Arma 2 DayZ Epoch Server Hosting Canada

What Is Arma 2 DayZ Epoch Server Hosting?

Arma 2 DayZ Epoch server hosting is a managed service that runs a DayZ Epoch dedicated server, the Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead server with the @DayZ_Epoch and @DayZ_Epoch_Server mod files, its MySQL database and BattlEye, on professional hardware in a datacentre, around the clock, so your bases, vehicles and trader economy are always there whether or not anyone is at their PC. Every GTX Gaming Arma 2 DayZ Epoch server includes up to 5GB of RAM, up to 100GB of NVMe storage, daily automatic backups, enterprise DDoS protection and a web control panel, so jobs like naming your server, changing the map or scheduling a restart take a few clicks.

People look for it as an Arma 2 DayZ Epoch dedicated server, a DayZ Epoch private server, an Arma 2 Epoch game server or DayZ Epoch server rental. They all mean the same thing: your own always-on Arma 2 DayZ Epoch server, with your map, your rules and your survivors.

What Is DayZ Epoch?

DayZ Epoch is an open-source survival mod for Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead, Bohemia Interactive's 2010 military sandbox, built by the Epoch Mod team on the community edition of the DayZ mod. Where the original DayZ mod was pure survival, Epoch adds an economy and a reason to build: traders in safe zones, gold bars or coins as currency, plot poles and modular base building, lockable doors and vehicles with keys, a virtual garage, helicopter lifting and towing, missions, and extra weapons, vehicles and buildings from the Arma 2 community.

• Build and defend: plot poles claim a radius, walls, floors and doors are crafted from salvaged materials, and DZE_GodModeBase can make bases indestructible if you prefer building to raiding.
• Trade: trader cities such as Stary Sobor, Bash and Klen on Chernarus buy and sell weapons, vehicles and building supplies, in gold bars by default or coins with Z_SingleCurrency.
• Seventeen maps: Chernarus and Takistan from Arma 2, plus community islands from Namalsk and Taviana to Napf and Lingor, each with its own mission file.
• Open source: the whole mod lives on GitHub; the Epoch Mod team published its last release, 1.0.7.1, on 25 May 2023, following 1.0.7 in April 2021 and 1.0.6.2 in December 2017.

Why Rent Your Own Arma 2 DayZ Epoch Server?

A DayZ Epoch server is more than a game process: it is an Arma 2 OA server, a MySQL database, BattlEye and a mission folder that all have to be in step. Most groups rent rather than host at home, for reasons that show up within the first week:

• Always online: the server runs 24 hours a day, so a base is only safe if the server is up, and friends in other time zones can log in when they like.
• Nothing to run at home: no ports 2302 to 2305 to open on your router, no MySQL server to install and keep secure, and no PC left running all night.
• Room for everyone: from 10 slots for one group of friends to 120 for a public server with several squads and a busy trader economy.
• Proper hardware: high-frequency CPUs for Arma 2's single-threaded server and NVMe storage in a datacentre, with DDoS protection at the network edge.
• Backups and support: daily automatic backups and a 24/7 support team mean a bad script or a broken database table is an inconvenience, not the end of your server.

Getting Started & Joining Your Arma 2 DayZ Epoch Server

Your server is installed the moment you order. From there, getting your group into the world typically looks like this:

• Order: choose your slots and your location, and your server is set up instantly.
• Name it: stop the server, open the .cfg file for your map under Configuration Files, set hostName and, for a private server, password, save and press START.
• Install the client files: every player needs Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead with the Arma 2 content (Combined Operations) and the @DayZ_Epoch client folder from the Epoch releases, launched with the @DayZ_Epoch mod enabled.
• Join: in Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead open Multiplayer, use Remote to enter the address and port shown under Connection Info in your panel, or find your hostName in the server browser, and enter the password if you set one.

The GTX panel also shows your SFTP and query details on the home page, so you always know where your server lives. If your server does not appear in the browser, check that it is running and that the @DayZ_Epoch version on the client matches the server, or ask our 24/7 team.

