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Change DayZ server time in serverDZ.cfg and weather in the active mission folder’s cfgweather.xml. Stop the server before editing, make the XML valid, restart it, and verify the result in game. Do not edit cfgEconomyCore.xml or types.xml for these settings; those files are not where the time and weather controls described here are defined.

File names and parameter behavior can change between DayZ server versions. The instructions below reflect the documented and community-reported behavior available for this guide, not a guarantee for every 2026 build. Keep an untouched backup so you can roll back if an update changes the configuration format.

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Where DayZ stores the settings

There are two separate configuration locations:

  • Time: serverDZ.cfg, normally in the server’s main configuration directory.
  • Weather: cfgweather.xml in the active mission folder. The folder depends on the map.
Map example Mission-folder path
Chernarus mpmissions/dayzOffline.chernarusplus/cfgweather.xml
Livonia mpmissions/dayzOffline.enoch/cfgweather.xml
Another map Use that map’s active folder under mpmissions; do not edit a similarly named mission that the server is not launching.

A common cause of “nothing changed” is editing a template or an unused mission directory instead of the mission named in the server’s startup configuration. Confirm the map and mission first.

Change the starting time

1. Stop the server and back up the file

  1. Stop the DayZ server cleanly from your host panel, service manager, or console.
  2. Copy serverDZ.cfg to a backup location and keep the original filename available for rollback.
  3. Open the file with a plain-text editor that does not add rich-text formatting.

Editing while the process is running can be overwritten when the server shuts down, and a malformed configuration can prevent startup or make the server fall back to another value.

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2. Set serverTime

The serverTime entry accepts either the literal value SystemTime or a fixed date and time in the form YYYY/MM/DD/HH/MM. For example:

  • serverTime = "SystemTime"; starts the in-game clock from the machine’s local time.
  • serverTime = "2015/4/8/17/23"; starts it at the specified year, month, day, hour and minute.

Preserve the quotation marks and the semicolon used by the surrounding configuration. A fixed value is useful when you want every restart to begin at a known daylight or nighttime point. SystemTime is useful when the server should follow its host machine’s local clock.

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The fixed-date example is a starting point, not a statement that DayZ is limited to that date. Use the same slash-separated order and four time fields shown by the format. If your host machine is configured for an unexpected time zone, SystemTime will follow that machine rather than your personal local time.

3. Control how quickly the clock moves

serverTimeAcceleration is a multiplier for in-game time. A community guide used the value 3 and reported that days ran three times faster, with nights passing in about 45 minutes. That report does not establish a universal valid range or prove that the same night length applies to every current server version, map or configuration.

For example, the setting may appear as:

serverTimeAcceleration = 3;

Increase the multiplier only after confirming that the base time works. A fast clock changes the practical length of daylight, darkness, weather transitions and any gameplay systems tied to in-game time. Record the original value before testing so you can restore it if the cycle becomes too short for your community.

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4. Save, restart and verify

  1. Save serverDZ.cfg without changing its encoding or adding a second extension such as .txt.
  2. Start the server and allow it to finish loading.
  3. Join with an administrator account or a test character and check the sun position, clock display or other in-game time indicator.
  4. Restart once more if you need to confirm that the chosen starting time is applied consistently.

If the server always starts at night despite a fixed serverTime, treat that as a compatibility problem rather than immediately changing unrelated files. An older forum report described serverTime being ignored after an update, but that report does not show that the same defect exists in the current build. Check the server log, verify that you edited the active serverDZ.cfg, and test a minimal change with no other configuration edits.

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Change weather with cfgweather.xml

Understand the weather file

Weather is read from the cfgweather.xml inside the active mission folder. The file controls weather components separately. The existing XML blocks provide a current or starting value, minimum and maximum limits, time limits, and change limits for components such as:

  • Overcast
  • Rain
  • Fog
  • Wind

The exact values already present in your file are safer to preserve than a complete replacement copied from an unrelated map or server version. Keep the element names and nesting intact; change only the values you intend to test.

Enable the file

The root weather configuration must have enable set to 1. If it is disabled, DayZ ignores the file and applies default weather instead. In the existing root element, look for the enable switch and set it to the enabled value without deleting the surrounding attributes.

Community documentation describes enable and reset as boolean-style switches. Some files display them as numeric values such as 1 and 0; follow the representation already used by your file rather than mixing formats casually.

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Force a reload when testing

Set reset="1" temporarily when a restart does not appear to read your edits. A forum header note says reset is false by default, while a hosting workflow recommends enabling it to force a reload on boot. Restart after changing it, then check the weather in game.

Once you have confirmed that the intended file is being loaded, you can restore the previous reset value and test again. Keep a backup of both versions. The purpose of the temporary change is to distinguish “the file was not reloaded” from “the weather values do not produce the result I expected.”

Make clear weather more likely

To bias a server toward clear conditions, lower the maximum limits for overcast and rain and keep the fog maximum low. The same approach can be applied to wind if strong wind is undesirable. In each component’s existing block:

  1. Find the limits section and identify the current max value.
  2. Reduce the maximum to the highest level you are willing to allow.
  3. Review the current value and change limits so they do not immediately push the component back above that ceiling.
  4. Save the XML and restart with reset="1" if the old weather persists.

Do not remove the time-limit or change-limit elements simply to make the file shorter. They govern how long weather can remain in a state and how quickly it can move between states. Deleting a required element or breaking the nesting can make the game reject the file and return to default weather.

