DayZ barely explains its controls, and several of the most important ones are not shown on screen. Learn these early — fumbling a vault or failing to raise your weapon in a fight gets people killed.
The controls that matter most
- Move — stick/WASD; tap the sprint input (default double-tap forward or a held modifier) to run; it drains stamina.
- Stance — crouch and prone cut your noise and visibility; essential for staying hidden.
- Raise weapon — a dedicated input readies your gun or fists; you cannot fire until it is up.
- Interact / use — pick up, open doors, operate things. On PC the context action scroll (mouse wheel) picks the action, confirmed with the use key.
- Inventory — the Tab/menu button; drag items between your hands, clothing and containers.
- Vault/climb — get over fences and walls; a missed vault at speed can break your legs.
- Free-look — hold the look key to glance around without turning, so you can watch your flanks while running.
Rebinding and console layouts
On PC every key is rebindable in the options — worth doing for stance, raise weapon and free-look. On console the layout is fixed to preset schemes, with radial menus for gestures and quick actions; spend a few minutes in the options matching look sensitivity and aim settings to your controller.
