforcements-patch-1&lang=en

BattlEye
http://www.battleye.com/download.html

BattlEye is an especial pain to install as it only supplies you with a DLL file. You then have to manually paste it into your ArmA 2 (including ArmA 2 Free) and Operation Arrowhead folders. This is what it says on the official site:

ArmA 2: Put these files into a folder called "BattlEye" in your ArmA 2 install directory
OA: Put these files into a folder called "BattlEye" in the "Expansion" folder of your OA install directory



Step 3: Run both games once

I can't emphasise this enough and a lot of people get messed up by this step. You need to run both ArmA 2 and Operation Arrowhead before going any further. Even if you bought Combined Operations, you need to run each game separately (just running the Combined Operations option will not do the job).

All you need to do is load each game and get to the main menu. Then you can quit. At run-time, each game will create a few extra files that won't be created otherwise, so that's why you need to do this.



Step 4: If you're using ArmA 2 Free...

It was previously possible to play using ArmA 2 Free, but this is no longer available. If you already have ArmA 2 Free, you're fine, but you can no longer obtain it. Bohemia use Gamespy for the server browser in multiplayer and Gamespy is shutting down. Most Bohemia games are going to be converted to use Steam's multiplayer stuff instead, but ArmA 2 Free is not, so it has been discontinued.

If you're not using ArmA 2 Free, skip to step 5.

Go and find your ArmA 2 Free folder inside your Steam folder. Select the folder marked Addons and copy it.


Go to your ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead folder. There shouldn't be an Addons folder here. Paste the one you've copied from ArmA 2 Free, so it looks like this:


Note: Although the image above shows an @Dayz folder, you won't have one until you run the updater.


Step 5: Install the beta patch

This point is worth repeating: the beta patch and the game updates are different things. Even if you've installed every update for the game, you'll still need to install the beta patch too. If in doubt, install the beta.

You are now required to install the beta patch in order for you to play. Go to the link below and download the latest beta patch - updates come out regularly so you'll probably have to repeat this process from time to time. In step 6, I detail how to create a shortcut with which you can run the game. The one in the Operation Arrowhead folder will get over-written every time you update the beta.

Take note of the version number of your beta patch. There's no easy way to check this later, so you'll want to know which version you've downloaded when you come to check if there's a newer one. I very much recommend in general to install the second-most recent beta patch as servers rarely have the latest one as a requirement and it can take a while for them to catch up.

You'll download a zip file which contains a few text files and an exe called something like
ARMA2_OA_Build_XXXXX.exe

Run the exe. It takes a little time for it to unpack but it will then run an installer. It will automatically detect the  folder in which you have Operation Arrowhead installed even if you're using the Steam version.


Step 6: Install the mod

We're getting there. It's been a bit of a slog, but we're onto the home straight. You'll soon be getting murdered by strangers just for the delicious tins of beans in your bag.

There are several ways of downloading the mod and you'll need to repeat this step often as various updates to the mod are released.

Option A: Use DayZ Commander
DayZ Commander is an excellent utility that really simplifies the process of installing the mod and keeping it up to date. I can't recommend it enough. 
http://www.dayzcommander.com/

Option B: Six Updater / Play with Six
I don't personally like the Six Updater, but it's got a good many. It was originally written to support pretty much every ArmA mod (and it does a jolly good job of it) but it also supports DayZ. Note that Six stores the DayZ files in a different location to everyone else. Bohemia recommends that mods are installed in a folder called @whatever, inside your Operation Arrowhead folder, Six stores everything in a folder called ArmA 2 inside your My Documents folder. The download link and an explanation of how to use it is here:

Option C: Do it yourself
Although it seems pretty daunting to download the files and install them yourself, it's actually not so bad. Just download each file and uncompress them to a folder. Put all the files in this folder and call it "addons" - without the quotation marks and with a lower case 'a'. Now put that folder inside another folder called "@DayZ" - again without the quotation marks.

Now paste the @DayZ folder into your Operation Arrowhead folder. Done. The mod is installed. Now you just need a shortcut.

Step 7: Make a shortcut

If you installed the mod manually, then you'll need to make your own shortcut. If you use DayZ Commander or Six Launcher, then you don't need a shortcut, you can just launch through either of those.

Inside your Operation Arrowhead folder is a new icon marked Launch Arma2 OA Beta Patch


Right click on this icon and select Properties.


There are two lines that matter. The Target line should read something like:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -beta=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion -nosplash
This is presuming that you're using Steam and that Steam is installed in the default location on your C drive and you're using Windows 7 64 bit. It will have a different path if you have it installed elsewhere. You need to modify the target line to say something like this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -beta=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion -nosplash -skipIntro -mod=@DayZ
If you're not using Steam or you have Steam installed in a different location just change the end of the line to include:
-beta=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion -nosplash -skipIntro -mod=@DayZ
This sounds like way more hassle than it actually is. All you're doing is modifying a shortcut by copying and pasting the line above.

For the "Start in" line, make sure it says:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\
Or again, wherever your Steam folder or game folder actually is. Make sure that it points to the main Operation Arrowhead folder and not to the beta folder. Yeah, it's running the exe from the beta folder, but it's running it in the main folder as that's where all the rest of the files are.

You don't need to care about this bit, but here's an explanation of what all that means (skip this bit if you're not interested in a technical explanation).

-beta=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion tells the game to run the beta executable and points to where all the beta bits are
-nosplash tells it not to display the crappy splash screen, making the game load faster
-skipIntro tells it not to display the animated main menu screen or any of the Bohemia loading screens making the game load much faster and show just an odd bit of animated water on the main menu
-mod=@DayZ tells the game to specifically load the DayZ mod

Phew.


Step 8: Make a Steam shortcut (optional)

You can't run DayZ from Steam by default which is a bit annoying. Skip this step if you don't care about Steam. If you've installed the Steam version, you'll already have a shortcut or two in there, but they're not good to you any more. You need to manually make a new Steam shortcut. This will work even if you're using a boxed copy of the game. You'll then be able to access Steam chat and even open the Steam web browser in game (handy if you want to display a game map). It'll even show you on your Friends list as playing DayZ.


Open up Steam and go to the game library. At the top of the screen, select Games and then Add a Non-Steam game to My Library...


In the window that appears, click the Browse button, then navigate to the Operation Arrowhead folder and click on the Launch Arma2 OA Beta Patch shortcut. Then choose the Add selected programs button at the bottom.

Steam will create a new shortcut in your games library marked arma2oa


Go to this new icon and right click it and select Properties. We're now going to modify it in exactly the same  way as we did the shortcut above.

Make sure the Target line reads like so (your folder path may be different):
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -beta=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion -nosplash -skipIntro -mod=@DayZ
And also change the Start in line to read like this (again, your folder path may be different):
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\"
Finally, you can change the line under the icon that reads arma2oa to be DayZ instead. Or change it to Hello Kitty Magic Piano if you like.


Step 9: Run the game


This is the main menu. Note that in the top right corner that it should say:
@DayZ
Expansion
beta
This shows that the shortcut is correctly formatted and that everything loaded in. If you don't see this, then something has gone wrong somewhere and you'll need to go back over and check everything.


It's also worth clicking on the Expansions entry on the menu to make sure that there's a green box next to each entry. Otherwise, click them to tick them.



Step 10: Improving the graphics

A common complaint when people launch the game is that the graphics are a bit blurry. This is down to the settings used.

Default graphics settings
Graphics you can actually see
For some reason only know to the chaps at Bohemia, they decided to include two separate resolutions at the same time. On the main menu, click Options and then Video Options  (you can do this from within the game too, so you can see instant results).


You'll get a panel like this. Click the Advanced button to see more options. You'll notice that the Interface resolution and the 3D Resolution are set to different values by default. Set them to be the same - ideally at your monitor's native resolution. That's a massive improvement. I also recommend setting Postprocess effects to disabled as this removes motion blur, light bloom and all kinds of effects that look lovely but rather interfere with your ability to actually see what you're doing.

Muck around with the other settings if you'd like to adjust your framerate. I can't suggest what settings will work best for you, but just experiment until you find some that you're happy with. One of the nice things about this game is that any changes you make are immediate and don't require you to restart the game, so you can see immediately the effect that any setting has.





Step 11: Making the server list readable

Once you click through into the server list, you'll see hundreds of servers and many of them are running Operation Arrowhead, not DayZ. Just click the Filter button at the bottom and a window will pop up. Enter "DayZ" into the mission box and now you'll only see DayZ servers.


There are many ore things you can do with the Filter box, such as hiding full servers or specifying the maximum amount of people on a server. Have a play around with them sometime.

For more details on joining servers successfully, have a look at my article on that:
http://kodabar.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/dayz-how-to-get-on-server.html





Step 12: Updating DayZ

You've got the game running and all is well. Good stuff. But that won't last forever. As DayZ is still in the alpha testing stage, it gets regular updates. As well as that, the beta patch also gets regular updates. So once you've got the game installed, how do you keep it up-to-date?

The beta patch is updated quite often. Although servers don't tend to start using the newest versions as soon as they come out, you will have to update from time to time. You'll find that some servers specify the beta patch version in their name. All you do is download the rar file, open it and run the exe inside. It will only take a minute or so. The only problem is if you launch the game using the Launch Arma2 OA Beta Patch icon inside the Operation Arrowhead folder as it over-write this every time. I recommend copying that shortcut to the desktop so that it will keep working otherwise, you'll have to edit it every time (as in Step 7)

 

Get the latest beta patch from here:

When the beta patch server is unavailable (as it has been recently), I will attempt to upload a copy elsewhere. As of 9th July 2012 the most recent version is 94444 and is available from here:


And now on to updating the mod files themselves. This seems pretty daunting, but

Option A: DayZ Commander
DayZ Commander is the single easiest way of keeping DayZ up to date. From inside it, you can update both the beta patch and the DayZ mod files. It's also makes it really easy to download and run other level files.
http://www.dayzcommander.com/



Option B: Six Updater/Launcher
I don't like the Six Updater, but it does a good job of keeping you up to date and it's now got simple, dedicated DayZ options. When there's an update, it will take care of it for you.
Option C: Do it yourself
This means having to read the DayZ forums in order to keep informed about new releases. You don't have to have an account in order to be able to read the forums.
http://dayzmod.com/forum/

Go here and download the files - either manually or through BitTorrent (better as you don't then have to unzip the files and it takes the load off the DayZ file hosts):
http://dayzmod.com/downloads.php

Unzip the new files into the folder that already contains your DayZ files, over-writing the old ones. And that's all you need to do. It isn't so bad, is it?




