Best DayZ servers to play on in 2025

DayZ has one of the most vibrant communities out there. One product of this player dedication is the wide variety of community servers. Having a choice is always great, but it can also be potentially daunting, and finding the best DayZ servers can be quite the task.

We have done some digging and compiled a comprehensive list of the best DayZ community servers in 2025. We made sure to cover all basic needs with our picks, including map and difficulty variety, as well as various levels of mod implementation. Chances are, wherever you are on your DayZ adventure, at least one of these servers will accommodate your needs.

Best DayZ servers for beginners

NEO Farmers

NEO Farmers is the ideal place to start out if you’re new to DayZ. The server falls in the vanilla plus category, but the changes are almost universally tailored toward a more relaxed introduction to the game world, hence NEO Farmers’ popularity with beginner players. The level of challenge scales up as you progress, so you won’t be stuck on “noob” difficulty forever.

The Farmer community is among the most welcoming in the game, with many former beginners now turned experts prepared to help out newcomers. You don’t need to install any mods or download maps; everything is happening on the good old Chernarus. Just plug in and play is about right for NEO Farmers.

Noobs Only

Noobs Only isn’t shy about telling you exactly what the server is about. This is a PvE-only environment where messing with other players is explicitly prohibited. You are free to learn the ropes of DayZ without having to worry about human players, and you can also rely on a friendly community prepared to answer any questions you may have.

Noobs Only is heavily modified, but it’s all about making your life easier and preparing you for the vanilla experience, at which point you can try out some of the other servers on our list.

Best vanilla DayZ servers

Spaggies

Spaggie servers are a sizable bunch, and there are modded ones in the lot, but Spaggies built its reputation on vanilla DayZ servers. The safety nets are gone here, and everyone and their bases are potential prey. All three major maps are supported – a rarity and one of the reasons the servers are so popular.

There’s zero tolerance for any sort of cheating or unsportsmanlike conduct, which is about as much outside help as you can rely on—if you’re not a cheater, that is. The Spaggies community’s strive for a pure DayZ experience has given it a certain reputation of being a tad bit intimidating. Though the legends of Spaggies’ toxicity can be exaggerated, it’s certainly not the best place to go if you’re relatively new to DayZ and are seeking tutelage. The Spaggies mindset is that you’re left to your own accord—no one will tell you how to play, for better or worse.

The Struggle

Formerly known as The Struggle Bus, this server provides the vanilla DayZ experience without the supporting reputational baggage of Spaggies. Besides a couple of minor tweaks, most notably the ability to build anywhere on the map, The Struggle is as vanilla as vanilla gets.

Livonia fans will be disappointed by the map’s absence from the roster, but Chernarus and Sekhal are supported. The Struggle is more open to providing feedback to fairly new players, so if you’re intimidated by the more hardcore nature of Spaggies, this is a quality alternative.

Best hardcore survival DayZ servers

Elden

Elden servers are fitting for advanced DayZ players who are eager to test their survival skills. Covering Chernarus and Sakhal, these servers add some limited yet effective mods to mix up the vanilla setup, including custom spawns, a faster travel system, and regular loot drops.

Sakhal is the more challenging variation of the Elden server, utilizing an intricate underground base-building system and placing additional weight on tactical raids and managing the harsh weather and terrain on the map. Elden is a decent step up from vanilla servers. You should definitely try it out if you’re looking for more of a challenge.

IntenZ

If Elden is a step up in difficulty, IntenZ is the final boss. Everything on these servers is ramped up to make your odds of survival slimmer. Enemies, including infected and other players, are more dangerous, the weather cycle is more severe than in the roughest regions of Sibir, frequent fogs obscure your vision, making you more vulnerable to hazards, loot and resources are hard to find and near impossible to stack, and so on. You get the picture.

There’s a reason IntenZ is the poster child for hardcore survival in DayZ, but all of these obstacles placed in front of the player aren’t there to make your life miserable. Well, they kind of are, but IntenZ will also drown you in immersion and make you feel like you’re in a doomed situation like no other server can, without going so overboard to make the server unplayable. If you want the ultimate DayZ challenge, choose IntenZ.

