DayZ Config Editor: Edit serverDZ.cfg and Mission Gameplay Settings

The DayZ Config Editor lets you change how your DayZ dedicated server behaves without ever leaving the panel or downloading a file. It gives you a friendly form for serverDZ.cfg — the main server configuration file — with a search box and on-disk comments shown next to each setting, plus a raw editor for the mission’s cfggameplay.json. It also keeps you out of trouble: a handful of keys that the panel manages for you from the Server Settings (Startup) tab are shown but locked, so you never accidentally set something that gets reverted the next time the server reinstalls. This guide walks through exactly what the editor does, where to find it, and what each part edits on a DayZ server you host with Loafhosts.

What the DayZ Config Editor Edits

The editor works on two files, and only two files. The first is serverDZ.cfg, the top-level server configuration that lives at the root of your DayZ server. The second is cfggameplay.json, which lives inside your mission folder at mpmissions/<MissionName>/cfggameplay.json. The mission name is read automatically from the Missions block inside serverDZ.cfg, so the editor always points at the gameplay file for the map you are actually running — dayzOffline.chernarusplus for Chernarus, and dayzOffline.enoch for Livonia. Economy XML files like types.xml are intentionally not exposed here; they can be far larger than a config file and are out of scope for this tool.

Note: serverDZ.cfg is edited through a form, while cfggameplay.json is edited as raw JSON.

Note: The mission and therefore the path to cfggameplay.json are detected from the Missions block in serverDZ.cfg.

Note: Economy files such as types.xml are not editable in this tool.

Where to Find It in the Panel

The DayZ Config Editor appears as a Server Config item in the left sidebar of your DayZ server’s page, in the Game section. It only shows up on DayZ servers — the tool checks the server before it appears, so you will not see it on a Rust, Minecraft, or other game server. Open your DayZ server, click Server Config in the sidebar, and the editor takes over the content area while your sidebar and the server header stay in place. At the top of the editor is a file dropdown — use it to switch between serverDZ.cfg and the mission’s cfggameplay.json — alongside a Save button (and, when serverDZ.cfg is selected, a Raw text toggle and a search box).

Note: The Server Config sidebar item appears only on DayZ servers — it self-gates and stays hidden everywhere else.

Tip: If you just created the server, start it once first so DayZ writes out serverDZ.cfg; the editor reads the real file from disk.

Tip: Editing config requires the config permission, so sub-users on your server need read or update config access to view or save changes.

Editing serverDZ.cfg with the Form

When you open serverDZ.cfg, the editor parses it into a list of individual settings — boolean toggles for on/off (0/1) keys, numeric inputs, and text fields — and shows each one as a row you can change. A universal search box lets you filter the list by setting name (it also matches the comment text), which is the fastest way to find a single setting in a long config. Any comment that DayZ ships next to a setting is shown alongside that field, so you get the in-file explanation right where you need it. When you save, the editor writes only the keys you changed and round-trips everything else byte-for-byte: your comments, blank lines, key order, the spacing around the equals sign, the trailing semicolons, and the entire class Missions { ... } block are all preserved exactly as they were.

Note: Save writes only the keys you edited; every other line, comment, and the Missions block is preserved unchanged.

Note: Saving updates the file on disk — restart the server to apply your changes.

Tip: Use the search box to jump straight to a setting instead of scrolling the whole file.

Tip: The comment text shown beside a field is the explanation DayZ itself ships in the file — read it before changing a value.

Raw Mode and the cfggameplay.json File

If you would rather work with the text directly, serverDZ.cfg also has a Raw text mode that shows the whole file as plain text for power-user edits — handy for editing the Missions block or adding keys the form doesn’t list. The mission’s cfggameplay.json is always edited this way — as raw JSON. The important safeguard here is validation on save: when you save cfggameplay.json, the editor parses any non-empty content as JSON first, and if it is malformed the save is rejected with an error instead of writing a broken file that could stop your server from loading the mission settings. (An empty file, {}, or [] are allowed through so you can clear it out.) For cfggameplay.json to actually take effect in game, your serverDZ.cfg needs enableCfgGameplayFile set to 1 — that key appears as a toggle in the serverDZ.cfg form, and the raw JSON editor reminds you to switch it on if the file is still empty.

Note: Saving cfggameplay.json validates any non-empty content as JSON first and refuses to write a file that does not parse (an empty file, {}, or [] are allowed through).

Note: cfggameplay.json is only loaded by the game when enableCfgGameplayFile is set to 1 in serverDZ.cfg.

Tip: If a save is rejected as invalid JSON, check for a missing comma, bracket, or quote — the editor will not save until it parses.

Keys That Are Locked (and Why)

Some serverDZ.cfg keys are shown in the editor but cannot be changed here — they appear read-only and the panel rejects any attempt to edit them, whether through the form or by hand in raw mode. This is on purpose. On DayZ servers the panel rewrites these keys from the Server Settings (Startup) tab every time the server installs or reinstalls, so a value you typed into the config editor would simply be overwritten and look like it “didn’t save.” The locked keys are: hostname, password, passwordAdmin, maxPlayers, verifySignatures, forceSameBuild, disableVoN, vonCodecQuality, disable3rdPerson, disableCrosshair, disablePersonalLight, lightingConfig, serverTimeAcceleration, serverNightTimeAcceleration, serverTimePersistent, and steamQueryPort. To change any of these, use the Startup tab — that is the source of truth the panel keeps in sync.

Note: Locked keys are managed by the Server Settings (Startup) tab and are read-only in the config editor.

Note: Editing a locked key here would be reverted on the next install, which is why the editor blocks it instead.

Tip: Change player count, server name, passwords, signature checks, time multipliers, and the query port from the Startup tab.

A Note on RCon and File Size

The BattlEye RCon settings — including the RCon password in battleye/beserver_x64.cfg — are not exposed in the config editor. The RCon password is sensitive and is managed for you through the Startup tab, so it is kept out of this tool. There is also a size limit on any single file the editor will read or write; the default cap is 1 MB, which is far larger than a normal serverDZ.cfg or cfggameplay.json, both of which are usually only a few kilobytes. If a file is somehow larger than the cap, the editor will tell you rather than load or save a partial file.

Note: BattlEye RCon settings, including the RCon password, are not editable here — they are managed from the Startup tab.

Note: The editor caps any single file at 1 MB by default; real DayZ config files are only a few KB.

Tip: Between the form for serverDZ.cfg and validated JSON for cfggameplay.json, you can tune most of your server’s behavior right in the panel — and lean on the Startup tab for the locked, panel-managed keys.