Step 13: Don't kill kodabar

Some of you have figured out that my DayZ name is also kodabar and so's my Steam name. It's flattering (and just a little weird) that so many of you have requested to be my friend on Steam, so don't be too upset if I ignore that - I have over 800 outstanding friend requests at the moment. Blimey. I suppose I could accept them all, form an army and go around taking over dozens of servers. Hmm, that's a thought.

Hard as nails... but just as easily hammered
If you do see me in-game, try not to kill me, huh? I will have a nice gun or two and a lot of bullets. And I don't play alone...

This blog is supported by advertising. I don't stick them all over the place, just right down at the bottom of the page - I don't like intrusive advertising either. When people say "If I had a penny for every time I've..." then it's almost literally true in my case, except it's more like a hundredth of a penny for each of the 1,500,000 people who've read this article. I don't mind if you use ad-blockers (heck, I do), but maybe there might be an ad or two that catches your eye.

If you have any problems with installing the game, just leave me a comment and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can. I respond to everyone and I won't leave you without getting your copy working.

Also, if you have any comments on this article, let me know. I do try to keep it as clear as possible, but it is getting a bit long and I've re-written it so many times that it's hard for me to see which bits need more explanation.



Note: If you really must play with a pirate version

It is possible to play DayZ with a pirate version, it's just really complicated, you're reliant on cracked servers and you can never . Before you start, you'll need to do a calculation:

1. How much RAM (in gigabytes) does you computer contain?
2. Take that number and multiply it by 2. So it I have 8Gb, it's 8 x 2 = 16
3. Now multiply that by your original number. 16 x 8 = 128
4. Divide it by two. 128 / 2 = 64
5. Work out the square root of that number (8 in my case)
6. Subtract your starting number from that.

Now keep that number in mind. That's how many fucks I give about your ability to run a pirate version. So stop asking!


Troubleshooting

So you've followed all these steps and things just aren't working still? Okay, have a look below and try some of these.

If you get the error about You Cannot Play/Edit this mission; it is Dependent on Downloadable Content it has been deleted.chernarus then that's because it's not picking up on the ArmA 2 content. The game depends on the map (Chernarus) from ArmA 2 and the game engine from Operation Arrowhead. If you're running Combined Operations or have the full (not Free) version of ArmA 2, it should work out where everything is itself, but it sometimes doesn't. Go and copy over the Addons folder like in Step 4 above.

If you get an error about how certain files are not signed by a key accepted by this server then it's because you haven't updated all the game files. If you obtain the files from a download service like Gamestop or Saturn, you'd expect them to distribute fully-updated files, but they don't. Go to Step 2 and work your way through.

If you get the Wrong CD Key error and you're not using a pirate version:
If you're using Steam, close it and and restart it as an administrator (right click and select "Run as administrator"). Then run both ArmA 2 and Operation Arrowhead again (just up to the main menu and out again) and continue from Step 4 above.
If you're not using Steam, run each game as an administrator by right clicking them and selecting "Run as administrator" and then continue from Step 4 above.

If everything was working fine and you installed the latest version of the beta patch and you can no longer connect to servers, then try installing the second-newest version. It takes a few days for the servers to move to the newest version of the beta patch and sometimes a newer version introduces subtle incompatibilities. You don't need to uninstall the version you have (and you can't anyway), but just install the other version over the top.

If you cannot get to the list of servers, it's probably because GameSpy is down. Twice in the last few days, Gamespy's systems have failed leaving players unable to get to the server browser. In both cases it's been fixed within a few hours.


If you need my help...

I'm only too happy to help you out if you need assistance getting the thing installed. I've left anonymous comments enabled (I hate having to sign up for stuff too), but try to include a name or a word with your post that identifies you if you do leave an anonymous comment. When there's ten people at once all called Anonymous, it gets a little confusing.

Also tell me where you got your version of the game, which versions they are, all the steps you've taken so far and what your computer consists of (if you know). And most importantly, tell me what error messages you get (if any). The more detail you leave for me, the easier it is for me to answer you're question and they quicker you'll get an answer. If I have to write back to ask an obvious question, you've just doubled the amount of time it'll take me to help you out.

I won't leave you without an answer. Every single person who has asked for my help has now got a working version of DayZ. Heck, I have been known to use Teamviewer to install it for you if you're just having too many problems with it.

Now you've read this article, there's also:
How to get on a server
How to play
How to stay alive for more than five minutes
DayZ offline single player / practice / training / (not really) cheating

196 comments:

  1. Would a combo of Arma 2 free and a cracked operation arrowhead work with dayz

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A cracked version won't work as it requires a CD key to bind to. Sorry.

      There is a single player offline mission file available (I'll be writing about that tomorrow) so it might be possible to play offline on your own with a dodgy copy of AO and that. You'd be missing out on a large part of the gameplay, but it would give you some practice and help you decide if you want to pay for the game.

      According to Bohemia, DayZ will be included in the next path for ArmA 2 (don't know when that will be though), so a cheap option might be to shop around for a retail version of ArmA 2 and wait for that.

      Delete
    2. cracked versions do work via private servers, i am playing it right now through tunngle =]

      Delete
    3. They do indeed. But you can never connect to a public online server with a cracked version, just private servers.

      Delete
    4. When you say you need the beta patch, how do you get that if you are using steam? Do you just install the arma2OA beta?

      Delete
    5. Yup, that's exactly what you do. Whilst Steam will keep the game up-to-date with the latest updates and official patches, it won't download the beta patches. DayZ and DaiZy rely on these beta patches for certain features so you have to install them yourself.

      Just go to this link and download the latest one. When you run it, it will detect where your game is installed and place its files in the correct place.
      http://www.arma2.com/beta-patch.php

      Delete
  2. Hello, Kodbar mate, could you tell me exac diffrences between arma2 and arma2:free? I heard free version has worse graphic, is it THAT drastic diffrence? could you say anything more specific? if so - thanks, also thanks for the whole guide, now - since its well explained i might buy this game with no worries such like '' damn, i wont make it - too complicated''. Soo... yeah, im waiting for a reply. have a nice day m8
    /neal

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Compared with ArmA2 Free, ArmA 2 has a single player campaign, higher resolution textures and higher resolution sound.

      I'm using Free and I can't tell the difference when it comes to sound. The lower quality textures only really come into play on the player characters. Really, you can't really notice the difference much anyway. All the screenshots in my DayZ articles are taken using Free, so you can see for yourself. To ensure a constant framerate and a clear screen, I turned down a lot of settings anyway, so it's not like the texture differences matter.

      The most obvious time you'll notice is if you find a camo outfit to clothe your character and it looks a bit blurry. But it's camo, so who cares?

      Have a look through the screenshots on my various DayZ articles (links at the top of the page) and see if they look okay to you. I've got a 3GHz Core2Duo with 16GB of memory and an Nvidia 9800GT graphics card, so it's not an amazingly powerful machine. The lower res textures are pretty much only on characters and even then only certain ones. So I've never felt like my graphics look shit.

      Delete
    2. Yay you sir, just impressed me once again with that fast respond :D thanks alot, I really appreciate how much effort and time you offer to newbies like me :) with all that: seems like im getting Dayz tommorow! I just have to download arma2:free and buy the DLC. What else can I say? Have a nice day, and stay away from zombies my friend :)

      I hope that the whole Dayz community is just like you :D if so - even better!
      take care!
      /neal

      Delete
    3. Would it be possible to snag the assets of the ArmA 2 (nonfree) into the ArmA 2 free version?
      Sure getting a hold of the assets might be a pain but would it technically work?

      Delete
    4. It seems like it will. A chap was asking the other day if ArmA 2 can be uninstalled if the Addons folder is copied across (to the OA folder). I said that I didn't know, but that I'd be interested to hear what happened if he tried it. He did and it worked. So it does seem like you could just copy over the Addons folder from any ArmA 2 and have it work.

      I must stress that I haven't properly tested this myself. I have uninstalled ArmA 2 Free and had DayZ continue to work, but I will need to get a copy of ArmA 2 (full) to try it out properly. Perhaps that's what I can spend my Google Ad megabucks on (actually only £80).

      So I suppose the answer to your question is that it's technically possible and it will probably work. I won't say that it definitely will work on the grounds that I haven't done enough testing. So go ahead and try. Let me know how it goes. I should mention that the Addons folder from ArmA 2 free is only 1.5GB, but the one from ArmA 2 (full) is around 8.3GB, so it's a heck of a lot more data for very little improvement to the graphics and sound.

      Delete
  3. Ok, every thing runs smooth until I join a game. The problem is that the world dosent load when I am in a game, its just load a world up whit no grass, no trees no cites, nothing. Any idea what i did wrong?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, you're in the debug wilderness/forest/landscape. There's an area off the edge of the map which has no features. There are some gentle hills, but no grass, no trees or anything else.

      This happens when your location data gets corrupted. As you load in to a server, it invisibly puts you into this location (when you're still loading in so you can't see this) and then the server gets your location data from the central database and puts you back in the right location. If your location data is corrupted, the server fails to load it from the database and you get stuck in this debug landscape.

      It's theoretically possible to run out of it, but you'll be running a long way and you won't know in which direction to go. So your only real option is to die and restart the game. Hit escape to bring up the game menu and select "respawn" which will kill you and spawn you at a starting location.

      This is just bad luck and it's happened to most of us at one time or another. It's very frustrating as you won't get your items back.

      If you really, really want to keep your kit and you have a compass or can work out direction from the position of the sun, it is possible to run out of there, but it takes about half an hour.

      Here's a video of a guy who made it out. I don't recommend doing this unless you have an amazing gun or night-vision goggles or some other terrific reason to want to keep your character alive. It may be that your character's location data is permanently fucked, so you might get out just to find that you're back there again the next time you log in.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7UUjvITjdk

      If it's any consolation, the next update to the game will fix this problem, so this should be the last time it happens to you.

      Delete
    2. ORRR you can just download some teleporting hack to get the hell out of there. i do this.BUUUUUTTTTTTT i dont hack evrytime just if iam find some fuking good weapon (like M107) or iam whit a lot of good stuff... well just use hacks to teleport hm? DONT **** WHIT THE ANNOTHER PEOPLE this is really bad...

      Delete
  4. Can dayz be played on a linux machine?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well... maybe. I haven't tried it myself but I have had ArmA 2 mostly working under Wine on Ubuntu Linux. If you're willing to have a go (I'd recommend trying ArmA 2 Free before buying anything) there's an article by a chap who did get ArmA 2 working here:
      http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?129553-ARMA2-OA-CO-Demo-Free-TOH-on-WINE-Linux!