Best vanilla plus DayZ servers

KarmaKrew

KarmaKrew servers are easy to get into because of their sheer number and variety. You can play on several maps, including more obscure ones like Namalsk and Alteria, often incorporating different vanilla plus experiences. Console users should be particularly excited about KarmaKrew as they host Chernarus and Sakhal servers on PlayStation and Xbox too.

As for the gameplay, the setups vary from server to server, but you can expect a mixture of custom events, spawns, and locations, loot balancing, base building challenges, dynamic weather, etc.

DayOne

DayOne has its own variations on standard vanilla plus DayZ features like custom spawns, loot balancing, access to weapons and resources, and base building. In fact, the latter is the outstanding feature of DayOne servers, in that it doesn’t exist. No base building changes your entire approach to playing DayZ, and is apparently a very appealing concept, considering the server’s popularity.

You can pick from several maps, including hardcore survival Namalsk, which may lead you to believe there’s always room available for new players. Couldn’t be further from the truth—DayOne servers are some of the hardest to get into, with queues regularly taking upwards of 20 minutes to clear.

You can try to join around server restarts to get ahead of the curve, but always having to do that can be understandably limiting, if not outright impossible for some players. As inconvenient as long queue times can be, at least you know you’re lining up for a quality experience.

Best modded DayZ servers

Underground

Underground is a very vibrant server that allows the players to create their own experience. Underground encourages “organic roleplay”, which is their way of saying there aren’t any strict rules to follow besides not being a cheater or a prick in general. This unlocks the potential of annoying moments like getting killed on sight or enemies camping around spawn points, but thankfully, the admins are sensible enough to recognize outright abusive patterns and deal with them accordingly.

The positive side of organic roleplay is the complete freedom to play however you like. Though Underground is heavy on the roleplaying elements, including its own lore, factions, and custom items, no player is forced to roleplay. If you don’t care about that part of the game, you needn’t engage with it, although you will miss out on many of the Underground charm.

The Lab

The Lab is a heavily modified role-playing server. It’s basically a different game with its own systems, NPCs, quests, and mechanics that happens to take place in and use the engine of DayZ. The defining feature of The Lab is the keycard system that plays a huge role in progression and unlocking certain events and destinations.

You can join The Lab after you’ve explored all that vanilla and vanilla plus servers have to offer and want to check out something new and different within the DayZ world. The server is also fitting for players who aren’t in love with DayZ as a game but are intrigued by its setting and premise.

How to join a DayZ community server

Joining a community server in DayZ is easy and can be done from within the game itself. First, open the Servers menu within the DayZ launcher and go to the Community tab. You will see a long list of servers of all types and on various maps. Hovering over a server will prop up a red Join button. Click on it and select “Setup DLCs and Mods and Join” when the option appears. This will make sure that any files you may need to play on that server are downloaded beforehand. It’s a streamlined process that does all the hard work for you.

Once the downloads are complete, you will automatically join the server unless you’re still way back in the queue. There is the option to download the necessary mods without being forced to immediately join the server upon completion—simply click the Close button after the download commences. Don’t worry; if you don’t leave the DayZ launcher, the mods will download as normal. The only difference is you won’t have to stick to the screen and wait but can instead join the server manually whenever you’re ready.

What you need to know before joining a DayZ server

Notice that we only recommended community servers despite there being official ones. This is because official DayZ servers don’t have any moderation whatsoever, thus making them more appealing to hackers. Don’t go in with the idea that every other player on official servers is hacking, but in a game where a lot of hard work can be undone instantly, taking that risk is unadvisable.

Another anti-hacker measure you can implement is only joining servers with a moderate number of active players. Hackers usually aim to ruin as many people’s days as they can, making full servers the most obvious targets. This tactic is surprisingly efficient, so if you want to lessen the odds of encountering hackers, you can give it a try.

Finally, not everyone out there has integrity. Instances of copycat servers with identical names to well-established ones trying to bait unsuspecting players aren’t a rarity. The easiest way to avoid ending up in the wrong place is to enter servers via their official websites or by joining their official Discord channels. The latter will also get you in touch with the core community, giving you the chance to feel out the server’s player base in advance and find out more about server rules.

Whether you’re just getting into DayZ or you are a seasoned veteran looking for new adventures, this active community has you covered. Finding your favorite DayZ server is its own journey, and we encourage you to give as many of these a chance as time and patience permits you—you never know something is appealing to you until you try it.