DayZ is a free zombie survival sandbox mod for ArmA II that has fostered an active community of players and modders. While the dev team only officially supports the main map of Chernarus, the community has begun porting DayZ to other ArmA 2 maps. With new maps being released regularly, it can be hard to decide which to play.
That’s where this list comes in, below is a regularly updated list of all the maps available for DayZ. To help in deciding, we have also included a small description of the maps, a full map review, and its pros and cons. Don’t forget to bookmark this article and check back regularly for new maps and reviews.
Caribou is a 64 square kilometre map featuring an abandoned island in between the USA and Russia. Previously the location of a war for oil reserves, Caribou is littered with oil fields, rugged terrain, dense forests, and mountains. This is a place where the lone wolf thrives.
Pros: Plenty of forests to hide in, great map for solo players.
Cons: Smaller map, lots of ambush locations.
Celle is a 150 square kilometer map based on the real city of the same name and it’s surrounding area in Lower Saxony, Germany. With extremely dense forests and tight, narrow streets lining the 39 towns and 2 airfields – players will find themselves checking every corner as they explore this new map. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to survive the zombie apocalypse in Germany, here’s your chance to find out for yourself.
Pros: Extremely dense forests, 39 towns to explore.
Cons: Easy to get lost even in the smallest forests, narrow FOV while in towns.
Review: DayZ Celle Map Review
The official map for DayZ that spans 225 square kilometres of open-world terrain. With dense forests, cities and villages, military bases, and airports – this is the true DayZ experience. With larger cities sprawling the south coast, and military bases and airports in the north – there’s a lot of variety available in Chernarus.
Pros: Large map, large variety in locations, lots of towns, dense forestry for camps.
Cons: Lots of running between towns and loot spawns.
Review: DayZ Alpha Preview
Fallujah is the largest city-based map, created using sattelite imagery and road maps to recreate the real city with as much realism as possible. Almost as large as its real-life counterpart, Fallujah is a huge city featuring over 3,000 buildings in which over half are enterable and most offering roof access. If you ever wished DayZ had a massive, real-life sized city in it – this is your map.
Pros: Massive city map, suburban environment.
Cons: Hard to navigate at first, confusing maze of streets.
Review: DayZ Fallujah Map Review
Isla Duala is a fictional 100km2 island in Africa where a country split in to two countries by civil war fought for many years. Now the remnants of their battles and the military bases they established are inhabited only by the walking dead and scavengers looking for food.
Pros: Unique African setting, the most-played custom Arma II map.
Cons: Very little cover, lots of running in open empty spaces.
Review: DayZ Isla Duala Map Review
Lingor Island is a tropical island filled with dense jungles, lots of river networks and more. Sizing up just a little smaller than Chernarus, Lingor is a map that has done a great job at offering players the core DayZ experience in a different setting. With balanced loot and a large island full of hidden locations, both the PvE and PvP minded players can find a home here.
Pros: Large map, balanced loot, stays true to the core experience.
Cons: Some buildings have small doorways making them a pain to enter, too many military installations (which may be a pro for you).
Review: DayZ Lingor Island Map Review
Merderet River is a smaller map based on the real river in Normandy, France which was the location of many airborne landings on D-Day during WWII. Featuring small towns and castles, Merderet River is used specifically for DayZ Invasion 1944 (DayZ i44) mod for ArmA 2.
Pros: Well made map, lots of vantage points, cool locations.
Cons: Only for DayZ i44, small map, not many towns.
Namalsk is a fictional island used by the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. Made up of barren wasteland and treacherous snowy mountains, Namalsk is home to many military bases. All of this extends from a single capitol city in the north, where many used to live.
Pros: Lots of military loot, large map, lots of forest to hide, underground locations.
Cons: Only one large city, lots of running in the snow.
Neaville is a small map set during WWII, offering small villages and lush vegetation. With hedges lining fields and roads, players can expect plenty of cover when moving throughout the environment. Neaville is used specifically for DayZ Invasion 1944 (DayZ i44) mod.
Pros: Lots of vegetation and hedges for concealment, great vantage points in town.
Cons: Smaller map, few buildings, only for DayZ i44.
