Enable build anywhere on a DayZ PC server

By Niko Catarino

Updated 8 October 2026

To relax vanilla building restrictions, enable cfggameplay.json in the server configuration, then change the relevant flags under BaseBuildingData. Placement and construction use separate checks. You may see a green fence-kit preview and still be unable to finish the fence.

This guide covers a DayZ Standalone PC server you administer. Start with a working server and a backup. A base-building mod can impose additional rules.

Find the active mission and gameplay file

Inspect Expansion restrictions through BaseBuilding territory configuration. Test its safe-zone, membership and zone conditions apart from the native gameplay edits below.

1. Read the startup -config argument and open that configuration file.
2. Find the mission template under class Missions. For vanilla Chernarus, the mission directory is commonly mpmissions/dayzOffline.chernarusplus/; use your server’s selected mission.
3. Stop the server and download its cfggameplay.json and active server configuration. Save untouched copies outside the live mission.
4. If the mission has no gameplay file, obtain the default for the matching map and game build. Keep the complete file, including its version and unrelated settings.

Bohemia’s gameplay settings reference requires this setting in the active server configuration:

enableCfgGameplayFile = 1;

Enabling this file also activates its other gameplay settings. Before activation, check GeneralData.disableBaseDamage, GeneralData.disableContainerDamage, PlayerData.disablePersonalLight and WorldsData.lightingConfig against your intended raid and lighting rules. The JSON loading rules let those values replace the corresponding native server settings; importing an untouched default file can change those rules along with building.

On managed hosting, use the provider’s supported configuration control and mission-file access. A checkbox in a panel does not confirm that you edited the mission the server starts.

Change the checks you need

Within the existing BaseBuildingData.HologramData, set these fields to true:

"disableIsCollidingBBoxCheck": true,
"disableIsClippingRoofCheck": true,
"disableIsBaseViableCheck": true,
"disableIsInTerrainCheck": true

Within the existing BaseBuildingData.ConstructionData, set:

"disablePerformRoofCheck": true,
"disableIsCollidingCheck": true

These are field edits inside existing objects, not complete JSON files. Preserve the comma rules for each field’s position. Do not add another BaseBuildingData object or replace the entire gameplay file with these fragments.

This starting configuration relaxes collision, roof, base and terrain restrictions. Keep the other checks at their current values, then adjust a specific restriction if your test exposes it. Bohemia also documents angle, height, player-collision and underwater checks; disabling every check can permit placements your server rules would reject. The official Chernarus mission example shows how the two objects fit into the complete file. Use the defaults for your own map and build.

Do not clear underground restrictions, disable player-distance checks or change garden-plot rules as an incidental part of a fence-placement fix. Make those separate decisions and test them with the relevant objects.

Other placement flags

The following fields belong inside BaseBuildingData.HologramData. Setting one to true skips that particular check. Keep the others unchanged so you can identify which restriction affected the placement.

Field	Check skipped when true	What to test
disableIsCollidingPlayerCheck	The preview overlaps a player.	Place with a second player nearby, then confirm neither player is trapped.
disableIsCollidingGPlotCheck	The garden plot’s surface-placement result rejects the position.	Try a garden plot on the intended surface, then check planting and access.
disableIsCollidingAngleCheck	The preview exceeds its allowed pitch or roll.	Test the intended slope and whether the finished object remains usable.
disableIsPlacementPermittedCheck	The preview’s item-specific CanBePlaced check rejects the position.	Test the complete placement action; the action or a mod can make further checks.
disableHeightPlacementCheck	The preview is too far above or below the player’s position.	Compare the same location from two player heights. This is separate from roof clipping.
disableIsUnderwaterCheck	Water checks reject the preview’s position.	Check the finished object and its interactions at the intended water depth.

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These descriptions follow the hologram checks, including their item-specific limits. A permissive preview doesn’t remove every condition on the placement action.

BaseBuildingData.ConstructionData.disableDistanceCheck needs a version check. The mission file contains it, but the minimum-distance test in the reviewed construction helper is commented out. Leave its current value alone; this source does not establish that toggling it changes construction reach in your installed game. Test access to the required construction point instead of treating this field as an unlimited-distance option.

