DayZ globals.xml Editor

What globals.xml controls

globals.xml holds the server-wide settings of DayZ's central economy (CE), the system that spawns and cleans up loot, infected and animals. It sets the infected and animal caps, cleanup times, login and logout timers and loot damage. Where the types.xml decides how much of each item spawns, globals.xml sets the rules that apply to all of them.

Each setting is one line, such as <var name="ZombieMaxCount" type="0" value="1000"/>. Change only the value. type="0" means a whole number and type="1" a decimal number written with a dot, such as 0.5. Times are in seconds, so 3600 is one hour and 14400 four hours.

Every globals.xml setting explained

Infected and animals

ZombieMaxCount Max infected

Most infected alive on the map at once.

AnimalMaxCount Max animals

Most animals alive on the map at once.

ZoneSpawnDist Zone activation distance (metres)

Infected and animal zones within this many meters of a player are active.

Loot

InitialSpawn Loot on a fresh start (percent)

Percent of loot spawned on a fresh start (empty storage).

RestartSpawn Loot respawned at restart (percent)

Percent of loot respawned at a restart.

SpawnInitial Items per pass while filling

Items spawned per pass while the map first fills up.

RespawnAttempt Respawn attempts

Loot respawn tuning: attempts per item.

RespawnLimit Respawn limit per type

Loot respawn tuning: most items of one type per cycle.

RespawnTypes Respawn types per cycle

Loot respawn tuning: most item types per cycle.

LootSpawnAvoidance No loot near players within (metres)

Loot does not spawn within this many meters of a player.

LootProxyPlacement Loot on shelves and spots (1 on, 0 off)

On (1): loot is placed on shelves and other spots in buildings.

LootDamageMin Lowest loot damage (0 to 1)

Least damage spawned loot can have, 0 (pristine) to 1 (ruined).

LootDamageMax Highest loot damage (0 to 1)

Most damage spawned loot can have, 0 (pristine) to 1 (ruined).

Cleanup

CleanupLifetimeDefault Default item lifetime (seconds)

Cleanup time in seconds for items without a lifetime of their own.

CleanupLifetimeDeadPlayer Dead player bodies (seconds)

Seconds before a dead player's body is removed.

CleanupLifetimeDeadInfected Dead infected (seconds)

Seconds before a dead infected is removed.

CleanupLifetimeDeadAnimal Animal carcasses (seconds)

Seconds before an animal carcass is removed.

CleanupLifetimeRuined Ruined items (seconds)

Seconds before ruined items are removed.

CleanupLifetimeLimit Items per cleanup pass

Most items the cleanup handles in one pass.

CleanupAvoidance No cleanup near players within (metres)

Items within this many meters of a player are not cleaned up.

Joining and leaving

TimeLogin Login timer (seconds)

Seconds a player waits when logging in.

TimeLogout Logout timer (seconds)

Seconds a player waits when logging out.

TimePenalty Login penalty (seconds)

Extra login wait in seconds added as a penalty.

TimeHopping Server hopping wait (seconds)

Login wait in seconds for players who switch servers.

Base flags

FlagRefreshFrequency Flag refresh every (seconds)

Seconds between refreshes from a raised territory flag, which keep the base from despawning.

FlagRefreshMaxDuration Flag keeps a base for (seconds)

Longest time in seconds a flag keeps a base alive without being raised again.

World

FoodDecay Food rots (1 on, 0 off)

On (1): food rots over time. Off (0): it does not.

WorldWetTempUpdate Wetness and temperature change (1 on, 0 off)

On (1): world wetness and temperature change over time.

IdleModeCountdown Idle after the last player leaves (seconds)

Seconds after the last player leaves before the economy goes idle.

IdleModeStartup Start idle (1 on, 0 off)

On (1): the economy starts idle until someone joins.

Raise or lower the infected and animal caps

ZombieMaxCount is the most infected alive on the map at once, and AnimalMaxCount the most animals. Raise a value for more, lower it for fewer. These are caps, not targets: where infected and animals appear comes from the dynamic events in events.xml and the territory files in the env folder. A higher cap lets more spawn, but the number you see also depends on those. ZoneSpawnDist is how close, in metres, a player has to be for the infected and animal zones around them to be active.

Every infected and animal is work for the server. How many yours can handle depends on its hardware, the map and how many players are on, so change the caps in small steps and watch for lag after each restart.

Change how loot spawns and respawns

How many of each item the economy keeps on the map is set in types.xml, with nominal and min. The values in globals.xml apply to all loot:

1. RespawnAttempt, RespawnLimit and RespawnTypes tune the loot respawn: attempts per item, the most items of one type per cycle and the most item types per cycle. Higher limits let the economy put back more loot in each cycle.
2. InitialSpawn is the percent of loot spawned on a fresh start, when storage is empty, and RestartSpawn the percent respawned at a restart. SpawnInitial is how many items are spawned per pass while the map first fills up.
3. LootSpawnAvoidance keeps loot from spawning within that many metres of a player.
4. LootDamageMin and LootDamageMax set how damaged new loot can be, from 0 (pristine) to 1 (ruined). Lower LootDamageMax for loot in better condition, and keep the minimum at or below the maximum.

Shorten or lengthen the login and logout timers

TimeLogin is how many seconds a player waits when logging in, and TimeLogout when logging out. TimePenalty adds extra login wait as a penalty, and TimeHopping is the login wait for players who switch servers. Lower TimeLogin for quicker joins. A character stays in the world while the logout timer runs, so a very short TimeLogout makes it easier to leave a fight by logging out.

Edit globals.xml on a Nitrado server

1. Stop the server in the Nitrado web interface.
2. Open the file browser and go to your mission's db folder. On Xbox that is dayzxb_missions/dayzOffline.chernarusplus/db, on PlayStation dayzps_missions/dayzOffline.chernarusplus/db. Livonia uses dayzOffline.enoch and Sakhal dayzOffline.sakhal. The same folder holds types.xml, events.xml, economy.xml and messages.xml.
3. Download globals.xml and keep an untouched copy as a backup.
4. Open it here, change the values you want and fix anything marked as a problem.
5. Download the edited file, upload it over the old one and start the server. Changes apply after a restart.

A small typo, such as a decimal where a whole number belongs, is easy to miss in a text editor, which is why this editor checks every value before you save. On Xbox and PlayStation servers running Law's KillFeed, the dashboard's Server Files page opens, checks and uploads globals.xml for you and keeps the last 15 versions of every file; editing in place is on the paid plan.

Questions