      Delete
  5. You logged onto the world I was on earlier! :D Anyway, I wanted to say that because of you, I'm able to play the game. So thank you very much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha. That's the first time I've been spotted by a reader online and heard about it. Thanks for letting me know. And thank you for not killing me!

      Delete
  6. I keep getting the Error Creating Direct3D 9 Graphical Engine when I launch DayZ from Six Launcher. I can however play the game just fine going through Steam. I have the Amra 2 Free version and bought the OA expansion. I thought I followed this reference to a t, but I aint sure where I may have messed up at. The version through steam is 1.6 and I would just like to run through six launcher for the later versions. The beta patch installed fine as well.

    Also when I launch Six Launcher it says " Please note: the beta is enabled, either automatically or in the Options, but you also have the Steam Launcher enabled. This requires manual intervention, please see https://dev-heaven.net/issues/32058#note-2 "

    I went to that website and I was lost so any simplicit help would be great

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That website could definitely do with being a bit more clear - I already knew what the answer was and yet I had trouble understanding just what the hell they were on about. What it's trying to tell you is that you need to swap a couple of files over.

      Steam will launch the game based only on what Steam expects. Steam expects the Operation Arrowhead exe file to be in a certain location, but when you install the beta, it creates a new exe file which is in a different place and Steam doesn't like that.

      The Six Launcher will do pretty much whatever you like but, if you want to be able to access the Steam overlay and other Steam features in the game (whilst still using Six Launcher to start it), then there's a problem because the Six Launcher actually uses Steam to launch the game. Still following me?

      You've got two choices:

      1. Untick the option in Six Launcher to have the Steam overlay active. It will run just fine, but Steam features will not be available.

      2. If you tell Six Launcher to make the Steam overlay active, then you need to replace the original Operation Arrowhead exe with the beta exe. This means doing this:
      a. Go into your Operation Arrowhead folder and find arma2oa.exe and rename it to something like arma2oa.exe.old
      b. Go into the Expansion\beta folder (within the Operation Arrowhead folder) and copy the arma2oa.exe file from there into the main Operation Arrowhead folder; effectively replacing the original file.

      If you choose the second option then, every time you update the beta, you will have to repeat the steps above to copy the file over.

      Hopefully that's clear enough, but give me a shout if it's not.

      Delete
  7. Hey Koda, I recently installed Arma 2 and OA onto my girlfriend's computer using my own steam account untill I had gotten it for her later that day on hers. I had accidently started up the Six launcher with Day Z while on my own account. I've tried reinstalling both versions, deleteing the Day Z mod from the OA folder, and a million other things, but regardless of what I try it loads up my character data, instead of a new set for her. Anny help would be awesome regarding how to fix that :D

    -Nightreaver

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, now this is a fun situation. It can be fixed, but it's slightly complicated and annoying. What's happened is that Steam has saved your CD key to her registry. It needs to be deleted from her registry so that the new one can go in there. this is a bit of a pest to do if you're not used to mucking around in the registry.

      Luckily a chap called sacriel42 has made a guide that covers this. He's actually talking about having two keys (and thus two characters on the same computer), but it will show you exactly how to access the registry and find where the CD key is stored. You'll be able to follow it and then delete the key.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb5cRrXzn1w

      Delete
  8. Sorry to bug you again but before I buy Arma 2 combined operations I want to know If that i turn the blood option to disabled will it affect DayZ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well that was quite weird. I just went out and deliberately got myself hurt in order to test this out. I can tell you that turning off blood does stop it from appearing when you shoot zombies. But it does not turn off the blood effect when you get hurt. I wasn't able to test out if I could see if you can see other players bleeding as no one would oblige me.

      So turning blood off half-works. You won't see any when you shoot zombies, but you will still see blood pour out when you get hit and are bleeding.

      Delete
  9. Instead of Step 4 for Arma II Free users, you can just include the full path to the Arma II Free installation in your shortcut as a mod.

    "-mod=C:\Program Files (x86)\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2 Free;@DayZ"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, that's good advice. I haven't included it as modifying the command line is confusing enough for novice users. But I may well include it in my next version of the guide as an option for advanced users. Thanks!

      Delete
  10. hi kodabar, thanks for the tutorial! question real quick, if i own Arma 2 Free steam and Operation Arrowhead store bought, will i be able to play on official servers? or will i need cracked? because of the official dayz wiki it states that its not recommended that we use arma 2 free with full edition operation arrowhead?

    please reply fast, as im purchasing operation arrowhead from eb games tommorow and would appreciate a quick response.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The DayZ Wiki may state that, but it's wrong. In fact when it comes to using ArmA 2 Free, you'll find that the DayZ Wiki actually points here.

      You can use ArmA 2 Free quite happily with Operation Arrowhead. There are no problems at all. The difference between ArmA 2 Free and the full ArmA 2 is that some (only some) of the graphics have slightly lower resolution textures (and I defy you to tell the difference) and the quality of some of the sounds is apparently lower (and I can't find anyone who can tell the difference there).

      You can play on all official servers using ArmA 2 Free. I do. All you need to buy is Operation Arrowhead and that's it. Using the Combined Operations version or the Anniversary edition may allow you to skip one step during installation (the part where you copy over the Addons folder), but that's about it.

      So go to EB and buy Operation Arrowhead and you'll be able to play DayZ on all official servers. I stand by what I say - I will personally install it on your machine if you can't get it working.

      Delete
  11. When using the free version of Arma2 should i buy the steam or non steam version of Operation Arrowhead? Is there any difference?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's no real difference. The Steam version is a little easier to work with as it's already fully up-to-date so you don't need to install any updates. Other than that, there's no difference at all.

      Delete
  12. can you use it with the british armed forces DLC?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very much so. In fact the BAF stuff is used by DayZ for several aspects of the graphics. For instance, the player outfits are all from the BAF DLC. Operation Arrowhead comes with 'Lite' version of these (lower resolution textures), so if you have the proper BAF installed, then these textures will look a lot better for you.

      Delete
  13. Hello again Kodabar! Good to see you still helping people out installing DayZ.
    I just have one quick question...
    I bought Arma 2 OA from gamesrocket, as I said. It gave me the installation files and a key for the game to enter upon install.
    Now, I've been wondering whether I could play DayZ on my laptop using the same character. I doubt I can install OA again on my laptop as I only have the one key.
    Is there any way to do this?
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now that's an interesting question. I would think that it is possible to do that. I'm not entirely certain, but your key will probably work in both, just not at the same time is all. Your key gets tied to a GUID and that GUID is tied to your character. So I reckon you should be able to use it on both.

      Delete
    2. You were absolutely right. Installed it on my laptop, joined a server and I was in the right place with all my stuff and statistics. Good to know I don't have to be on my desktop to play DayZ :)

      Delete
  14. Can I run dayZ with:

    Arma 2 cracked full version + OA that I have cd-key to get better quallity as in both legal Arma 2 and OA?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it seems like you can. I don't encourage this as you're just denying Bohemia money that they deserve, but apparently you can do this. The improvement in graphics is almost imperceptible though. The game uses the Operation Arrowhead game engine anyway and the only difference is some slight improvement in SOME textures.

      People seem obsessed with this issue and it's really not important at all. At some point, I'll take some screenshots to show the difference. ArmA 2 Free also has slightly lower quality audio, but no one has yet mentioned that, just the graphics.

      Delete
  15. Hi i did everything as you said, but when i enter to the multiplayer section to choose a server...i have no servers, I mean...there'a lot of servers, but inmidiately after i get to the server browser screen...all f thos servers dissapears, and i get a lot of rex crosses at the left side of the server info...and the few ones that stay there, when i enter...it gets to a loading screen like...forever :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The red X's show servers that you can't join because of a difference between the version they're running and the version that you've got installed. I can see that most servers are on DayZ 1.7.2.5 right now but quite a few are still on 1.7.2.4.

      What version do you have installed and which beta patch?

      Delete
  16. Just a quick tip for those suffering graphic artifacting / glitching in certain areas: The problem is caused by your video cards RAM (VRAM) being filled by texture memory leaking. Those with greater amounts of VRAM tend to see this glitching as being less severe than those with graphic cards with less VRAM.

    The work around at the minute to remove these artifacts is to press and hold Left shift + numpad - (minus) releasing them and then typing in "flush" without the quotations. It's only a quick fix as when your VRAM over fills again the same artifacting will return, and sadly this means those with less VRAM will see the glitching return faster. Anyway, I hope this helps some of you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. That's a good tip and I'll add it to the Troubleshooting section.

      Delete
  17. Distressed Possum13 August 2012 at 23:50

    I've installed it using Six Updater and I got dayZcommander to play with friends easier. But everytime I try to join a server I get an error that says 'addon dayz_anim requires addon ca_dubbing_couterattack' and then the game starts after I click okay or whatever. A few seconds into the loading screen it says "no entry bin\config.bin/cfgvehicles/citizen1.scope". I really have no idea what to do and was hoping you could help me out. Thanks<3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You need to copy the Addons folder from ArmA 2 to the Operation Arrowhead folder. See Step 4.

      Delete
    2. Distressed Possum14 August 2012 at 00:30

      How do I get to it? I think I found Arma 2 Free in my Bohemia Interactive folder but it's empty? Do I need to ruin it, I have to the menu but do I need to hop in game or re download it?

      Delete
    3. Well depending on from where you got ArmA 2 (you neglected to say), it should be in C:\Program Files (x86)\Bohemia Interactive\arma 2 or C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2

      You can always right click on the ArmA 2 icon (if you have one in your Start menu), select Properties and then "Open File Location"

      Delete
    4. Distressed Possum14 August 2012 at 00:58

      Okay, I figured it out, thanks! But now that I have it working, everything's fine up until after I "wait for character to create" or whatever, the loading screen just freezes and I'm stuck on it.

      Delete
  18. Name: The Regurgitator
    Is there any way I can start over with nothing about dayz installed? I have ArmA 2 Free and ArmA 2 OA on steam. I used Six Updater and the latest beta patch. It works, but it freezes up on the loading screen like Distressed Possum.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Try running it without using Six Updater. The only other thing I can suggest at the moment is updating BattlEye manually.

      Delete
    2. The Regurgitator
      Do you mean "without Six Updater" as using the beta patch launcher? There is a context menu that comes up when I click on Arma 2: OA in steam that gives the options "Arma 2:OA", "launch in windowed mode", "Reinstall BattleEye", and "Play Arma 2:Combined Ops". Is it any of those? I will try a few of these and updating BattleEye manually.

      Delete
    3. Oh wow, I had the server browser filtered to 1.7.2.5, and I looked at my @DayZ folder and it said 1.7.2.4. It works now. I also installed the latest beta build and force-reinstalled BattleEye.