Validate and test placement plus construction

Parse the complete edited file before uploading it. In PowerShell, from the folder containing your downloaded copy:

Get-Content -LiteralPath './cfggameplay.json' -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json | Out-Null

A parse error means the file needs repair. Successful parsing only checks JSON syntax. The game still has to accept each field and load this file.

Upload the file while the server is stopped. Start it, inspect startup logs for gameplay-file errors, then join and perform this test:

1. Place a vanilla fence kit on ordinary open ground as a baseline.
2. Try the previously blocked position, such as a fence close to an existing wall.
3. Add materials and construct the fence sections. Check the gate opens and players can pass through the intended route.
4. Reconnect after another restart and repeat the placement test. Keep a record of the position and result.

Use a disposable test location. A placed object that clips scenery can leave doors, ladders or passages unusable.

Protect bases and containers from damage

Placement permissions and damage protection are separate settings. With the gameplay file enabled, edit the existing fields under GeneralData:

• Set disableBaseDamage to true to disable damage to vanilla fences and watchtowers.
• Set disableContainerDamage to true to disable damage to the supported vanilla containers: tents, barrels, wooden crates and sea chests.

Use JSON booleans, without quotation marks. Preserve the other GeneralData fields. Bohemia lists the supported objects; its entity protection code reads these switches and disables damage on objects that use the corresponding protection type.

On a private test instance, use an empty container and a disposable built fence. Record their condition, validate the JSON and restart, then check the damage methods your rules cover with an ordinary player account. Include existing objects and newly placed ones, and repeat after another restart. Test modded containers and raid tools separately; their authors can supply different behavior.

These switches don’t establish a complete PvE ruleset. Check player damage, dismantling, packing and inventory access separately using the PvE guide. To undo this edit, restore the saved gameplay file and restart. Turning protection off won’t recreate an object already destroyed during testing.

Check an existing BuildAnywhere_v3 installation

Use the vanilla procedure above to relax native fence checks. For a server that uses BuildAnywhere_v3, item 1854626456, the original listing documents version 3.4.26.07.2021.1 and a latest update of 26 July 2021. We haven’t verified compatibility with current DayZ.

Inspect <profiles>/BuildAnywhere.json on that installation. The author requires client and server loading through -mod; this profile file is independent of the mission’s cfggameplay.json. The mod selects restrictions through TENT_CAN_PLACE_ANYWHERE_MODE and uses height-difference, pitch and roll fields for tents or garden plots. Work from the generated file: the listing’s default block differs from its suggested values.

The listing retains restrictions for tents and garden plots, and construction needs access to the object’s trigger points. Test your required tent, garden plot or modded kit. A working vanilla fence won’t tell you how those objects behave. Keep signature verification enabled with the installed package’s matching key. Confirm configuration loading in server logs and settings receipt on the client before making a production change.

If the edit has no effect

Symptom	Check
No placement behavior changes	Confirm enableCfgGameplayFile, the selected mission and the live file’s saved contents.
Kit places, but construction is blocked	Check ConstructionData and any construction rules owned by a mod.
One object remains blocked	Identify its specific placement restriction; vanilla fence behavior does not prove modded-object behavior.
A restart restores the old values	Check whether the hosting panel or deployment process regenerates the file. Edit its supported source.

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Restore both original files to undo the change, then restart and test a fresh placement. You do not need a persistence wipe to change these checks. Restoring restrictions will not relocate objects already built.

For raid protection, use the PvE guide. For clock settings, follow the day and night tutorial.

To place static scenery through a mission JSON file, follow the object-spawner procedure. Those placed objects use a different workflow from a player’s building kit.

Sources and verification

This guide used AI-assisted research and drafting. The native settings follow Bohemia’s mission example and gameplay loader. The original BuildAnywhere_v3 listing was reviewed on 3 October 2026. A preserved DayZ 1.29 Windows startup check read all six printed flags as true and retained two unrelated checks as false; no player joined. Fence placement, gate construction, mod overrides and saved built objects remain untested. This review did not install or run BuildAnywhere_v3.

The additional placement flags and damage switches were checked against the linked Bohemia scripts with AI assistance on 8 October 2026. This was a source review; placement, construction and damage tests on the installed game remain outstanding.