Server Config: hostName, Password, Slots & Time

Arma 2 reads the server settings from the .cfg file named in the startup line, and DayZ Epoch ships one per map in DZE_Server_Config. Our panel exposes it under Configuration Files, so you never touch a command line. The lines most groups change first:

• hostName and motd[]: the name in the server browser and the lines of the message of the day players see as they join, with motdInterval for how often they repeat.
• password and passwordAdmin: a join password for a private server, and the admin password you type after #login in the in-game chat.
• maxPlayers: the player count, set to match the slots you ordered; the stock missions declare maxPlayers = 100 in their description.ext, so raise that too for a 110 or 120 slot server.
• template and difficulty: the mission the server loads, such as DayZ_Epoch_11.Chernarus, and the difficulty it runs it on, veteran by default.
• verifySignatures, BattlEye and persistent: signature checks that keep unsigned addons off your server, BattlEye anti-cheat on, and a mission that keeps running with nobody on it.

Stop the server before you edit the config, save it, then start the server again: the server reads the file at startup. The game port (2302 by default), the Steam ports 2303 and 2304 and the startup line with its -mod=@DayZ_Epoch;@DayZ_Epoch_Server and -config, -cfg and -profiles switches are set for you. The in-game clock lives in HiveExt.ini: Type Static with an Hour value for the same time of day at every restart, Local for the real time of the datacentre, or Custom with an Offset.

Maps & Missions: Chernarus, Namalsk, Taviana, Napf & More

DayZ Epoch 1.0.7.1 ships 17 mission folders in MPMissions, one per map, and the template line in your server config decides which one loads. Switching map is a config edit and a restart, with two things to know:

• Arma 2 maps: Chernarus (with a winter version and a second Chernarus layout) and Takistan come with Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead and the Arma 2 content, so every player already has them.
• Community islands: Lingor, Isla Duala, Taviana, Namalsk, Panthera, Podagorsk, Caribou, Sahrani, Ovaron, Napf, Sauerland, Sauerland Winter and Ruegen are addons: the server needs the island in its -mod line and every player installs the same addon on their PC.
• Per-map settings: each mission's init.sqf carries dayZ_instance, the spawnArea and spawnShoremode spawn rules and the DZE_SafeZonePosArray trader safe zones, so a map keeps its own trader cities and spawn points.

A map change starts a fresh world unless the database already holds objects for that instance, so take a backup first if you are experimenting.

Epoch Rules: Plot Poles, Coins, Garage, Weather & Storms

Epoch's own rules live in configVariables.sqf inside the mission folder, with a comment on every line. Edit it in the File Manager, restart, and the rules apply to everyone. The ones most server owners tune:

• DZE_PlotPole sets the plot radius and the minimum distance between plots; DZE_GodModeBase makes player-built objects indestructible, and DZE_doorManagement lets owners manage who can open their doors.
• Z_SingleCurrency switches the traders from gold bars to coins; DZE_Virtual_Garage lets players store vehicles safely, and DZE_VehicleKey_Changer lets them make or change a vehicle key.
• DZE_Weather chooses static or dynamic summer or winter weather, DZE_EVR turns on the EVR storms, DZE_Bloodsuckers adds bloodsuckers, and DZE_HeliLift allows helicopters to lift vehicles.
• dayz_spawnselection gives Chernarus players a spawn choice, dayz_groupSystem adds the group system, and DZE_DeathMsgChat decides whether death messages appear in chat.

Keep a copy of the original file: an update to Epoch brings a new configVariables.sqf, and you will want to carry your changes over rather than lose them.

Admins & BattlEye: #login, Plot Admins & RCon

Running a public DayZ Epoch server means keeping order, and you have three layers for it. Setting them up takes a minute:

• #login: type #login followed by the passwordAdmin from your server config in the in-game chat, and the Arma 2 server commands are yours: #kick, #restart, #shutdown, #lock, #unlock and #mission.
• Plot and door admins: put your PlayerUID, and those of your co-admins, into the DZE_PlotManagementAdmins and DZE_doorManagementAdmins arrays in configVariables.sqf and you can manage every plot pole and open every door on the server.
• BattlEye and RCon: the RCon password in BEServer.cfg gives you remote console tools from outside the game, with kick and ban commands and a live view of who is online, and BattlEye's filter files decide which scripts may run on your server.