      NOTE TO OTHERS:
      ----------------
      IF YOU ARE GETTING STUCK ON THE "LOADING" SCREEN AFTER THE "WAITING FOR CHARACTER TO CREATE" SCREEN, CHECK YOUR VERSION (i.e. 1.7.2.4) IN THE @DayZ FOLDER IN THE ArmA 2: OA FOLDER AND TYPE YOUR VERSION INTO THE "HOST" TEXT BOX IN THE SERVER FILTER MENU.

      Delete
    4. Whoops. Ha ha ha! I never even thought to suggest checking that. Just as well you did. I'm glad to hear you're back up and running though.

      Delete
  19. Hello, I just want to warn everyone. Patch on ArmA II Free didn't work on my Windows 7 Ultimate. But then, I found this one http://www.arma2.com/supply/game-updates/ and this seems to work normally.
    Thank You

    ReplyDelete
  20. Ok, so I purchased and downloaded Arma2 combined operations from Steam. Arma2 runs fine. However, when I go to run OA I get the following messages: "No Entry 'bin\config.bin/CfgInGameUI/MPTtable.shadow'."

    Followed by: Error Compiling Pixel Shader PSSpecular Alpha:0

    Also when I try to run the patch installer I get this: Wrong CD key

    and when I use SixUpdater and try to join a server I get the Bad Serial message.

    Thanks in advance for any help

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exit Steam and start it again as an administrator (right click and "Run as administrator")
      Go to your Steam library and click on Operation Arrowhead.
      Right click, select "Properties", click the "Local files" tab and choose "Verify integrity of game cache"
      Grow a beard.
      Launch OA.

      Hopefully that should do it. Let me know if it doesn't.

      Delete
    2. Tried it 3 times, each time it said: 1 files failed to validate and will be reaquired.

      Still getting the same error messages when I boot OA, I emailed support but god only knows when/if I"ll get a response

      Delete
    3. Okay, there's another thing you can try. It's not exactly pretty and it may be a little mystifying if you're not used to how computer file systems work.

      Go to where your Steam folder is located (probably C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam)
      Right click on Steam folder
      Select "Properties"
      Click on the tab marked "Security"
      Click "Advanced" - a button towards the bottom
      Click "Change Permissions" - a button located towards the bottom

      Is there a "Users (whatever-your-computer-name-is\Users)" with ""?

      YES
      Click to highlight that line and then click the "Edit" button below and then in the box that appears, tick the "allow" box under "Full control" and click OK.

      NO
      Click "Add..." then type "Users" (without the quotation marks, obviously) and click OK. Then in the box that appears, tick the "allow" box under "Full control" and click OK.

      Regardless of whether you followed the YES or NO path, click OK on all the boxes until they all disappear.

      Even if this doesn't work, it's perfectly harmless. What it does is to allow users (as opposed to administrators) to access the files in those folders. You're probably the only user on your system so it makes very little difference.

      Give it a go and let me know what happens.

      Delete
    4. Oh I should also mention one last thing - I probably should have suggested it before mucking around with file permissions, but well... I've spent all day writing reports about media coverage of Olympic legacy projects (yawn).

      Right-click OA in Steam, select "properties" then "set launch options" and paste this line INCLUDING the quotation marks:

      "-mod=C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\Common\ArmA 2;EXPANSION;ca"

      Delete
    5. damn that sounds like tons of fun haha.
      well modifying the launch options got me passed the two error messages I was receiving, now I'm just getting a "bad serial number given in setup" message lol.

      Delete
    6. Ah, right - that's good progress then. Go back and run ArmA 2 again and then run OA again. And finally, just for luck, run Combined Operations. Then try to install the beta patch and it ought to work. If it doesn't, restart your computer and go through that again.

      The serial number error is due to the registry key not being written properly. Oddly it doesn't get written to the registry when you install the games, but only when you actually run them. Sometimes it can't read back the registry key until the computer is restarted.

      I have now read 2,879 newspaper articles about Olympic legacy projects. Tomorrow I get to read a bunch more... in German. I'm kind of hoping that I don't wake up tomorrow...

      Delete
    7. From the know how you possess of PC's and software it sounds like you're in the wrong line of business lol.

      But on a much better note...I'm up and running finally. Simple reboot....go figure!
      Thanks a ton for the article and the personal help. Keep up the good work and good luck with all that Olympic non-sense.

      Delete
    8. I'd shoot myself if I had to work in computers these days. Awful things designed by idiots who make decisions based on what's the most profitable rather than what's the best way of doing things.

      Anyway I'm glad to hear you're up and running. It's amazing what a reboot can do sometimes. I can't actually think of any logical reason why it should help. After all, the data was written into the registry already so why the game couldn't read it out again is a mystery. Not enough ones? Too many zeroes?

      Give me a shout if you need any other help.
      PS I strongly advise reading some of the other DayZ articles on here, especially this one:
      http://kodabar.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/dayz-how-to-stay-alive-for-more-than.html

      DayZ is a frigging brutal game and can be very frustrating initially.

      Delete
    9. Yeah it definitely is, amazingly I haven't died yet after a couple of hours of playing, however I'm on the brink of starvation lol.

      Delete
  21. What I'm not getting is why you would put up a link to update the Arma II: Operation Arrowhead if I don't even have the expansion or whatever it is. How can I get it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Operation Arrowhead isn't really an expansion. ArmA 2 is a game in its own right, Operation Arrowhead is a game in its own right. You can play either without the other. Although the both run off the same engine, OA uses a more recent version of it.

      DayZ uses the game engine from Operation Arrowhead and the level map (Chernarus) from ArmA 2. So you need to have both. Whilst you can use ArmA 2 Free instead of paying for the full version, you have to at least buy Operation Arrowhead.

      And then apply the updates, etc...

      Delete
  22. Kodabar,

    First off excellent blog on DayZ...I would have never figured it out without your information...and wit :)!

    Any chance you could give us some steps to load Lingor Island? Looks fun but I can not find and install guide for a nonsteam install.

    Thanks/Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never tried Lingor Island. I've got some instructions that I'm told work, but I haven't tested them. Give them a try if you like (and be sure to let me know how you get on).

      1. Before you start, you must have Arma 2 and Operation Arrowhead installed as well as the latest DayZ patch and the latest beta patch.

      2. Download the Lingor Island map from
      http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=10792

      3. Open it up and put the @lingor folder in your Operation Arrowhead folder

      4. Download the DayZ Lingor mod from
      http://narod.ru/disk/59277481001.cc07e547f134147b9c7483dc603aded5/%40dayz_lingor_034_full.7z.html
      Yes, the page is in Russian. Type the number shown at the bottom in the box below it - it's a Captcha thing

      5. Open the file you get and put the contents (@dayz_lingor, @dayz_lingor_island) in your Operation Arrowhead folder. If it asks, choose to overwrite existing files.

      6. Start your game with shortcut "Launch Arma2 OA Beta Patch" in your OA folder by adding the following to the Target line (right-click, properties)
      -mod=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion;ca;@dayz_lingor_island;@dayz_lingor

      7. Launch the game.

      8. From the in-game menu choose "Expansions" and "Enable" all three Lingor mods.

      9. Choose "Yes" to restart game.

      10. From the in-game menu, choose "Multiplayer" and then "Filter" - set mission to "dayz lingor" and apply.

      Delete
  23. hello kodabar i was trying to make a shortcut to steam but it wrote profilepathdefault when i tried to open it can u explain why?i followed the instruction on your guide

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No name or identifying word, no indication of from where you got the games, what steps you've taken so far, what launcher (if any) that you're using - none of the things I ask for in order to help you.

      The profilepath error can appear for a few different reasons. Often using Steam and Six Launcher together can do this. Not running both the games before installing DayZ can also cause this. And getting the shortcut wrong can also result in this error.

      Often when making the steam shortcut, people get the first line right:

      "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -beta=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion -nosplash -skipIntro -mod=@DayZ

      But forget to adjust the second line - it must not include the beta path.

      RIGHT
      "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\"

      WRONG
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\Expansion\beta\

      Delete
  24. Hello, i have tried to install all the pieces, but with Sixupdater, when i try to join servers it says "It appears youre ARMA2 key is not endered into the registry. In case of Steam game, please run each ARMA game through Steam Launcher at least once, while the Steam launcher is started as administrator"

    I have done this, but it keeps coming up with the same thing over and over again? It is killing me, please help?!

    Many thanks,
    Ben

    Paddington (this is my Control+F word to find my post)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It seems that Steam has somehow run out of keys for ArmA 2 Free. I don't quite understand what's going on, but in the meantime I'm recommending that you uninstall the Steam version and instead download the version from arma2.com which will add the registry key during setup.

      Delete
  25. i just wanted to say that this is amazing and thank you so much for posting this

    ReplyDelete
  26. Man Can u Help Me When I start arma 2 and 1 window appear is said Warning:signatur of addon\dayZ.pbo is wrong Please help me !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ow i Forgot This one When I am In Server and I gona Join Another Game Is Said Like This Your Cd Key Disable Please help me !

      Delete
    2. If it's complaining that your dayz.pbo has the wrong signature, either the mod files have become damaged (unlikely) or they're in the wrong place. Have you by any chance placed them in the ArmA 2 Free folder rather than the Operation Arrowhead folder?

      If you're using Steam, Operation Arrowhead will be installed in a location like:
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead
      The mod files should be placed in:
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@DayZ\addons

      If you're not using Steam, OA will probably be in:
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Bohemia Interactive\arma 2 operation arrowhead
      And the mod files should be placed in:
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Bohemia Interactive\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@DayZ\addons

      As for the "CD key is disabled", that's a weird one. Where did you get your games? The only time I've seen that come up before is when people have bought keys from one of those Russian online cd key stores and been given a code that doesn't work.

      Delete
  27. Hello, me again (Paddington) it has sorted that problem out, but now i have the problem, of "Deleted.Dayz_code. Dayz_weapons Dayz_vehicles" oh lordy?!help meh

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okay. There's only two reasons why that comes up. Either you haven't installed the mod files in the right place or you haven't loaded the mod correctly with the game shortcut.

      If you're using Steam, Operation Arrowhead will be installed in a location like:
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead
      The mod files should be placed in:
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@DayZ\addons

      If you're not using Steam, OA will probably be in:
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Bohemia Interactive\arma 2 operation arrowhead
      And the mod files should be placed in:
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Bohemia Interactive\arma 2 operation arrowhead\@DayZ\addons

      Check your shortcut to make sure it looks like this:
      "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -beta=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion -nosplash -skipIntro -mod=@DayZ

      And finally, when you start OA, check to see if it displays @DayZ, beta and Expansion on the title screen (in the top right). If not, click on "Expansions" and see if the boxes for those three are checked.

