DayZ Expansion server: modules and traders

DayZ Expansion is a family of server-and-client mods that adds traders and a market, safe zones, spawn selection, territory and base-building changes, groups, a map with markers, AI, missions, quests and vehicles. It installs in a fixed order: Community Framework and Dabs Framework first, then the Expansion core and licensed packages, then either the Bundle (everything) or the individual modules you want, all in -mod= with their keys. You then replace your mission folder with Expansion's mission files for your map, start once on clean persistence so the mod writes its settings, and configure it through JSON files in your profiles folder and in the mission. Plan for more memory and disk than vanilla, and plan for the fact that Expansion turns DayZ into a different game - which is the point, but it is not something you bolt on halfway through a wipe.

The basics of DayZ mods - keys, -mod=, Workshop downloads - are in the full DayZ server guide. This post is Expansion specifically.

What Expansion is made of#

Expansion is published as several Workshop items rather than one, so that servers can take only what they want. The pieces fall into three groups.

The modules you will see on the Workshop include Market (traders and currency), Vehicles (helicopters, boats and more), AI (patrols and NPCs), Missions (dynamic events such as airdrops), Navigation (map and markers), Book (the in-game information book), Groups (parties), Base Building and Territories, Spawn Selection, Quests, Hardline (reputation) and Personal Storage. The exact list changes as the team reorganises; the Workshop pages and the project's wiki are the current reference.

The Bundle includes the common modules in one item. It is the easy choice and the usual one for a server that wants the full Expansion experience. Individual modules make sense when you want, say, traders and safe zones but not Expansion's vehicles or AI - every module you leave out is less for players to download and less for the server to run.

Requirements and resource usage#

Expansion is not a light mod. Every module runs server-side scripts, the market tracks stock, and AI patrols are simulated characters with all the cost that implies.

• CPU is still the limit that players feel first, through server FPS. Enable logAverageFps in serverDZ.cfg and watch it; the key is explained in serverDZ.cfg explained. AI is the largest controllable cost.
• Memory grows with module count and with persistence. The market's stock and every placed trader object live in memory too.
• Disk: the Expansion items together are several gigabytes on top of the base server, and any map you run it on adds its own. Keep headroom for logs and for the backups you will take before every update.

Installing, in order#

Do this on a stopped server, with a backup, and ideally at a wipe.

1. Download the Workshop items for CF, Dabs Framework, Expansion Core, Expansion Licensed and either the Bundle or your chosen modules, and place each in the server root as an @ folder. The Workshop client app id for downloads is 221100.
2. Copy every key. Each item has a keys folder with a .bikey. All of them go into the server's keys folder. A missing one produces a BattlEye signature kick at the loading screen.
3. Set the mod line in dependency order. Frameworks first, Expansion base next, content last. The example below shows the shape.

-mod=@CF;@Dabs Framework;@DayZ-Expansion-Core;@DayZ-Expansion-Licensed;@DayZ-Expansion-Bundle

Folder names are whatever you named the folders. Names with spaces need the whole parameter quoted on a hand-written launch line, and are easier on Linux if you rename them without spaces. Check the order against the Expansion wiki for your version; when a dependency moves, the wiki is updated first. Then carry on:

1. Install the mission files. Expansion needs its own mission for your map - see the next section.
2. Start on clean persistence. Point the server at the new mission, which has its own empty storage, or clear the storage of the mission you are converting.
3. Let it write its settings. The first start creates the ExpansionMod folder in your profiles directory and the Expansion settings in the mission. Stop the server once it is fully up.
4. Configure, then start again. Edit the JSON with the server stopped, validate it, start, read the log.

Mission files#

Expansion's features need hooks in the mission: its own init.c, economy entries for its items, positions for its events and objects, and mission-side settings. The team publishes ready mission folders per map in a public repository linked from the wiki; take the one for your map rather than adapting a vanilla mission by hand.

class Missions{    class DayZ    {        template = "Expansion.ChernarusPlus";    };};

Use whatever folder name your download actually has - the line above is an example of the pattern, and the case must match exactly. On a community map, use Expansion's mission for that map if one exists; otherwise you are merging two missions by hand, which is possible but is a project in itself. The general map-change process is in running Deer Isle or Namalsk.

If you already had economy changes of your own, keep them in a custom folder registered in the mission's cfgeconomycore.xml, exactly as you would on vanilla. The DayZ types.xml guide covers custom ce folders. That way the next Expansion mission release can be dropped in and your folder survives.

Where the settings live#

Expansion splits its settings into two places, and knowing which file is where saves a lot of searching.

The logic of the split is that anything tied to coordinates - where safe zones are, where people spawn, where traders stand - belongs to the mission, and everything else belongs to the server profile. That means a server can change map and keep its market, but its safe zones and traders have to be redone for the new terrain.

Every settings file carries a version number, and Expansion migrates older files when it updates. The project's own advice is to review your settings after every Expansion update. In practice: back up the ExpansionMod folder and the mission's expansion folder before updating, then compare after the first start.

Editing a dozen interlinked JSON files by hand is error-prone. The community tool DayZeEditor exists specifically to manage Expansion settings and mission economy files, and is worth trying if you run a large market. Whatever you use, validate JSON before you restart; a trailing comma in one file can stop that whole module from loading.

Traders and the market#

Traders are the module most servers install Expansion for, and they have three parts that have to agree.

Market categories in ExpansionMod/Market/ define groups of items with prices and stock. Each item entry names a class and a range of prices and stock levels - the price moves between its minimum and maximum as stock falls and rises, which is how Expansion models supply and demand. The exact field names have changed between versions, so open the files Expansion generated for you and edit those rather than pasting an example from an old guide.