Keep the admin list short and every password to yourself: anyone with passwordAdmin or the RCon password can shut your server down. Our 24/7 support team can help if an admin locks themselves out.

Database, Scripts & Addons

Epoch's persistence is a MySQL database: characters, bases, vehicles, traders and locked doors are written to the dayz_epoch tables that HiveExt.ini points at, and CleanupPlacedAfterDays decides when abandoned objects are removed. Scripts and addons are a file job:

• Mission scripts: custom traders, loot tables, safe zones, map additions and most community scripts go into the mission folder with a line in init.sqf, uploaded with the File Manager or SFTP.
• BattlEye filters: every new script needs matching exceptions in scripts.txt, publicvariable.txt and the other filter files in the BattlEye folder, or BattlEye kicks your players for it.
• Addons: an extra island or weapon pack goes into the server's -mod line and onto every player's PC; there is no Steam Workshop for DayZ Epoch, so players install addons by hand.

Scripts run inside the server, so a broken one can slow it down or crash it: add them one at a time and keep a backup from before each one, and our 24/7 team can roll a server back if a script breaks the mission.

How Much Does Arma 2 DayZ Epoch Server Hosting Cost in Canada?

Pricing is simple: you pay for the number of slots, with up to 5GB of RAM and up to 100GB of NVMe storage included on every server:

• 10 slots: from CA$17.77/mo. A group of friends on one map.
• 20 slots: from CA$21.33/mo. Two squads sharing a server.
• 30 slots: from CA$30.23/mo. A community with a few squads and a trader economy.
• 60 slots: from CA$53.35/mo. Public servers.
• 120 slots: from CA$101.39/mo. The biggest Arma 2 DayZ Epoch server we offer.

Every tier in between, in steps of ten slots, is in the full plan list at the top of this page. All plans include instant setup, DDoS protection, daily automatic backups and 24/7 support, with no setup fee and no contract. Billing is monthly by default, with three-month, six-month and yearly cycles available at a discount, and you can change plan or cancel at any time.

How Many Slots and How Much RAM Does an Arma 2 DayZ Epoch Server Need?

Choose a slot for every player who will be online at the same time; zombies, AI and vehicles do not use slots. 10 slots suits one group of friends, 30 slots a community with a few squads, and 60 slots or more a public server. On memory, our own 20 slot Arma 2 DayZ Epoch demo server used about 155MB of RAM ten minutes after starting a fresh Chernarus world with nobody online, so the up to 5GB included on every server leaves plenty of room for a full server. Arma 2's server is single-threaded, so a high CPU clock matters more than extra cores, and a busy map with many base objects and vehicles in the database loads more at every restart. The up to 5GB included with every server is the place to start, the control panel shows live memory use, and you can add memory from 8GB to 32GB at any time.

Locations for Arma 2 DayZ Epoch Server Hosting

A firefight at a trader city and a helicopter landing both feel better without lag, so host close to your players. GTX Gaming runs Arma 2 DayZ Epoch server hosting from a Canadian datacentre in Quebec plus 18 more locations worldwide: New York, Ashburn, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Los Angeles and Portland in the USA; London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Madrid in Europe; Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore and Mumbai in Asia-Pacific; plus Moscow. Use the live ping test above to find the lowest-latency location for your group, pick it at checkout, and if you need to move later our support team can migrate your server.

Arma 2 DayZ Epoch Server Hosting Glossary

Quick definitions of the terms you'll meet across DayZ Epoch, our control panel and your Arma 2 DayZ Epoch dedicated server:

Setup Guides & Help for Your Arma 2 DayZ Epoch Server

Once your Arma 2 DayZ Epoch server is live, our help guides cover the common panel jobs, such as connecting over SFTP, finding your server files, scheduling automatic restarts and reading your server logs, and our Arma 2 DayZ Epoch help guides cover the Epoch-specific jobs, such as opening your MySQL database in phpMyAdmin and editing your mission file with PBO Manager. For the mod itself, the Epoch Mod team's GitHub repository carries the server readme, the changelogs and the client and server files, and Bohemia's Steam page covers Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead. Anything else, our 24/7 team is a ticket or a live chat away.

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