Base building

Building smart is just as important as building strong; poor layouts get raided fast.

• Bases are not permanent. You need a flag pole, and the flag must be raised regularly. A flag takes 7 days to lower, so after one week of inactivity the base decays and is removed.
• Every base must be raidable. Illegal peeks or structures that give defenders an unfair advantage are not allowed (see Do's & don'ts).

New to DayZ or base building? Watch this tutorial first.

Before building

• Have all materials in your inventory.
• Be in a group; you need one to place a flag pole kit.
• Check the no build zones.

Flag pole and territory

Flag pole kit: 3× Sticks + 1× Rope. Once placed, the flag pole builds itself; you don't need to find the parts.

• The flag pole is bound to your in-game group. Only the group leader and group admins can build, so add your mates to the group and make them admins.
• Your territory is a cylinder around the flag pole: 35 m radius, 7 m up and 3 m down.

Don't lose your group. If the last member leaves, the group is deleted and the flag pole becomes abandoned: any other player can claim it, and if nobody does, the base starts to despawn within a few hours. If you are the last one leaving, re-claim your flag pole first.

Moving or removing your flag pole

1. Lower the flag all the way.
2. Take the flag off the pole.
3. Dismantle the pole with a hatchet.

Place the new flag pole as fast as possible; you have a couple of hours before things start to despawn. If you dismantle your flag pole and a restart happens, all your codelocks drop to the floor.

Beginner video: how to build a 1×1.

Workbench

Place the workbench and keep the materials for the blueprint in your inventory. You cannot craft a blueprint without the minimum amount of building material in your inventory; crafting straight from the workbench storage does not work. The workbench slots can store building material.

Full recipe list: building recipes.

Placing blueprints

Snap all elements (press Down Arrow). Avoid peeks and gaps. As with crafting, you need all materials in your inventory to build.

Wall and door tiers

To build T2 and T3 doors, upgrade both the door and the wall.

Cement mixer: how to get bricks

The cement mixer is marked on the map. Depending on the server, it can spawn at several locations.

Generator power

1. Turn on a generator.
2. Connect a cable reel between the generator and the cement mixer.
3. Add concrete mix and turn on the mixer.

Battery power

1. Combine metal wire with an Elysium Industries battery.
2. Attach the battery to the cement mixer.
3. Add concrete mix and turn on the mixer.

CCTV system

Monitor your base with placeable cameras linked to a CCTV tablet. Buy it at the Black Market or find it in airdrops and building keyrooms.

• Place the tablet inside your base; up to 8 cameras can be linked to one tablet.
• Place cameras around your base, then pick them on the tablet to view the live feed.
• Cameras can be placed almost anywhere, but any player can pick them up. Place them out of reach.

CCTV is very effective for base defense and early warning.

Do's & don'ts

Do

• Snap all building elements correctly
• Use windows as quick-access entry points if needed
• Put a codelock on hangar doors
• Stack doors, as long as the raid path stays at least one small door frame wide
• Respect the building radius of your flag

Don't

• Build illegal peeks: if you can see a raider but they cannot see you, it is illegal
• Leave gaps between building elements that allow shooting through
• Use hangar doors as part of a raid path (they cannot be raided)
• Move your flag after building and expect support when parts of your base despawn

Unsure whether your build is legal? Open a ticket on Discord.