How to install DayZ Expansion on a PC server

By Niko Catarino

Updated 3 October 2026

To install DayZ Expansion, choose the features you want, install the matching Workshop packages and dependencies, then configure the active mission. A server that loads the mods still needs separate checks for client admission, natural loot and traders.

This procedure covers DayZ Steam PC with VXPanel or a self-managed server. Xbox and PlayStation servers cannot load these Steam Workshop packages. For a first installation, start with one feature. The example below installs Expansion Market with its required frameworks and Core; add other modules after that installation passes its checks.

Prepare a stopped test copy

Start with a server that accepts a client join before adding Expansion. Keep its build, map, launch parameters, mission and installed-mod list in your change record. Follow PC server setup if that baseline is missing.

Take a stopped backup of the active mission, saved world, profiles and mod data. Rehearse on a separate instance with separate persistence. Installing a framework into an existing world can introduce storage compatibility requirements. Review the framework’s current migration instructions before using a live save.

Locate the active mission from the server’s selected template, and resolve the profiles directory from its launch settings. Do not assume that a directory named profile, sc or config is the one this service uses.

If this is the world’s first CF installation, CF’s author requires a server wipe before installing it. Rehearse with a fresh test world and plan the live change with a recoverable backup. Loading the frameworks does not migrate a saved vanilla world.

Choose modules before downloading

The Expansion installation reference supports individual modules or the Bundle. Core is a foundation package; it does not supply every Expansion feature.

For the Market example, the author’s Workshop page lists these requirements:

Package	Workshop ID	Job in this installation
CF	1559212036	Required framework.
Dabs Framework	2545327648	Required framework.
DayZ-Expansion-Core	2291785308	Expansion foundation.
DayZ-Expansion-Market	2572328470	Market system.

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Check the required-item list again when installing. Keep the packages on the same supported release branch; an Experimental item is a different choice from the stable item linked here.

If you want the broader suite, use the Bundle author’s package and its required items. At this review it lists CF, Dabs Framework and Expansion-Licensed. Licensed is a separate package. Avoid loading the Bundle alongside individual packages that duplicate its modules. Expansion-Animations is optional in the installation reference; read its requirements before adding it.

Install in VXPanel

1. Stop the test service and open Mods.
2. Search by Workshop ID. Open the Steam link to confirm the publisher and package.
3. Choose Install for each client-required package. If the panel reports dependencies, use Install all required mods, then compare the result with the author’s list.
4. Wait until each package appears under Installed mods. Check the client scope and load order.
5. Put the frameworks before Core, and Core before Market. Keep the documented order of any other mods you retain.

The VXPanel Mods reference describes those controls. Update catalog refreshes Workshop metadata, and Check updates compares timestamps. Neither action installs an update. Confirm your service’s update workflow before relying on a restart to refresh files.

Use Files and SFTP for the mission edits below. Let the panel manage its mod bindings; a second hand-written launch list can drift from the installed list.

Install on a self-managed server

Copy complete Workshop package folders into your server directory, and deploy their .bikey files into the server’s root keys/ directory. Keep verifySignatures = 2 enabled. The general mod installation guide covers transfers, permissions and signing keys.

For folders named as shown, the Market-only loading argument is:

"-mod=@CF;@Dabs Framework;@DayZ-Expansion-Core;@DayZ-Expansion-Market"

Add that argument to the working launch command while retaining its config, ports, mission selection and profiles path. Use the exact installed folder names, including spaces and case. These packages belong in the client-required mod list, rather than -serverMod=.

Launch through the command or service that uses this argument. Starting the server through another shortcut can use a different mod list. Check the actual launch line in that run’s RPT; redact credentials and private paths before sharing it. Copying folders and keys alone does not load the packages.

For a Bundle installation, follow the author’s Bundle loading example and its separate Licensed dependency. Do not append the Market-only list above to a Bundle installation. On a Linux deployment, verify package support and preserve case in every referenced path.

Merge the files for the features you installed

Download the current Expansion mission templates. Read README_TUTORIAL.txt, choose the template for your terrain and review its contents against the modules you installed.

For Expansion items, vehicles or weapons that you want in the economy, the template provides an expansion_ce/ directory. Copy the needed files into the active mission and merge their registrations into its existing cfgeconomycore.xml. For a matching installation that supplies all the registered classes, the Chernarus template contains this block:

<ce folder="expansion_ce">
    <file name="expansion_types.xml" type="types" />
    <file name="expansion_spawnabletypes.xml" type="spawnabletypes" />
    <file name="expansion_events.xml" type="events" />
</ce>

Place it before the existing closing </economycore> tag. Keep the rest of the file. Check that each referenced file exists and that its classes belong to loaded packages. Do not register the full suite’s item and vehicle files for a Market-only installation. That example installs trading, not every class in the Bundle’s economy template.

If you add Expansion vehicle events, merge their terrain-specific spawn positions into the existing cfgeventspawns.xml as the README directs. Preserve the surrounding root and existing events. Coordinates from another terrain do not establish usable spawns on your map.

For Market, review the template’s expansion/ content and follow Expansion Market trader setup. NPC placement, market inventories and trader zones have separate files. Copying economy XML does not create a working trader.

Start once and inspect the generated settings

Start the test service with the selected packages and read the logs from that run. Expansion creates settings under ExpansionMod/ in the active profiles directory; some map-specific settings live under the mission’s expansion/ directory.

Stop before editing generated JSON. Keep its schema fields and m_Version. Prefer the files produced by your installed release over a complete JSON file copied from an old video. Validate syntax before uploading, then change one setting and restart to test it.

For Market-only installs, compare each generated trader’s Categories references with the files under ExpansionMod/Market/. Check for trader references to Spraycans and Launchers when those categories are absent. The author’s default-category code makes those categories conditional on additional modules. In a stopped test copy, remove references to categories you do not intend to provide, preserving the inventory’s other fields. Restart and check the errors again before placing or testing traders.

For startup or join errors, save the RPT, script or crash log and the exact package list. Check missing dependencies, folder names and client versions before deleting settings or persistence. Use missing-PBO troubleshooting for rejected clients.

Check the result before opening the server

Check	Required observation
Client join	An updated client loads the advertised packages and joins without a signature or missing-PBO error.
Selected feature	The installed module’s feature works. For Market, complete the trader guide’s purchase and sale checks.
Economy content, if added	The intended classname appears in a permitted location. An admin spawn alone does not prove natural loot works.
Supported restart	The same saved test character, items and module data return after a normal stop and start.

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Record the build, package versions, map, changed paths and observations. A clean startup log is one check in that record; it does not establish the player or economy result.

Roll back a failed installation

Stop the test instance and retain its failed logs. Restore the previous launch list, mission and compatible saved data from the same recovery set. Coordinate client-required versions before reopening.

If Expansion content reached an existing world, review mod removal before uninstalling it. Saved objects can depend on the removed classes. A storage-format error needs a compatibility or migration decision; a blanket world wipe would remove the progress you backed up.

Related documentation: Mission-template README.

Continue with Market traders or return to the DayZ guide directory.