Enter your server's serverTimeAcceleration and serverNightTimeAcceleration to see how long a DayZ day and night last in real time, how much of the time players spend in the dark, and how many in-game days pass between restarts. Everything is worked out in your browser.
Start from a preset
Your settings
How much faster than real time the clock runs, day and night. 1 is real speed.
Extra speed at night only, multiplied by the time acceleration. Below 1 makes nights slower than days.
06:00 to 20:00 is a middle-of-the-year guess. Real sunrise and sunset depend on the map and the in-game date: summer days are longer than winter days. Set the hours it gets light and dark on your server for a closer estimate.
Your restart interval in real hours, to see how much in-game time passes between restarts.
In real time
Fix the marked settings to see the results.
- In-game hours per real hour, by day
- In-game hours per real hour, by night
- Real time spent in darkness
Less than one full in-game day passes between restarts. With serverTimePersistent = 0 and a fixed serverTime, every restart starts at the same hour, so players may never see some parts of the day.
Players can see at least one full day and night between restarts.
serverDZ.cfg lines
Fix the time and night acceleration values to get the lines.
What the time settings do
DayZ servers set the speed of the in-game clock in serverDZ.cfg, the server's main config file. Two settings control it, and two more decide where it starts after a restart:
- serverTimeAcceleration
- How fast in-game time runs compared with real time, all day and all night. 1 is real speed, 6 is six times faster. The BI community wiki lists it as a multiplier from 0.1 to 64. The comment in many serverDZ.cfg files gives 0 to 24, so 24 or below is the safe choice.
- serverNightTimeAcceleration
- An extra multiplier that only applies at night, from 0.1 to 64. It is multiplied by serverTimeAcceleration: with time acceleration 2 and night acceleration 4, nights run 8 times faster than real time while days run 2 times faster.
- serverTime
- The in-game time the server starts at. "SystemTime" uses the local time of the machine. A fixed value in YYYY/MM/DD/HH/MM format, such as 2015/4/8/17/23, also sets the in-game date, and the date changes how long days are.
- serverTimePersistent
- 1 saves the in-game time, so the next start carries on from it. 0 starts from serverTime again after every restart.
How the numbers are worked out
Daylight in real time is the hours between sunrise and sunset divided by serverTimeAcceleration. Night in real time is the remaining hours divided by serverTimeAcceleration times serverNightTimeAcceleration. For example, with sunrise at 06:00, sunset at 20:00 and the values 6 and 4, the 14 hours of daylight take 14 ÷ 6 = 2 h 20 min, and the 10 hours of night take 10 ÷ 24 = 25 min. A full in-game day then lasts 2 h 45 min.
Common DayZ time settings in real time
How long a day and a night last for the values most servers use, with sunrise at 06:00 and sunset at 20:00. The first number is serverTimeAcceleration, the second serverNightTimeAcceleration.
| Time / night | 1 in-game hour | Daylight | Night | Full day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 / 1 | 1 h | 14 h | 10 h | 24 h |
| 2 / 1 | 30 min | 7 h | 5 h | 12 h |
| 2 / 4 | 30 min | 7 h | 1 h 15 min | 8 h 15 min |
| 4 / 1 | 15 min | 3 h 30 min | 2 h 30 min | 6 h |
| 4 / 4 | 15 min | 3 h 30 min | 38 min | 4 h 8 min |
| 6 / 1 | 10 min | 2 h 20 min | 1 h 40 min | 4 h |
| 6 / 4 | 10 min | 2 h 20 min | 25 min | 2 h 45 min |
| 6 / 8 | 10 min | 2 h 20 min | 13 min | 2 h 33 min |
| 8 / 4 | 7 min 30 s | 1 h 45 min | 19 min | 2 h 4 min |
| 12 / 1 | 5 min | 1 h 10 min | 50 min | 2 h |
| 12 / 4 | 5 min | 1 h 10 min | 13 min | 1 h 23 min |
| 24 / 1 | 2 min 30 s | 35 min | 25 min | 1 h |
"1 in-game hour" is during the day. At night, divide it by the night value as well.
Make nights shorter without speeding up days
Leave serverTimeAcceleration as it is and raise serverNightTimeAcceleration. Days keep their length and only nights get shorter. At 1 and 1, a 10-hour night takes 10 real hours. Set the night value to 4 and it takes 2 h 30 min, while daylight still runs at real speed.
Because the night value is multiplied by the time acceleration, changing one changes the other's effect. If you double serverTimeAcceleration and want nights to stay the same length, halve serverNightTimeAcceleration.
The trade-offs
- Faster time lets players who log in at the same hour every day see different times of day. The sun also moves faster, so dawn and dusk pass quickly.
- Very short nights take away the dark that makes night play tense, along with the reason to carry night vision, flares and chemlights. Some groups prefer that, others want proper nights.
- Very long nights, at real speed, keep players who can only play in the evening in the dark for their whole session.
- Short days with long restarts show players everything. Long days with short restarts may not, especially with
serverTimePersistent = 0and a fixedserverTime: every restart starts at the same hour.
Change the time settings on a Nitrado server
- Stop the server in the Nitrado web interface.