The Republic of Novistrana is a new map based around the fictional capital city of Novistrana. Made specifically for the DayZ Origins mod for ArmA 2, this map has been designed with the mods features in mind – with survivor camps and room to build bases.
Pros: Custom map, custom items.
Cons: Only for DayZ Origins, not complete yet.
Oring is a tropical island made up of lots of thick vegetation and large bodies of water. With a small neighbouring island and several ship ports, Oring also features 4 airfields, several bunkers, and canyons. Those with a helicopter or boat are at a huge advantage.
Pros: Lots of airfields, good concealment in forests and vegetation.
Cons: Small map, hard to navigate easily without a boat or helicopter.
Ovaron is a small island map covering only 10 square kilometres of dense forests and rivers, complimented by many fields and small towns. With two airports on the map located on opposite ends and many buildings in between, Ovaron is a small but beautiful location.
Pros: Lots of connecting rivers makes boats useful, plenty of little towns and enterable buildings.
Cons: Small map.
This island is a gorgeous map that’s the same size and from the same creator as Lingor Island. Possibly one of the most popular maps for ArmA II, and one of our favourites for DayZ. This map features a crazy 60+ villages, and every building is enterable. If you like the pine forest setting of Chernarus, but wished there was more villages to explore with 100% enterable buildings – Panthera is the map for you.
Pros: Over 60 villages, 100% enterable buildings.
Cons: Some doorways are too small and a pain to get through, there are lighting bugs on some buildings.
Review: DayZ Panthera Island Map Review
Podagorsk is a large map originally released for ArmA 2 that has gained a large following in the community. With forests, fields, towns, airfields, military bases and more, it made perfect sense to transition to DayZ. Podagorsk is also featured in the DayZero mod.
Pros: Several towns, decent sized map.
Cons: Good loot in dangerous locations.
Sahrani is a fictional Atlantic island covering 400 square kilometres, originally released by Bohemia Interactive for ArmA 1. Featuring diverse terrains from mountains to forests and desert, Sahrani has many locations to explore or set up camp and towns to pick clean.
Pros: Large map, huge variety in locations, plenty of towns.
Cons: Fewer enterable buildings, ported map.
Takistan is another large map that has done a great job at offering the core experience, although with a whole new set of challenges. Set in 164km2 of scorching hot desert, players will have to navigate extremely loud terrain to access the 4 towns, 24 villages, 3 airports, and large oil fields spread out across the map. A little harder to avoid zombies but a fun experience nonetheless.
Pros: Unique desert setting, large map.
Cons: Ground is extremely loud making it hard to avoid zombie aggro.
Review: DayZ Takistan Map Review
Taviana is a fictional country in the Baltic Sea that used to be home to over 1.5 million people. Featuring large cities, airports, military bases, rural farms, villages and more – Taviana is a massive sprawling map featuring two large islands connected by a large bridge.
Pros: Massive map, lots of cities and towns, plenty of room for setting up a camp.
Cons: Deadly choke points when travelling between islands, lots and lots of running with a chance to starve to death out in the wilderness.
Trinity is a small Mediterranean style map featuring dense forests and two airfields. Many villages are spread out across the map, mingling with military bases established across the island. Trinity was originally made for Operation Flashpoint and ported to ArmA 2.
Pros: Plenty of villages to explore, great forests to hide in.
Cons: Smaller map, not many servers.
Originally used as the map for bootcamp in ArmA II, Utes is a 5×5 tiny island featuring only two towns, several military bases and a centrally-located airport. Being the smallest map available, Utes has primarily become a PvP-focused map. Loot is often snatched up quickly, making each life a desperate struggle for gear before entering an inevitable deathmatch.
Pros: Small map with lots of PvP action.
Cons: Loot spawns often empty, not for the PvE minded player.
Review: DayZ Utes Map Review
Zargabad is another city-based map, but much smaller than Fallujah. Similar to Utes, it’s another map that caters towards more deathmatch style PvP gameplay and is not for the PvE focused player. Featuring a large city in the centre of the map, and military bases on the outskirts – Zargabad is home to plenty of Close Quarter Battles.
Pros: Plenty of CQB PvP action.
Cons: Doesn’t cater for PvE-focused players.
Review: DayZ Zargabad Map Review
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