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Use the right winter-map expectation

Snow is a weather feature of the winter map Sakhal. Changing the overcast, rain, fog or wind blocks on another map will not create Sakhal-style snow. Conversely, a configuration that appears to have no rain effect on Sakhal may still be working correctly if the visible precipitation is governed by the map’s winter conditions rather than the rain values you changed.

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A safe editing workflow

  1. Identify the active map. Confirm whether the server is loading Chernarus, Livonia, Sakhal or another mission.
  2. Stop the process. Do not edit while the server is writing its configuration or saving its world state.
  3. Back up both files. Save copies of serverDZ.cfg and the active mission’s cfgweather.xml.
  4. Change one category at a time. Test time before weather, or weather before time, so a failed result has a clear cause.
  5. Validate the XML. Check matching opening and closing tags, quoted attribute values and a single root element. A broken tag can cause default weather to be used.
  6. Set the reload switch for diagnosis. Use reset="1" for the restart if the server appears to retain old weather.
  7. Restart fully. Wait for the server to finish loading instead of reconnecting during a partial restart.
  8. Verify in game. Observe the time and weather for long enough to distinguish a transition from a permanent setting.
  9. Document the working values. Record the map, server version, date and each changed parameter before making another adjustment.
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Why weather settings appear not to work

The wrong mission file was edited

Mission names are map-specific. An edit to dayzOffline.chernarusplus/cfgweather.xml has no effect if the server is launching the Livonia mission. Confirm the active mission path in the host panel or startup command and edit that exact file.

enable is off

When enable is not set to 1, the file is ignored and default weather applies. Check the root element before adjusting individual overcast or rain values.

The file was not reloaded

Old weather can remain after a restart if the server did not reload the values you changed. Set reset="1", restart, and test again. If that works, compare the backup with the live file and make sure the host panel is not restoring a template during deployment.

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XML syntax is invalid

A missing closing tag, an unquoted value or an accidental character can make the configuration unusable. Validate the file with an XML-aware editor or validator before starting the server. If weather immediately returns to defaults after a syntax change, restore the backup and reapply one small edit at a time.

Weather drifts to maximum overcast, fog, rain and wind

Forum users have reported a failure mode in which enabled weather eventually sits at 100% overcast, fog, rain and wind. One report said the behavior stopped after reset was enabled. Use that as a diagnostic step, not as proof of a universal bug. Recheck every component’s maximum and change limits, then restart with the active mission file loaded.

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Another forum discussion proposed that a vanilla overcast target of 0.45 is close to a rain threshold of 0.5, causing weather to hover around the boundary. This is an unverified community theory, not an established DayZ rule. Do not treat those numbers as guaranteed defaults for your server version.

Scripted weather is overriding the file

Some administrators have tried to control weather from init.c. Community discussions also say weather state is stored in events.bin, and that negative values did not work in their tests. These reports are unresolved and do not provide a version-independent recipe. If you have custom mission scripts, disable or review them while testing the XML so two control paths are not competing.

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Time and weather settings at a glance

Setting Location What it controls Important qualification
serverTime serverDZ.cfg Starting in-game clock Use SystemTime or a quoted YYYY/MM/DD/HH/MM value.
serverTimeAcceleration serverDZ.cfg Speed of the in-game clock Value 3 was reported by one community guide; a universal valid range was not confirmed.
enable Root of active cfgweather.xml Whether the file is used Set to 1; otherwise default weather applies.
reset Root of active cfgweather.xml Reload behavior at startup 1 is recommended temporarily when testing a file that appears ignored; forum notes describe false as the default.
Overcast, rain, fog, wind limits Matching component blocks in cfgweather.xml Allowed weather range and transition behavior Each block has values, limits, time limits and change limits. Preserve the file’s structure.

What not to change

  • cfgEconomyCore.xml: It is not the documented location for the server clock or weather controls described here.
  • types.xml: It is not the documented location for these settings either.
  • Inactive mission templates: A correctly edited file has no effect if the server launches another map or mission.
  • Random XML structure: Do not replace the whole file with a snippet whose element names, attributes or nesting come from another DayZ version.

Practical configuration strategies

Fixed opening time for scheduled events

Use a fixed serverTime value when every restart should begin at the same in-game moment—for example, before a community event. Keep serverTimeAcceleration at the value your players are accustomed to unless the event specifically needs a faster cycle.

Real-time-based starts

Use SystemTime when the server should start from the host machine’s local clock. Verify the host’s time zone and daylight-saving configuration first; otherwise players may see a start time that differs from the administrator’s wall clock.

Mostly clear survival server

Enable the weather file, keep fog’s maximum low, and reduce the overcast and rain maximums in their existing blocks. Leave transition limits intact so the server can still move between conditions rather than snapping unpredictably.

Weather experimentation

Change one component at a time, use reset="1" during the test restart, and observe the result over a complete transition. Record the original values before each experiment, because a weather state that looks clear immediately after boot may later move toward the configured limits.

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Version and evidence limits

No official Bohemia Interactive community-wiki confirmation or 2026-dated documentation was available for the parameter ranges, defaults or every reported failure mode covered here. The file locations and basic switches are described by third-party hosting guides and community forum reports, some of which are years old. If a current server build ignores a setting, trust the active build’s logs and configuration templates over an old example, and avoid assuming that an undocumented range or default still applies.

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