Let’s talk about DayZ Updates
A community server is paid for, loved, tended and run by volunteers, it’s very rare that a community server isn’t run by someone who loves DayZ and is pouring hours a day into making it their vision of the best DayZ experience for you to play on, very often free of charge. A gift to you
DayZ Updates happen rarely and always bring new things, fun new bugs, new performance and also some players back to the game. It’s an exciting time for everyone
There is no Us and You, the community is all Us
It’s been announced that on February 16th DayZ will release the 1.11 patch to stable at an unspecified time, your favourite server admins will be on edge all day waiting for those files to drop. As a community we get so few updates it’s a good day, don’t be the lemon sucking Debbie Downer of the day, not on twitter, not on Discord, not on Twitch.
Be in no doubt that Server Admins will be updating your favourite community servers as fast as they can so we can all get in and play the new update (and find the new ASVAL)
Here’s some things
DayZ is wiping Official Servers, Community server should probably do the same. We’re wiping our servers. Wipes are a Good Thing
Usually Community servers get the update files after the officials, sometimes upwards of hours after, you can watch the stable files getting updated in the Steam CDN, if this isn’t updated, nor will a community server, watch the Public line:
https://steamdb.info/app/223350/depots/
The more modded a server is the longer it may take, it may even take a couple of days, though some modded servers will go live with a reduced modset just to get going. Very often Mods simply do not work on a New DayZ version and server admins have to wait for the Modder to mend and publish updates if that happens
Very often Modders just give up and move out to do other things in their life, it’s possible for a Mod to just break and never be updated
Server Admins will be working voluntarily and super hard to try and get their servers back online so they can give them back to you
Whichever servers you play on, here’s some things you can do to help:
- Don’t rush into a Discord and be the 4th consecutive person to squeal that a server is down ‘read the room’, it’s likely there’s already messaging in there saying ‘we know, it’s an update’. Read, don’t write (this is probably a rule for Discord generally)
- Don’t ask ‘how long’, no one knows, we’ve had updates take days to pan out on more modded servers
- Don’t @ mods and admins in a Discord, they’re doing stuff
- Don’t start tweeting at Admins it’s a distraction and they’re probably knee deep in delicate XML, one wrong move could be the ‘ah fuck it’ moment
- Don’t be an entitled prick, everyone is excited and those that need are doing the best they can, probably whilst juggling their sons homework and other IRL more important things than a computer game
- If you don’t get an answer in a public space, don’t start chasing people around in a DM
- Do not DM admins, they’re having a nervous break down
- Generally Community Vanilla servers will come back up before Community Modded, some server owners prep files but this can go wrong with last minute changes
- If you see a server come up but it’s unannounced in the usual server announcement channels, it’s likely a test and could go down again, don’t whinge about it
- All of a server admins world doesn’t revolve around you on this day, or infact any day
- The DayZ community will eat you alive if you fuck their favourite server up
- Yes, the server has been wiped, grow up
- Have some civility, if you expect someone to take time to answer, take time to ask the question with some courteousness, we are all in it together
- No, you don’t have any kind of ‘right’ to play on anyone’s Community server. Ever. You’re a guest. Servers don’t even need rules.
- After the fact, don’t whinge about 1.11, especially don’t whinge if you did fuck all on the Expie servers to help test
There are many things that go on that take time, precision and careful steps to get working, don’t be the interruptions that slow the process down or break the server
And when your favourite servers do come up, at least give DayZ and your favourite servers admin team a nod
As ever, anyone DMing the Spaggie servers Admin team in times of stress, as we work hard and fairly unscheduled to make a server work, will probably end up server banned, we will fix your problem.
Around our communities there’s loads of people that will be politely relaying and broadcasting information, don’t be a dick to them, they don’t know much more than you
And we’ll all be fine
Follow my twitter for server news
Thanks for your help
Jack