Install RedFalcon Watercraft on a DayZ server

By VYKIX

Updated 7 October 2026

Install RedFalcon Watercraft on the server and joining clients, then spawn a disposable boat to generate its settings. Natural boat spawns also need mission economy files and positions for your terrain. Configure one model on a test instance before adding the fleet to an existing world.

Use the original RedFalcon Watercraft, item 2906371600. Its author says support ended at DayZ 1.29 and warns that later game updates can break it. The latest listed changes are from April 2026. Keep the installed game and mod versions in your test record; the author’s dated compatibility statement isn’t a test of your current server.

Install the package and preserve the world

Stop the service and take a consistent backup of its mission, profiles, persistence, packages, signing keys and startup settings. Rehearse on a separate instance with expendable boats.

In VXPanel, use Mods to find the exact Workshop item and require it on clients. On a manual host, copy the package into its own server folder, copy the supplied public .bikey to keys/ and add the actual folder to the normal -mod= list. Retain the other packages your server needs and keep signature verification enabled. The installation procedure covers the folder and key checks.

Join with a matching client package before editing the economy. Watercraft is a standalone boat system; an Expansion vehicle event doesn’t automatically spawn its boats. If you plan to sell boats, configure the trading system separately after the initial boat test.

Generate and edit boat settings

Use your authorized admin tool to spawn a supported boat, such as RFWC_CarpBoat, at an accessible water location on the test map. The author’s four-page manual says spawning a model generates its default JSON. Installing the package alone can leave the settings folder absent.

The -profiles startup setting gives the profiles location. Open its RFWatercraft folder and save the generated files before editing:

• MasterConfig.json holds shared settings.
• Model files follow the pattern {boat class name}_Config.json, such as RFWC_CarpBoat_Config.json.

Settings are per model, rather than per retexture, according to the manual. Spawn each model you intend to configure. Preserve Master_ConfigVersion and Boat_ConfigVersion; the mod uses those fields to track its schema.

For a metric-HUD test, change these existing fields in the generated master file. This is a partial edit; retain the rest of the document:

{
  "HUD_ForceMetric": 1,
  "HUD_ForceImperial": 0
}

Parse the complete JSON before transferring it. The manual says changes take effect when a boat next spawns. Test a new disposable boat instead of assuming a saved one received the settings. Control_Grounded is an exception: it prevents boat engines from starting and requires a server restart when changed.

Check units before tuning a model. The manual describes Boat_FuelCapacity in litres, Boat_FuelConsumptionRate in litres per minute and Boat_MaximumSpeed in knots. Maximum speed is a limit; raising it doesn’t by itself establish a higher achievable speed.

Some manual text still refers to helicopters, and it names Heli_MinimumDraught and Flight_AerodynamicDrag among boat settings. Match those exact keys to the generated release before editing them. Don’t invent renamed Boat_ equivalents or apply an assumed speed-factor formula. Leave uncertain handling fields at their generated values until you can verify their meaning.

Prepare the boat economy files

The pinned author configuration folder is from 9 June 2025, before the final Workshop updates. Compare its classes with your installed release and keep your existing mission definitions. Its files need different treatment:

1. Types: Types.XML/RFWC_Types.xml contains 21 unique definitions covering boats, wrecks and oil. Keep selected entries inside one <types> root. Save your working file as rfwc/types.xml in the active mission.
2. Parts: Event Spawn Config/cfgspawnabletypes.xml contains ten boat attachment definitions. Copy the selected <type> entries into a separate <spawnabletypes> root and save it as rfwc/parts.xml. Leave the source’s root-level <damage min="0.1" max="0.3" /> out of this boat-only import so you retain the mission’s existing global damage setting. Keep the per-boat damage entries you intend to use.
3. Events: Event Spawn Config/events.xml defines VehicleRFWC_Watercraft. Its ten child entries include RFWC_Seadoo_Orange twice, while the types and parts files also contain a green variant. Resolve that duplicate in your working copy; don’t silently assume which replacement the author intended. Keep each selected class once, review its population limits and save the complete <events> document as rfwc/events.xml.

Register the three working files inside the mission’s existing cfgeconomycore.xml root, preserving its other registrations:

<ce folder="rfwc">
  <file name="types.xml"
    type="types" />
  <file name="parts.xml"
    type="spawnabletypes" />
  <file name="events.xml"
    type="events" />
</ce>

Check for earlier registrations of the same classes and event before adding another copy. Parse each complete XML file and the edited core file locally. Use the economy registration checks to separate valid XML from valid classnames and working spawns.

Add positions for your terrain

The author’s DeerIsle/cfgeventspawns.xml contains an <event> fragment, not a complete <eventposdef> document. Merge its selected event entry inside the active mission’s existing <eventposdef> root. Don’t overwrite the full mission file with that fragment.

The checked fragment has 66 positions, including one identical duplicate. Review and deduplicate your chosen positions, retaining the exact event name VehicleRFWC_Watercraft. These are DeerIsle coordinates; measure new locations for another terrain. Check water depth, shore access and nearby obstacles on the actual map before enabling the event.

Natural boat populations come from the event. The author types file sets boat nominal and min to 0, so copying types alone won’t create those event spawns. Follow the vehicle population procedure when changing the event’s targets, keeping its mixed limit mode and child limits in view.

Check parts, movement and saved boats

The supplied attachment chances are below 100%. A natural spawn can lack a spark plug, battery, oil or another configured part. Inspect the chosen model’s actual slots and fluids before diagnosing an engine fault. The types example also sets EngineOil nominal and minimum to 0, so it doesn’t supply loose oil as ground loot. Choose and test an oil supply through your economy, boat contents or trader.

Start with one ordinary player and one disposable boat. Check boarding, engine start, steering, stopping, disembarking and cargo access. Then reconnect and restart with expendable items stored aboard. Compare its position, parts, fluids and contents with the pre-restart record. Test a natural event spawn separately from an admin-spawned boat.

The April 2026 changes address engine drowning, buoy animation and Expansion keys. Include those features when relevant to your server, but don’t assume the listed fix proves every map or key combination works. For keys, check access with another ordinary player as well as the owner.

Buoys use their own placement path. The author’s buoy class list directs admins to DayZ Editor or VPP and says placed buoys float at water level. Use the Editor Loader procedure for saved placements, then inspect their locations after a restart. Adding a buoy class to the boat event isn’t that placement procedure.

If a configuration change fails, stop the test service and restore the saved files. When reverting package versions, restore the compatible world, profiles and packages together. Keep the original Workshop distribution; the author prohibits repacking and reposting it.

Source and verification scope

This guide used AI-assisted research and drafting on 7 October 2026. We read the original description, latest ten of 38 change entries, complete four-page manual, README, buoy list and all four linked XML files at revision 7e30ba39. All four XML files parse, and their duplicate entries were checked. The position file remains an event fragment despite being well-formed XML.

We haven’t matched these older author files to current Workshop binaries, inspected generated runtime settings or tested boat movement, natural spawns, keys and saved-world recovery. Keep those checks separate from the local file validation and complete them before offering boats to players.