A PlayNHost DayZ server installs DayZ updates by itself every time it starts, as long as Automatic Updates is on in Game Settings, which is the default. After a DayZ update comes out, restart the server once and it installs the update before the game starts.
Update after a DayZ update
- Open your server in the panel and click Restart. DayZ can take more than two minutes to stop.
- Open the Console. After
[UPDATE]: Checking for game server updates with App ID: 223350..., Steam's own lines show the check and, with an update waiting, the download.[UPDATE]: Game server is up to date!follows when Steam is done, whether it installed an update or found none. - Wait for
Mission read.Players on the new version can join again.
Why restart after every DayZ update
Enforce Game Version is on by default, so only players on the same DayZ version as the server can join. Players' games update through Steam. A server that keeps running on the old version turns away everyone who has updated until it restarts. See Players cannot join your DayZ server after a game update.
To never miss one, add the ready-made Nightly restart schedule: How to restart your DayZ server on a schedule.
Should I turn Automatic Updates off?
Leave it on. The panel's own description says why: players on a newer game version cannot join an older server while Enforce Game Version is on, so a restart after a game update is what lets them in again. With it off, the server stays on the version it has until you turn it back on.
Validate Server Files
Validate Server Files checks every DayZ server file during the update. It only works while Automatic Updates is on, and it makes every start much slower. Turn it on for one start when the server's own files may be damaged, then turn it off again. The Console says File validation enabled. (This may take extra time to complete) while it is on.
Mods after a game update
A big DayZ update can break mods until their authors update them. Upload the new mod folders when they come out: Players are kicked for mod signatures on your DayZ server.
Can I run DayZ Experimental?
No. The server installs the stable DayZ server from Steam, and the panel offers no branch setting for DayZ.
Wipe after an update?
The panel's Persistence Wipe describes itself as the wipe the community expects on game updates, and Bohemia wiped its own servers on all platforms for Update 1.30 (Steam announcement, 15 October 2026). On your server it is your choice, not a requirement: How to wipe your DayZ server.
