How much does a DayZ server cost?Four plans - and why mods cost more than players

Published on October 5, 2026

Prices at a glance

Four plans, all prepaid and without a contract. The buttons take you to the order with the plan already selected:

We don't sell slots. You set the player count yourself via maxPlayers in serverDZ.cfg - the figures in the table are recommendations from practice.

Which plan for which server?

As a guideline, DayZ needs 6 to 8 GB of memory without mods, and more like double digits with Expansion and several mods. That gives the following mapping:

• Plan S to get started: vanilla on one of the official maps, a group of friends. That is also the route we recommend to anyone running a DayZ server for the first time.
• Plan M for the same base with more players or the first individually added mods.
• Plan L for a modded server with DayZ Expansion.
• Plan XL for community maps such as Namalsk or Deer Isle with a large mod list.

Four decisions should be made before ordering, in this order: vanilla or modded, the map, the game rules and then the resources.

What drives the price

• Mods. The biggest driver, and they rarely get fewer. Every mod brings content that sits in memory permanently.
• The map. A large community map with Expansion modules uses considerably more memory than vanilla Chernarus with the same group.
• The persistent world. Bases, vehicles and dropped items are saved and simulated.
• Storage. Workshop mods and maps take up a lot of disk space. That is why, with DayZ, NVMe storage grows more from plan to plan than memory does.

The player count only has an indirect effect. A server with a small group and a long mod list can need more than a busy one without mods.

The cost that is on no invoice

With DayZ, the monthly price is the smaller part of the cost. The larger part is time, and it depends on the same decision as the plan:

So a modded server costs twice: more per month and more evenings. That isn't an argument against mods, but one for starting with vanilla and only expanding once the server demonstrably runs.

What is included in the price

• Steam Workshop mods at no extra charge.
• Chernarus, Livonia, Sakhal and community maps.
• Access to the Central Economy: you control loot, spawns and vehicles via the mission's XML files.
• Config editor, RCON, web file manager and SFTP for management and files.
• DDoS protection up to 250 Gbit/⁠s, located in Frankfurt am Main, provisioned in around 120 seconds.

Backups are self-service, and with DayZ that matters more than elsewhere: a damaged save without a copy costs you the whole world. Mission, storage folder, serverDZ.cfg and the mod load order belong together in one backup.

Keeping costs low

• Start vanilla. The smallest plan is enough, and you get to know the configuration without mod updates getting in the way.
• Add mods one by one. That way you see which one actually raises the requirement, instead of paying for a hand-picked bundle on suspicion.
• Only switch when needed. You upgrade yourself in the customer interface; map, mods and configuration are kept.
• Use prepaid. No contract, no automatic renewal. If the group falls asleep, the server expires with the credit.

How prepaid billing works is explained on Game servers without a contract.

Frequently asked questions