Traders in ExpansionMod/Traders/ are named JSON files that list which categories (and optionally which individual items) a trader deals in, and whether each is buy, sell or both. A weapons trader, a vehicle trader and a general store are three files.

Trader NPCs are placed in the world by .map files in the mission's expansion/traders/ folder, one line per NPC:

ExpansionTraderDenis.Weapons|11833.576 140.605 12469.492|110 0 0|Jeans_Blue,TSHirt_Blue

The line reads as: NPC class, a dot, the name of a trader file (without .json), then position, orientation and the clothing and gear the NPC wears, with attachments joined by +. The trader file name links the NPC to ExpansionMod/Traders/Weapons.json. A typo there gives you a trader who stands in the world and sells nothing.

Trader zones - the areas whose stock is shared between the traders inside them - and the safe zones around trader camps are mission-side settings, because they are coordinates. A trader camp on a PvP server without a working safe zone is a killing field within a day.

Pricing is the part that decides whether the economy works. Two rules of thumb:

• Sell prices well below buy prices. If players can buy an item and sell it back for nearly the same price, loops appear. The spread is your inflation control.
• Control the money supply at the source. Currency enters the world through loot, missions and selling. If everyone is rich after a week, look at what the traders buy, not at what they sell.

AI, missions and other modules worth configuring#

• AI patrols and NPCs are set in the server's AI settings and the mission's patrol and location files. Each patrol is a group of simulated characters; add them deliberately and measure server FPS after each change. A map with AI at every military base is a different game and a different CPU budget from one with a few roaming groups.
• Missions such as airdrops and contaminated zones are timed events with their own loot. Their frequency is the main knob.
• Spawn selection lets players choose a spawn point from a list on death. It changes the pace of PvP a lot; decide as a community whether fresh spawns should be able to pick the coast next to their base.
• Territories and base building replace or extend vanilla territory rules. Their limits (objects per territory, territory radius, members) are a performance setting as much as a gameplay one.
• Notifications can schedule restart warnings and server messages, overlapping with vanilla's messages.xml. Use one or the other, not both.

Admin tools alongside Expansion#

Expansion is not an admin tool. Most Expansion servers also run Community Online Tools or VPP Admin Tools, plus BattlEye RCon for moderation from outside the game. COT is the common pairing because it is also built on CF. Load the admin mod after the frameworks and before or alongside the Expansion content, with its key copied like any other. Setup, permissions and ban workflow are in DayZ admin tools and BattlEye RCon.

Updating Expansion safely#

Expansion updates often, and DayZ patches break it until the team rebuilds. A routine that avoids most bad evenings:

1. Do not auto-update on patch day. When DayZ updates, wait until Expansion and every other mod on your list has been updated for the new build.
2. Back up first: the ExpansionMod folder in profiles, the mission folder with its expansion subfolder, and the storage folder. Lock that backup so rotation cannot remove it.
3. Update all mod folders and keys together. A new Expansion version may ship new keys; copy them all again.
4. Start once and read the log. Settings migrations are logged. Errors naming a JSON file are usually a field that changed.
5. Compare settings with your backup and re-apply anything the migration reset.

If an update goes wrong, restore and wait rather than debugging on a live server. What to do when a mod update breaks has the full routine, and keeping a modded server clean covers keeping a mod list from rotting over time. On RE:NODE a backup can be locked against rotation and restored with a button, and an in-browser editor with syntax highlighting makes the JSON edits less error-prone.

Troubleshooting#

Players are kicked with a signature error. A key is missing from keys, often for Dabs Framework or the Licensed item, which people forget because they never think of them as "the mod". Copy every key again.

The server stops at start with script errors. Load order is wrong, a dependency is missing, or a mod is out of date for the current game build. Read the first errors in the .RPT log; they name the mod.

Traders stand there but sell nothing. The trader file name in the .map line does not match a file in ExpansionMod/Traders/, or that file's categories do not exist in ExpansionMod/Market/.

Settings changes do nothing. You edited while the server was running and it wrote its own copy back, or the JSON failed to parse and Expansion used defaults. Stop, edit, validate, start.

Ghost items and broken bases after installing. Expansion was added to existing persistence. Restore the backup or wipe.

Server FPS drops as the evening goes on. AI and missions. Reduce patrol counts, check how many mission events overlap, and restart on a schedule.

FAQ#

Do I need the whole Expansion Bundle?

No. The Bundle is the simplest install, but individual modules let you take only what you use - for example market and safe zones without Expansion's AI or vehicles. Every module needs the shared dependencies and Expansion Core.

What is Dabs Framework and why is it required?

It is a shared library that Expansion depends on, like Community Framework. Both must be loaded before Expansion, and both keys must be in the server's keys folder.

Can I use Expansion on Deer Isle or Namalsk?

Yes, if there is an Expansion mission for that map or you merge one yourself. Coordinate-based settings - traders, safe zones, spawns, AI patrols - have to be made for that terrain.

Where are the trader prices set?

In the market category files in profiles/ExpansionMod/Market/. Each item has price and stock ranges; the trader files in ExpansionMod/Traders/ decide which categories each trader handles.

Do I need to wipe to install Expansion?

It is strongly advised. Expansion changes base building, territories and vehicles, and old persistence causes ghost items and start-up errors. Install it at a wipe on clean storage.

Why did my settings change after an update?

Expansion migrates settings files to new versions on start, which can reset or add fields. Back up the settings folders before updating and compare afterwards.