      Delete
  28. Hi there,

    I have a problem with installing Arma II free version. He keeps asking for a CD key but i cant get one anywhere. Steam doesnt work either. He keep telling me cant log in main server.

    Can i use a Key of a friend. And do you have a website where there are still keys available. .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know what Steam's doing with this. They seem to have removed the ArmA 2 Free page and there's conflicting accounts about what is happening with the ArmA 2 "Demo" version they offer instead.

      In the meantime, I'm suggesting that people obtain ArmA 2 Free directly from Bohemia on the site below:
      http://www.arma2.com/free

      The Bohemia version adds the CD Key to the registry during installation.

      To be honest, all you need from ArmA 2 Free is the Addons folder (if you just want to play DayZ) so you could just take a copy of that from your friend.

      Delete
  29. Hi Kodabar.

    I have done everything on your guide. And when i start arma its starts up with Dayz screen and says "loading" and all that. I come into main menu. pick mulitplayer and alot of Dayz servers comes up. But all of the servers have a red cross on left side. I tested to join some but all of them says "Joining server" and after about 5 seconds its jumping back to server browser and says "Connection failed".

    I have check so the servers i tried on is on the same patch.

    I Have patch 1.62 and 1.7.2.5 Dayz. What´s wrong? (Not using steam) I have sixlauncher.

    Regards
    Soddan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It sound to me like you don't have the latest beta patch installed. Servers normally have a red X icon next to them when you don't have the beta patch that they want. Go to Step 5 and download the latest beta patch. It's just a zip file and inside it is an exe - run the exe and follow the instructions.

      Note: Installing the beta patch will overwrite the "Launch Arma2 OA Beta Patch" shortcut in the Operation Arrowhead folder. So if you're using this to launch the game, you may like to make a copy of it before installing the beta patch so that you don't have to modify it again afterwards.

      The latest beta patch (at the time I write this) is 96465:
      http://www.mediafire.com/?e6pqj2axnh8l536

      Delete
  30. please help,everytime i start the game it always gives me an error saying "Data file too short 'common\characters.pbo'........"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are the ArmA games installed properly and have you installed all the updates? Also, from where did you get the games, what have you done so far, etc...

      If you got the gamea via Steam, try the following:
      1. exit STEAM client
      2. reboot your computer
      3. start STEAM client via 'run as Administrator'
      4. select A2: OA in games list by left mouse button
      5. right mouse button > menu > choose 'Properties'
      6. chooce 'Local Files' tab
      7. choose 'Verify Integrity File Cache'
      8. wait till it's done
      9. Do the same with ArmA 2

      Delete
    2. sorry for late reply,i got mine from a Retail store it comes in a DVD/CD form,my problem is everytime i click campaign the BAF and PMC campaigns are not shown,only HR,OA and EW. i have Combined Operations and installed BAF and PMC from a different CD of Reinforcements (installed the DLC only).

      Delete
    3. Usually the "data file too short" error results from problems during installation; it's tried to install a file and messed up during the process of extracting it.

      If I were you, the first thing I'd do is completely uninstall the game and reinstall it from scratch. I'd also consider copying the contents of the DVD to the hard disk and installing it from there (to eliminate any problems from reading the DVD disc).

      Delete
    4. Thanks even though its kinda out of topic,i will try that and if it still doesn't work then i will just leave it be.

      Delete
  31. Hey, In the right top corner of the screen of DayZ mean it only says @DayZ, it does not say expansion beta under it. What does this mean?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That either means you haven't installed the beta patch (Step 5) or modified the shortcut (Step 7).

      Modifying the shortcut tells it to load the beta executable file. Go back and check those step again.

      Delete
  32. Hi Kodabar.

    First I want to thanks for a great Guide.

    Now to my problem. I followed you guide and everything worked great. Until today. All server got an red cross so i updated the client. After that i where able to play again.

    But something happend. I can play for about 5 min and suddenly it says "No message received for 10 seconds" and keep doing that with more seconds. So I have to disconnect and rejoin but it just gives me 5 new min to play then it happends again.

    I Tried diffrent servers with no succsess.

    Please what have I done? or what´s wrong?

    /John

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When that error message comes up, it means that your game client hasn't received any message from the server for a while. There are a couple of causes.

      To be getting it on all servers is a new one on me. Do you play with other people - and if so, do they get the same error, or is it just you?

      Usually the error appears when a server is having problems, so to hear of it on all servers is worrying.

      Delete
    2. Hi Kodabar John here.

      I´ve fixed the problem. It was my internet that was bad. So I restarted my internet and now working Great! Thanks for reply. :)

      Delete
    3. Glad to hear it. Thanks for letting me know. Too often people post saying that they have a problem, but then they fix it themselves and I don't hear back from them - leaving me wondering if there's something I should be investigating.

      I'm cheered to hear you're back in the game and thanks again for letting me know what happened.

      Delete
  33. I have the deleted chernarus error and i have the addons folder in arma operation arrowhead folder and its still not working

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If it's not picking up on the Addons folder, then there can only be a couple of things wrong. Either you put the addons folder in the wrong place or it's lacking the relevant files.

      The Addons folder should go in
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Bohemia Interactive\arma 2 operation arrowhead
      or perhaps
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead
      (It's a lot easier to help if you tell me all that information I ask you to)

      If you got the Addons folder from ArmA 2 Free, it ought to be 1.54GB. If it came from ArmA 2 (full) then it ought to be 8.21GB

      Delete
  34. thx, great work man! however, after playing DayZ for a while i would like to try out the actual OA game. but when i try to launch it i automatically get to the DayZ screen without the single player option. is there a way of playing OA (maybe even without messing with the DayZ shortcut that i created)?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't launch OA through the link you use to launch DayZ. You should have a 'normal' OA shortcut as well. If you're using Steam, it'll be in your Steam library. If you're not using Steam, then it ought to be in a Start menu folder called Bohemia Interactive.

      If you really can't find either of these (or they're missing for some reason), create a new shortcut for OA. Go into your OA folder
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Bohemia Interactive\arma 2 operation arrowhead
      or
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead
      (Yours may be different)
      Now look for the ArmA2OA.exe file.
      Right click on that and select "Create shortcut"
      Place the shortcut anywhere you like (your desktop maybe?)
      To run OA, just double-click on that shortcut

      You may have to disable DayZ from within OA.
      Run OA
      At the main menu select "Expansions"
      Look down the list until you find DayZ and select "disable" (there may be multiple DayZ entries - disable them all)
      OA will say you need to restart it. Do so.
      OA should play just fine now.

      Note that disabling the DayZ expansions will not disable them when you're playing DayZ (as launched from your DayZ shortcut).

      Delete
  35. Excellent guide, best one around. Thanks very much.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Hi,

    everything worked fine for me until they released the new DayZ version 1.7.2.6 . I downloaded that via DayZ Commander and installed a new beta patch as well (96061). But when I try to join a server, I am stuck at the loading screen. A friend who was playing on a server I was trying to join said that the "client not responding" error appeared. I redownloaded the DayZ Files and installed a new beta patch but that didnt help either. ´Have you any suggestions? Thx for ervery answer :)
    (I am using arma 2 free retail + oa retail )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Try a later version of the beta patch. I'm using 96895 without any problems.

      If your friend was on the server you were trying to join and it was coming up with the "client not responding error", then it sounds like there may be a problem with BattlEye. If a newer beta patch doesn't solve it, try the following:

      1. Go to your Steam folder.
      2. Go into steamapps/common
      3. Go into arma 2 free/BEsetup
      4. Run Setup_BattlEyeARMA2Free.exe
      5. Copy CheckFilelist.lst
      6. Paste it into your arma 2 operation arrowhead folder (also in steamapps/common)

      Here's a video detailing the steps:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgxKs41JF2w

      Delete
  37. Is it possible to buy operation arrowhead,download a pirated arma 2 and copy the addons into OA addons folder? if yes,others should be able to play with hd textures without buying arma 2,
    i already bought combined ops so its too late for me,but someone could try it out :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it is. I've tested it before and it works.

      Delete
  38. Hi, I downloaded the free version of Arma 2 but I dident recive any CD-key, from where do I get it? It says "the installation access code is located on the back page of you ARMA 2 Free feild manual"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Go here to activate it (ie get a serial number):
      http://free.arma2.com/activation/

      Delete
  39. I have a really old piece of snap computer with 1gb RAM. If I turn down most of my settings to the lowest possible value, will it still be laggy as hell? (if you need more infos on my computer, I can write them down)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you'll be struggling. The best thing you can do is to try out ArmA 2 Free to see how well that runs. Bear in mind that DayZ is a bit more demanding, so it'll run a bit slower than ArmA 2 Free.

      Delete
    2. here is my example of arma 2 and dayz compaired : i can run arma 2 with everything on the highest settings. when i get on dayz, everything has to be around medium or low. (i would just say that dayz is a good deal more demanding than arma 2 in my experience. hope it helps and good luck :)

      Delete
  40. kodabar,i installed the arma 2 combined ops from steam and after about 10 hours of both of them getting installed i try to launch one. I launch and it gives me the option to install BattlEye, so I do,it then launches the game and after about 5 seconds it automatically takes me out and give me this error message:Bad serial number given in setup. I don't know what to do. Please help.


    I'll just stay anonymous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, this is a nasty error. It happens when Steam fails to write the CD Key to the registry properly. If you're okay with registry editing, run Regedit and delete everything below the following node:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Bohemia Interactive Studio\

      There should be a few different nodes within it, called things like:
      ArmA 2
      ArmA 2 OA
      etc
      Make sure all of these are gone.

      When you've done that, do the following:
      1. Reboot
      2. Quit Steam and make sure it's closed (use the Task Manager if you have to)
      3. Run Steam as an Administrator.
      4. Validate the game files (right click on the game in your Steam library, select Properties, Local Files, Verify integrity of game cache)
      5. Run ArmA 2 (not Combined Ops)
      6. Run Operation Arrowhead
      7. Run Combined Operations
      8. Quit Steam
      9. Reboot
      10. Run Steam as an Administrator

      Hopefully that should do it. Don't skip any steps.

      Delete
  41. Okay so I used the 101144 build and I get

    "Battleye Client: Initialized (v1.190)
    Registration failed: SSL connect error (schannel: failed to setup extended errors)
    Battleye Client: Server requiring version 1.190. Up-to-date."

    again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Found my problem, got it working now..

      Delete
    2. I'm very glad to hear it. How did you fix it?