- Open your server's settings and find the time acceleration options. The labels may not match the setting names exactly. On a server you host yourself, edit
serverDZ.cfginstead. - Enter the values from the calculator and save.
- Start the server. The server reads its time settings when it starts, so the new speeds apply from then on.
Most servers restart every few hours. The restart schedule guide covers restarts on a timer and an in-game countdown with messages.xml, which the messages.xml generator builds for you. On Xbox and PlayStation servers running Law's KillFeed, the dashboard's Server Files page opens, checks and uploads mission files such as messages.xml, keeps the last 15 versions of every file, and edits them in place on the paid plan.
Questions
How long is a DayZ day in real time?
With serverTimeAcceleration = 1 and serverNightTimeAcceleration = 1, time runs at real speed, so a full in-game day takes 24 real hours. Divide 24 by the time acceleration for other speeds: at 6, a full day takes 4 real hours before nights are sped up on top.
How long is one DayZ hour in real time?
During the day, one in-game hour lasts 60 real minutes divided by serverTimeAcceleration: 60 minutes at 1, 15 minutes at 4 and 10 minutes at 6. At night it is divided by serverNightTimeAcceleration as well, so with 6 and 4 a night hour lasts 2.5 real minutes.
How long is night in DayZ?
Take the in-game hours from dark to light and divide them by serverTimeAcceleration times serverNightTimeAcceleration. Eight dark hours with 4 and 4 last 30 real minutes; at 1 and 1 they last a full 8 real hours. The number of dark hours changes with the map and the in-game date.
Does serverNightTimeAcceleration speed up the whole day?
No. It only applies at night, and it is multiplied by serverTimeAcceleration. With time acceleration 2 and night acceleration 4, nights run 8 times faster than real time and days 2 times faster.
What values do the two settings accept?
The BI community wiki lists both as multipliers from 0.1 to 64, with the night value multiplied by serverTimeAcceleration. The comment in many serverDZ.cfg files gives 0 to 24 for serverTimeAcceleration, so keep it at 24 or below to be safe.
Why don't sunrise and sunset match the calculator?
The game works out the sun from the map and the in-game date, so summer days are longer than winter days. Enter the hours it gets light and dark on your server for the closest estimate.
Do I need to restart the server after changing the settings?
Yes. The server reads its time settings when it starts, so the new speeds apply after the next restart.
Does the in-game time carry over between restarts?
Only when serverTimePersistent is 1. The server then saves its time and carries on from it. With 0, it starts from serverTime after every restart: the machine's local time with "SystemTime", or the fixed date and time you set.
More free tools
types.xml Editor
Search, edit and bulk-change the loot in your types.xml, with common mistakes flagged before you upload it.
types.xml Compare
Put two types.xml files side by side and see which items were added, removed or changed.
Loot Flags Editor
Usages, tiers, categories and tags from cfglimitsdefinition.xml with how many items use each, and the misspelt flags in types.xml.
Loot Multiplier
Double the guns, halve the food or boost military loot: scale types.xml by group in one click.
cfgspawnabletypes Generator
Pick the attachments, magazines and cargo an item spawns with, set chances or presets and merge them into your file.
cfgrandompresets.xml Editor
Edit the loot presets cfgspawnabletypes draws from, add items from the item library and see where each one is used.
Vehicle Builder
Choose the wheels, doors and engine parts cars spawn with, or make every car ready to drive.
events.xml Editor
Change vehicles, helicopter crashes, animals and infected event by event, or scale a whole group at once.
Event Spawn Positions
See where cars, helicopter crashes and wrecks spawn in cfgeventspawns.xml on the map, then add, move or delete positions.
Heli Crash Loot Builder
Set how many helicopter crashes spawn, which wrecks and how much loot, and pick the crash loot from the item library.
Zombie Horde Generator
Place infected hordes on the map, set how many spawn and which types, and download zombie_territories.xml.
cfggameplay.json Editor
Change base damage, stamina, building checks, hit indicators and map options with switches instead of JSON.
globals.xml Editor
Infected and animal caps, cleanup times, login timers and loot damage, with every value explained.
cfgweather.xml Editor
Set clouds, fog, rain, wind and lightning with sliders, or turn off fog and rain in one click.
Contaminated Zone Editor
See the gas zones in cfgEffectArea.json on the map, then add, move, resize or remove them.
Player Restricted Area Builder
Draw no-go boxes on the map and set where trespassers are moved to, and get the area file for cfggameplay.json.
Spawn Point Editor
See fresh, hop and travel spawn points from cfgplayerspawnpoints.xml on the map, then add, move or delete them.
Object Spawner Builder
Place buildings and props on the map with their height and rotation, and get the JSON for objectSpawnersArr. No mods needed.
Map Coordinates
Click the map for X, Z, the grid square and height, measure distances, and paste coordinates from files or logs to see them.
messages.xml Generator
Build welcome messages, repeating notices and restart countdowns for your server and download the file.
Spawn Loadout Generator
Pick the starting clothes and items for fresh spawns and get a loadout file ready for cfggameplay.json.
DayZ File Checker
Paste or open any DayZ XML or JSON file and find the exact line that would stop your server reading it.