      Delete
  42. Hi, I've got a big problem. I've bought a copy of op. arrowhead(and if you ask me I can send you photos of that).I've got new computer and I want to use it on that one, but I've lost my serial key, the manual is gone, I can't find it (that's the big problem)! Is there a way to get another one? Or some keygen? Or maybe the key is in some "magic" readme in the cd? I don't like craking games, but I think that it is right if I try to get back what's mine, so could you help me?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nevermind, I found that! Behind the fucking bed! ahah now I'm following your guide, thanks!

      Delete
    2. Brilliant. I love it when problems get fixed before I even have a chance to reply. Hopefully the rest of the process will go smoothly.

      Delete
  43. Arma 2 free has been removed from the Steam store but it can still be installed by entering this into your web browser steam://install/107400

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Works great!

      Delete
    2. Awesome! It really works, ty for sharing with us! :D

      Delete
  44. Hi Kodabar
    I'm having a littel issue it seems like i can't play for some reason when i start it it says "Addon 'dayz_anim' requires addon 'CA_Dubbing_Counterattack'", and so when i close that a message appers that says "No entry 'bin_config.bin/CfgVehicles/Citizen1.scope'.". I press continue, I go to singleplayer, scenarios, Daizy and anothe message appers which says "You cannot play/edit this mission; is dependent on downloadable content that has been deleted.chernarus", and so I basically can't play.
    This is my problem I would love to play DayZ on singleplayer, because I don't know the map and would love to know all of it. Please help, and thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The 'scope' and 'counterattack' errors are because the game isn't picking up on the ArmA 2 content. The easy way to fix that is to copy the "Addons" folder from your ArmA 2 program folder and paste it into your Operation Arrowhead folder.

      The second error usually appears because your shortcut is incorrect or the files are in the wrong place. It's complaining about Chernarus which is included with ArmA 2, so it will probably be fixed by copying the Addons folder. If it isn't, check these steps:

      1. Go into Operation Arrowhead\@DayZ\Addons and copy the files from in there
      2. Paste them into Operation Arrowhead\@DaiZy\Addons
      3. Take the files from the single player RAR and put them in the same place, over-writing some files as you do so
      4. Make sure your shortcut includes -mod=@DaiZy (it should be the same as the folder name. If it doesn't match, you'll get that error)

      Delete
  45. Hello I've been having issues with DayZ ever since I've had it yes I've been able to play but its been how do i put this? Strange i guess. I can't zero on any guns ( even if they have zeroing, many of the GUI features i guess don't work, some do but a lot don't. I can't view the vehicle (Health I guess you would put it, the vehicle damage, etc.) on many servers like wasteland, Takistan life, DayZ I can't do many of the things my friends can do because my game is so bugged, the loading screen into the game is odd everything is just off I've done everything re-installing time after time. The reasons I've assumed my friends can do everything fine is because they have the steam version for the game (OA and Arma II) I bought OA back in June of 2012, in around 2013 my friends found out about DayZ so i bought Arma II from steam.

    Computer Specs:
    AMD Eight Core CPU (Overclocked to 4.0 GHZ)
    8 GB Ripjaw RAM
    NVIDIA GTX GeForce 480
    ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

    Computer Info:
    Windows 7 64-Bit OS

    Arma 2 + Arma 2 OA Info:
    Arma 2 OA (Purchased Around June 2012, I bought it off of Bohemia interactive's website)
    Arma 2 Full (Bought via steam)

    Any help would be very healpful, thanks.
    -Chris

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now that's how to leave a comment. Pay attention all you people who type stuff like "It don't work. PLZZZ HELP MEE!!!"

      Your computer is fine for running DayZ, so I doubt it can be anything to do with that. But I think perhaps the problem is related to Operation Arrowhead. Although one would assume the version on Bohemia's website to be the latest, fully-updated version, it just isn't. I don't know why Bohemia don't have the latest version on their own site when they manage to do it on Steam, but that just seems to be how it is.

      I would suggest downloading the (1.50-1.60) update for OA and trying to install that.
      http://www.arma2.com/index.php?option=com_rokdownloads&view=file&Itemid=20&id=756%3Aarma-2-combined-operations--operation-arrowhead--reinforcements-patch-1&lang=en

      It's quite large (700MB) so I'm afraid it'll take quite a while.

      OA introduced many new features to ArmA and some of those weren't present when it was released but were added in later updates. The beta patch isn't part of the normal update chain and isn't cumulative (ie it doesn't contain earlier updates). Maddeningly, the beta patch will happily allow you to install it into an out-of-date version of OA without complaint.

      So if I were you, I'd try installing the update and see where it gets you. There is a chance that the installer will complain that the game is a later version (that's the damn beta patch interfering) and won't allow the update to be installed. If that happens (and there's a strong possibility that it might) then rather annoyingly, you're going to need to uninstall OA, then install it, run the update, run OA once, then install the beta patch.

      I realise this is all a bit tedious and frustrating, but it's the best way to proceed. If that doesn't help, let me know and I'll see what I can do to help. If the worst comes to the worst, I can install it for you via Teamviewer. I've installed the game hundreds of times now and I've never yet failed to get it working.

      Thanks again for providing all that information. That's exactly what's needed to make my life a whole lot easier!

      Delete
    2. I've done everything you said (uninstalling OA, ran the update, ran OA once, and then installed the beta patch). The only type of servers i can eve get on is Takistan Life, and i still get on all of them (It says I am missing files). I can't get on DayZ or Wasteland, because it says I am missing files. Since it said i was missing files, I installed the mods on Playwithsix, but it still didn't work. At the menu of OA under expansions I can see the mods there, and even if i mess with it enabling, etc, I still cannot join the servers, no clue what to do here, thanks for the progress so far.

      -Chris

      Delete
    3. Thanks for doing all that; reinstalling isn't much fun.

      This is all very curious. Takistan Life servers don't require any mod files. All they need is a mission file which they will automatically download when you join. All the core Takistan files are included with OA so you shouldn't have any problems getting on them.

      I don't recommend using Six because it stores the mod files in an unusual place. Everything else places the DayZ files in a folder called @DayZ inside the OA program folder whereas Six sticks them in "My Documents\ArmA 2\@DayZ" This makes it difficult to create the shortcut as the path to the place where Six places the files is so long it's hard to fit it all in to the target line.

      I would recommend that you try DayZ Commander as that places the files in the standard location and it automates the process of joining a server (you choose a server through DayZ Commander and it starts the game and joins the server for you).
      http://www.dayzcommander.com/

      If you have no luck with DayZ Commander, then something is seriously wrong. In which case, I would suggest that we use Teamviewer so that I can look at your setup directly (if you're okay with a complete stranger from the internet connecting to your computer).

      So, try DayZ Commander and see if you have any luck with that and then get back to me.

      Delete
    4. Sorry it has taken a while for me to respond but yes that worked great, and after that all the mods I wanted to install I just moved into the same area and they work fine.

      Thanks for the help!
      -Chris

      Delete
  46. Hello Kodabar,I'm Debeu derbedeu.
    Well,today I install the ARMA free+OA to play dayz,now is very sucks,anywhere i enter i'm kick,in some servers I receive an error(i think..) clung a battleye.
    At the step 7 I dont understand.First time i tried with "option C" but dont succeed,so i tried with Dayz Commander but I dont understand nothing.
    All I want to speak you is, if you could help me through team viewer to fix the game? I want very much to play this game.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Send me an email (kodabarATgmailDOTcom) and we'll arrange a time to use Teamviewer. What is your native language? I speak a few languages.

      Delete
  47. Sorry for my ignorance but as i understand it is mandatory you have Operation arrowhead no matter if you are using arma 2 free, or a purchased arma 2, correct?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup. The CD key from Operation Arrowhead is used to work out a GUID which is how your progress is stored on the server database. So you have to buy Operation Arrowhead to get a valid unique CD Key.

      Technically, it is possible to play without paying for it. But you have to use a pirate versions and you can only play on servers that advertise themselves as "No CD-Key" which rather limits your options. And they don't tend to be the most reliable or permanent servers.

      Delete
  48. hey koda got a fun idea here but i dont wanna mess my arma 2 files up i wanna download the modd called 1944 Dday /http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=12466 it looks more fun than wasteland ,but ne ways the only way i can see me playing from what pple say is six launcher or manually setting it up we hooked up my pc with commander remeber ? if u could u thnk commander does the same ? i cant seem to find a solution besides manual install thnks bro

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DayZ Commander only supports a limited number of mods. I've installed Invasion 1944 before using Six Launcher. The advantage of using Six Launcher is that it will store the mods in My Documents\ArmA 2 rather than in your Operation Arrowhead program folder (something I normally hate) so there's no chance of it interfering with anything else.

      Sorry for the late reply, I've been running a music festival for the last eight days and I'm exhausted

      Delete
  49. hey koda i was doing sum more research on my pc and was wondering if my ram card or cards burnt out is it possible that can be the reason when i play arma 2 it has issues , blocky objects when its like at its maximum along with the old grapgics card i have ..thnks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would say that was unlikely. If RAM or a graphics card had burnt out, they would most likely stop working completely or at least crash in a very random matter.

      Failing graphics RAM usually looks something like this:
      http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h155/atlfokus/photo-35.jpg

      One thing you might do (that definitely won't do any harm) is to clean your fans. Dust builds up on PC components over time and causes them to overheat. When they get too hot, performance is reduced and could result in problems like you're having. Here's a quick video about that:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5f3wbRPztg

      Delete
  50. Hey, when I try to install the beta Patch, even as an administrator, it skill comes up with the "wrong CD Key" error. I bought the combined operations from steam two days ago. do you know how to set me straight? If so thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The beta patch now also includes an update to the ACR (Army of the Czech Republic) DLC. So now when you go to install the beta patch, it has tow failure points. If your CD key is missing from the registry, you'll get the "Wrong CD Key" error, but you'll also get the same error for the ACR DLC. So if your CD key is actually missing, you'll get the same error twice.

      When you install the beta patch, look carefully at the title bar of the error message. If it says "ArmA2 ACR Patch" then it's just the ACR stuff and you can completely ignore it - it won't have any effect and the beta patch will install just fine.

      Here's a screenshot:
      http://s12.postimg.org/xecq196n1/acr_wrong.jpg

      Delete
    2. If that doesn't help, let me know and I'll talk you through the process of forcing the CD key data into the registry.

      Delete
  51. hey, i got it working, but it started lagging and now it stops opening at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good, good. Or rather good, bad.

      Lagging, eh? That doesn't sound right. Can you tell me a bit more about your installation? You got the game from Steam, so it'll be up to date. And you've got the beta patch in there now, so that's fine. That leaves two likely avenues. Did you start with the latest version of DayZ? And what does your shortcut look like?

      Delete
    2. okay, I reintalled it and now it will open in a window, which is sort of ideal, but now its so slow and it says i need an addon. I got it from steam so i thought i didnt need one.

      Delete
    3. I was asking which version of DayZ you had installed and used for this. If you've installed it via Steam, chances are you don't know and there's no easy way to tell. So never mind.

      Do you get any error messages? What do they say?

      Delete
    4. Whoops, I've fallen behind. Right, so you've reinstalled it.

      Quick one: you can switch between full-screen and windowed with Alt+Enter.

      What addon does it say you need? You won't need one, but the error message is indicative of what's wrong.

      Delete
    5. addon 'dayz anim'
      and now i can get to the servers, but it lags so much that i cant get on one. im trying to get into a recruit one so i can learn the game, but each time i find one i either get booted or my curser keeps scrolling down without me doing it.

      Delete
    6. also, when i try to get on a server, it says "bad version, rejected"

      Delete
    7. Right. If it's whining about dayz_anim, then it means that something's a bit buggered with the files. I'm going to guess that let Steam install it. I suggest that you use DayZ Commander to install it for you. DayZ Commander will make it easy to keep the thing up to date and it makes it a shitload easier to join servers.

      Go here. Get it. Install it. Use it to reinstall DayZ. Use it to choose a server.

      http://www.dayzcommander.com/

      Seeing as you're new to the game, there are a couple of things I ought to mention:

      The difficult setting (recruit, veteran, expert, etc) makes sod all difference to the difficulty of the game. What it does is turn on or off various elements of UI. For instance, on 'recruit' anything that you can see or can potentially see is marked by a white dot in your vision, you can see your position on the map, pointing your gun at other players will show a tag with their name and a few other things. As you step up the difficulty level, some of these things are turned off. But the difficulty setting makes no difference to the number of zombies, how hard they hit you, what damage bullets do, etc.

      The other thing to mention is that there are a lot of servers. A year ago, there were only official servers and they all had the Chernarus map. Now there are metric fucktons of servers out there and some of them are running maps other than Chernarus (you need to download the map files for those in order to be able to play on them - they are not included with the game) and there are plenty of heavily modified servers as well (they've changed the amount of vehicles, altered your starting kit, etc).

      With DayZ Commander, you can tell it only to show servers that will work with the files you've got. You can even tell it only to show official servers. Official (sometimes called public hive) servers all connect to the same database which stores your location and inventory. You can play on any official server and you'll be in the same location and with the same stuff. Anything other than an official server (a private hive server) has its own database and does not share location and inventory data with any other server - when you connect to one of those servers, you start from scratch.

      I thoroughly recommend using DayZ Commander to install DayZ and to choose a server. If you don't have the exact files that a server expects, it won't let you join. DayZ Commander simplifies all this so you don't waste time trying to join servers that won't let you in.

      Delete
  52. Hello, oh great DAYZ Guru, do you have any tips for stopping the lagging, I have 6 gs of ram so I should be fine, but I'm not? Also, any tips for finding servers closer so my ping is lower?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With 6 gig you ought to be fine. DayZ and ArmA only use a couple of gig at most.

      I presume you've made sure that your 3D resolution matches your interface resolution. I don't know why the game defaults to two different values, but it does. On some graphics cards it barely makes a difference but on others, it introduces significant lag. I also very much recommend setting post-processing to 'disabled'. The post-processing motion blur, light bloom, etc can really bog down a graphics card not to mention making it harder to see.

      The biggest drain is draw distance. Somewhat unusually, ArmA allows servers to impose graphics settings and usually the draw distance setting (called 'visibility' in the settings) is enforced, but setting it to 1600 is my suggestion. You're never likely to need to see any further than that.

      ArmA/DayZ is an unusual game in that it places a lot of strain on your CPU. It doesn't give as much work to the GPU/graphics card as most games. So a weaker processor with a stronger graphics card won't be as effective as on many other games.

      Take a good look at your graphics settings. There are some weird options in there and some of them aren't as intuitive as they seem (eg the 'video memory' setting should be on 'normal' - setting it to anything else will produce unpredictable results).

      We also have a single player mod for DayZ. If you can't get your game to run without lag, try that. It actually places a little more strain on your CPU than online (because it has to simulate some server functions). If it runs fine in single player, then it will run fine online.
      http://kodabar.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/dayz-offline-single-player-practice.html

      Servers have a surprising influence on framerate and lag. This is unusual in that servers for most games have little effect on on framerate, but DayZ servers very much do. The way that zombies and loot are generated needs regular reboots to free up the resources of the server. If a server is not rebooted often and has too many extra scripts and features running, it will slow down and lag the connection and drop your framerate.

      I use DayZ Commander to join servers. You can use it to rank servers by ping. From there, I choose a server with a low-ish ping (although ping doesn't have so much effect with DayZ actually). I'll aim for a server with a ping of 30 (I'm in a small country town without fibre optic), but I'll play on servers up to 150 ping. And I'll try several servers before selecting the one I'll play on. I tend to avoid servers that promise things like 500 vehicles and masses of extra features. Generally a lot of that is a lie. It's almost impossible to run a server with 500 vehicles as you need to add the vehicle spawns yourself and it massively increases the CPU load for little benefit. Once I find a server I like (and that generally means one that works well for my friends too), I'll add it to my favourites list in DayZ Commander.

      Delete
    2. Okay, I did all that but it's still like I'm walking in slow motion. This is really bumming me out. :/

      Delete
    3. I'm trying to get the single player form, but I got Arma Combined ops from steam so I didn't have anything to do with the addons.

      Delete
    4. also, what should I open the downloads with?

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    5. Sorry for the delay, I've been a bit busy with work.

      The downloads for single player are just a RAR file (open with WinZip, WinRar or whatever archiving program you use) and a PBO file which is ready for use and doesn't need to be opened.

      Has your framerate improved? What kind of computer are you using?

      Delete
    6. i use an HP laptop, and the speed increased a little, but its still like im moving in frames. it kinda sucks cause i'm moving so slow that even being in a two with a zombie is suicidal. I cant find guns and every time I move it gets slightly blurry, and I'm traveling so slow that im literally starving.

      btw, no worries about the response. I know, you gotta have a life :P

      Delete
    7. If it blurs when you're moving, I think post-processing is still on. From the main menu select Options > Video Options. In the box that appears, press the "Advanced" button in the bottom left, then look for "Postprocess Effects" over on the right and set it to "disabled". Be sure to hit "OK" afterwards, so it'll take.

      For reference, on a Core 2 Duo 3GHz system with 4GB of memory and an Nvidia GTX 265 graphics card (a very average computer), it will run well with the following settings:

      Texture detail - normal
      Video memory - normal
      Anisotropic filtering - normal
      Antialiasing - disabled
      ATOC - all trees
      Terrain detail - normal
      Object detail - normal
      Shadow detail - normal
      HDR quality- normal
      PPAA - disabled
      Postprocess effects - disabled
      Interface size - small
      Aspect ratio - 16:10
      Vsync - enabled

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    8. I'm gonna give it a try, I'll let you know how it goes.

      Delete
    9. sorry for being so late. your advice has helped a lot, the game is still a little glitchy and laggy, but its now playable. Thank you so much for your help.

      Delete
  53. I dont have a Arma OA is there any way for me to get it for free? Does a pirated version be suitable for DayZ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is no way to play DayZ without OA. Actually, that's not quite true. There are some servers out there that don't perform the CD Key check, so you can play on them with a pirate copy. Install as above, run the game, select multiplayer and click the "Filter" button at the bottom of the screen. In the "Host" box, enter "no CD" or something similar and you should be able to find servers to play on. I don't offer any support for this and I've never done it.

      We do also offer a single player version which I'm told can be played with a pirate version. I offer no support for this either, but go ahead and try if you like:
      http://kodabar.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/dayz-offline-single-player-practice.html

      Delete
  54. Hello my friend , first i wanna thank you for all this turtioal , its help me a lot big up for this but i got 1 problem , game is working fine , but on evry server i dont see the items , im running from bulding to another bulding and dont see any weapons , food anythink , is my game is crash or its servers? , thanks and greetings (Sorry for my english )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's an unusual error. The items are spawned by the server, so they're the same for everyone. When a server has been running for some hours, it will get slower and background operations (like item spawning) will be delayed. The solution is for the server to be restarted. Obviously, you can't restart the server. What you can do is visit a building, go inside, then leave and come back in a few minutes. If the items have appeared, then it's because the server is running slowly and needs to be restarted.

      Official servers are often better run than private hive servers. DayZ Commander has an option to only list official servers. Maybe try that.
      http://www.dayzcommander.com/

      If you still have this problem, write back. I've never heard of anyone having this problem on every server.

      Delete
  55. hi kodabar! this tutorial have worked as well for me! but i just plays on my friends pc.... cuz on my pc Arma 2 dont works my configurations is intel celeron, 4GB RAM... but iam going to change my proscesor... to Intel Dual core. cuz wen i go to starts arma 2 shows Shadersmod 3 not surported i think is my really Fuc**** bad pc.... well can you help me whit this?

    Pleased /SnufflesHP

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm afraid I have bad news - it's not going to work.

      The error message about shaders not being supported means just that; your graphics hardware doesn't support the shader mode that the game requires so it can't display anything.

      I've run DayZ on a 3GHz Core 2 Duo (a dual core system) with an Nvidia 9800 graphics card (about 30 bucks new these days) and it's run okay. On anything less than that, it's not going to run very well.

      So you at least need to use a better graphics card than you've got. Sorry.

      Delete
  56. Hello Kodabar,

    I was wondering if the opposite could be also work. Full steam version of arma2 and the demo version of Arma2:OA... And be able to play DayZ. Thank you for your time in responding.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm afraid not. DayZ uses the game engine and a lot of the content from Operation Arrowhead. By contrast, it only uses the Chernarus level files and a few objects from ArmA 2. Technically you don't even need ArmA 2, just the Addons folder from it. But you absolutely have to have OA. Sorry.

      Delete
    2. Thank you for the Quick response. I am glad I found this blog. keep up the good work. Cheers.

      Delete
  57. Hey, Kodabar
    Hate to bother you, but I'm cracked
    I've been trying to make this thing work for about month, installing and reinstalling in different modes and ways
    I went through all these steps of yours (nicely written btw). Game is launching via shortcut, everything seems to be ok. But.
    Server brouser shows me about 30 servers which aren't marked with red cross. If I enter any of those 30 I can't get through 'cause of 'connection failed' window. Others are not even available.
    More then that, every time I launch bloody DayZCommander it recommends me buying Combined Operations, dunno why.
    I'm going crazy with this thing
    Hope you'll help me out)
    Senserely yours, JP

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Lord
      Both nosteam. Arma 2 Free + Arma 2: OA (license key)
      Windows 7

      Delete
    2. I'm afraid I'm having computer problems just now. I'm having to wait for new parts to be delivered (probably on Tuesday). I'll get back to you then and help you to get this working. Sorry for the delay.

      Delete
    3. I had the same problem, and followed this. it got funny with the patch so I did a repair:

      http://forums.dayzcommander.com/index.php?/topic/225-dayz-not-detecting-combined-ops/

      Now I've just got to figure out how not to die so quickly from peeps in the sniper towers :/

      Delete
  58. Hi
    I have been having a problem connecting to servers-I can get into the lobby ok, but when I press join and the files download it jumps back to the lobby saying that I cannot play because a I am missing a mission( it is not chernerus, but I cannot read it as the game crashes afterwards and another error message comes up). Admittedly I am using Ubuntu 13.10, and I know this may be a pain as this guide has been written for windows, but I have been using the link you used in another comment and some dumb luck to get this far. It doesn't matter if you can't help, but any information is welcome. If necessary I may be able to get the error messages but it will take a little while.
    Also, if you need my system specs for any reason I should be able to give them.

    Thanks again for the great guide,

    Callum

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm very sorry for the delay in responding to your question. I've been working at a German Christmas market, so I just haven't been around.

      You've certainly got an interesting problem. I haven't actually tried running the game under Linux myself, but I have in the past talked to other people who have. With a bit of fiddling around, they've got it to work. I've got an Ubuntu installation myself, so I'll have a look to see what the pitfalls could be.

      If it's not too much bother, I was wondering if I could ask you to email me? With me being a bit busy at the moment, it's hard to keep on top of things, so an email (kodabarATgmailDOTcom) would help me keep track of what I need to answer.

      Delete
  59. hi
    I have been trying to install all this day z stuff and this is what i did

    Got Arma 2 Free on steam
    got OA Arma Demo on steam
    i did that addon stuff

    and heres my problem,
    I go to the patch and it says ARC not detected

    help?
    -derperfetus

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry, but you can't use the OA demo. You need the full version of OA and there's no way around that.

      Delete
    2. Alright Thanks!

      Delete
  60. Hey Kodabar,
    I'm not here to ask for help. I would just like to say that I couldn't have installed DayZ without your guide. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Hello there,

    I'm here to thank you for all your support. I have spoken with you before and I only want to ask you on which server are you playing. It would be awesome if we would team up and survive....and s**t.
    I've buyed ArmA 2: combined operation (as I told you before) and the only thing missing now is a better system to play on.

    Cheers!!

    ReplyDelete
  62. THanks for the tutorial :P Had some trouble installing..

    Good luck

    ReplyDelete
  63. Hey Kodabar, I think I figured out a way to install without copying the Addons folder from ArmA II Free. First you copy the directory address of your ArmA II Free. Then you go in to Commander, click Install/Update, scroll down to ArmA II Game Directory, check the Override box, and paste the directory address. You've successfully tricked Commander into thinking ArmA II Free was full ArmA II. BTW I'm superblox02 from the forum.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, that's a good tip. You can also add the ArmA 2 path as a mod in the shortcut
      -mod=%_ARMA2PATH%

      And you can also use the mklink /d command in the command line to create a symbolic link between folders without taking up any disk space.

      I just tell people to copy the addons folder because it's easy for them to understand. Technically, you don't even need ArmA 2 installed, you just need its Addons folder (which is what I've done for myself)

      Delete
  64. Edit: It's Settings, not Installl/Update

    ReplyDelete
  65. thanks for this article, ill be grabbing operation arrowhead tomorrow as my arma 2 free dl just finished
    really excited to play, keep your eyes out for anyone with D2M in their name. don't worry I wont shoot haha
    regards
    d2m tagz

    ReplyDelete
  66. arma 2:free has been discontinued since 22nd April
    Bought operation arrowhead just now, and i wonder, can i play DayZ on a discontinued arma2:free?
    If so, can i get a download link/update, since arma2:free official site has been shut down

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a good point. I ought ot update this article to reflect that fact. I'll do that over the weekend.

      The problem with providing links to ArmA 2 Free is that you also need to generate a CD key which is no longer possible. So no luck there.

      The best you can do is to buy ArmA 2 and the current 75% off discount that Bohemia are offering. If you can't afford that, send me an email (kodabarATgmailDOTcom) and I'll see what I can do to help you out.

      Delete
  67. I have purchased the game as it is on sale right now for $4 and I'm 100% sure I purchased it, but when I try to install the patch I still get the "wrong CD key" error (it doesn't even ask em for a CD key cuz I do have one). I have no Idea what the issue could be. Plz help.

    - Josh Sells Guns

    ReplyDelete
  68. Hello!
    I have a big issue lately with Arma2 OA/Day Z mod. When I start the game i get "Arma 2OA has stopped working" I tried anything I could find googling and youtoubing and nothing works! Can you please help me? I'm using Win 8 and Steam version of the game if that's relevant. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yikes, that's not good. This doesn't point to a particular error, so it's difficult to say what is wrong.

      First things first. Try verifying the game cache under Steam.
      1. Go to your Steam game library.
      2. Right click on the ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead entry and select "Properties"
      3. In the box that appears, click the tab on the top marked "Local Files"
      4. Click the button marked "Verify integrity of game cache"

      It takes a while to check all the files and it will say that it needs to download at least one file when it's finished. Hopefully it'll find a problem with more than one file.

      Let me know how you get on. Hopefully this will sort it. Otherwise you'll need to have a look through log files and that sucks.

      Delete
    2. After I posted this question here, I tried one more time in this order:
      1 - clean install of both Arma 2 and OA
      2 - installation of DayZ mod
      3 - launching attempt 1 - no success
      4 - Manual update of Battleye
      5 - Game cache verif in Steam
      6 - registry deletion of Bohemia entries
      7 - DayZ commander restart
      8 - Launch attempt - fail
      9 - DayZ comm and Arma restart
      10 - Launch attempt - SUCCESS!

      Delete
    3. Well I'm jolly glad to hear you got it all working. I'm sorry you've had such travails. From the steps you've taken and what worked, it seems like the registry information was corrupted. I'm not sure why that would cause the crashes that it did, but you've fixed it and that's all that matters.

      Delete
  69. This doesn't work anymore, you can't use the Arma 2 Free/ Arma 2 Arrowhead combo.

    I did everything you said, twice. Ran it via steam and via Dayz Commander. None of the servers load and it swears that it can't find one of my game directories.

    So that leaves me saving up for the standalone, as I don't care for the Arma 2 singleplayer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well the first thing that has me perplexed is that you were able to get hold of ArmA 2 Free. It's been discontinued and they're no longer... ah, you've just covered that point in a comment you've just left. Forget that.

      You need to run ArmA 2 for it to register various things like the CD key and game directories. Give that a go.

      Otherwise, you don't even really need ArmA 2 installed. What you need is the "Addons" folder from ArmA 2. Go into your ArmA 2 program folder. Find the "Addons" folder and right click and 'copy' it. Go into your Operation Arrowhead program folder and paste that Addons folder into there.

      ArmA 2 is needed because it contains the Chernarus land files. But they're all in that Addons folder, so that's really all you need.

      I've just fired up an installation of ArmA 2 Free and Operation Arrowhead and was able to join servers just fine. So this does still work.

      If you do get completely stuck, drop me an email (kodabarATgmailDOTcom) and I'll send you a set of files that definitely works.

      Delete
  70. Heya i Know its a bit outdated but does it work with 1.8.6 from steam or musst i download extern 1.8.1?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It will work, but not all the features will work. When we made this, we made it to be as compatible as possible for as long as possible (previous attempts required an update every time DayZ was updated). But for some features, such as base-building, we couldn't anticipate them so they don't work.

      In short, it still works and every feature that matters works just fine. But a couple of minor ones don't.

      Delete
  71. I Only Have Arma 2 : OA. And when i run only with arma 2 oa it says addon chernaus is misisng. can u upload addons from normal arma 2? so i can download them and put in arma 2 oa folder. please help me i dont have money to buy arma 2

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here you go. Addons folder.
      https://www.mediafire.com/folder/d56c2snxgdwg0/Addons

      Delete
  72. Please man, I need your help. I don't have enough money to buy Arma II OA on steam but I succeeded to get the game on thepcgames.net . The game works fine concerning Arma II OA. The problem is at DayZ level. First there are no server available, so I want to create my own server to play alone, but while I create a new one, I got a loading screen which never ends. It stuck on loading screen and nothing more. Please I need your knowledge about the problem. I only want to play DayZ alone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okay, there's a couple of things that need to be said before we begin. You will have a hard job creating a DayZ server. The mod files are not the same as those used on servers and a server also needs to be running an SQL database - which is not a trivial thing to set up. So I don't think you're going to get it running.

      On the other hand, a few people and I created a single player version of the DayZ mod some time ago. It does everything you want and even has AI units in it to replace players, so it's even better than being on a server on your own.

      Download this file:
      https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-AjkiwQjJ9QNEdXWExJSVdmR1k

      Open DaiZy.rar. There are three things inside
      @DaiZy (a folder)
      Missions (a folder)
      Launch options.txt (a text file)
      Extract @DaiZy and Missions to your ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead folder (over-write anything it asks you about)
      Open the text file

      If you are using Steam:
      1. Go to your Steam library
      2. Find Operation Arrowhead and right click on it, selecting Properties
      3. In the box that opens, on the 'General' tab (the first one by default) look for the button marked 'Launch options' and click it
      4. In the box that appears, paste the line from the text file
      5. OK everything
      6. Launch the game from your Steam library

      If you're not using Steam
      1. Go to your Operation Arrowhead folder
      2. Find the game exe (arma2oa.exe if I remember correctly)
      3. Right click it and select 'Create shortcut'
      4. Right click the shortcut you've just created and select 'Properties'
      5. Look for the 'Target' line. At the end of it (make sure it's the end) paste the line from the text file
      6. OK everything
      7. Run the game by double-clicking the shortcut (which you can move to any folder or even the desktop)

      Delete
  73. I got Dayz version 1.7.4.4.1 something else. I'm sure it begins by 1.7.4 . While I also want to install a beta patch it says that it can't locate the Arma II OA folder nor it's installed on principal hard drive on program files x86. It also registered on my registry on Hkey local machine. I also noticed that a beta patch was already installed, there is a shortcut of the beta patch Arma II OA and it works too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You don't need the beta patch. Have a read of my reply to your other comment.

      Delete

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