The static contamination zone at Rify
A contaminated zone is any location found in South Zagoria (Chernarus) or the Topolin-Nadbór Region (Livonia) that is contaminated with toxic PO-X gas. There are two types of contaminated zones: static or permanent zones, which are always contaminated, and dynamic zones, locations that may come under attack from an unknown party with artillery that releases toxic gas into the general vicinity.
Inhalation of and/or contact with the gas is lethal to survivors, resulting in gas poisoning which has the ability to kill an otherwise healthy survivor in mere minutes.
Zone Effects[ | ]
Failing to wear the correct protective equipment will rapidly injure and eventually kill a survivor. While inside a contaminated zone survivors are affected by two sources, these being the contaminated zone itself and the effects of gas poisoning:
- As soon as the player enters the zone they will start coughing, this will repeat every 6 - 10 seconds.
- Every 13 - 18 seconds the player will get cut causing bleeding. Around this stage the player can contract the gas poisoning illness, which will start to stack its own effects.
Contaminated zones will also kill all other types of infected and wildlife inside the zone.
Required Equipment[ | ]
In order to enter a contaminated zone safely a survivor must wear a full NBC suit consisting of the following pieces:
In addition, one of the three available gas masks must be worn to fully protect oneself from the effects of gas poisoning:
Both a full suit and gas mask are required for full protection. It is possible to survive with just a gas mask without getting ill, but you will have to bring a lot of bandages.
Static Zones[ | ]
Static zones are locations on the map where you will find permanent contaminated zones. There are currently two in Chernarus - at Pavlovo Military Base and the shipwreck at Rify - and two in Livonia - at Radunin and Lukow Airfield. Inside static zones a special NBC Infected variant will spawn, replacing other kinds of Infected.
Loot[ | ]
Static contaminated zones also spawn their own exclusive high tier loot, being any of the following items.
Dynamic Zones[ | ]
Dynamic contaminated zones occur around once every 15 minutes. There can be between 2-4 on the map at any one time spread across 78 possible locations on Chernarus and 37 possible locations on Livonia. No special loot spawns in dynamic contaminated zones.
Stages[ | ]
A dynamic contaminated zone can be broken down into 4 stages.
Setup[ | ]
| Stage | Since Last Stage | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 seconds | When a location is picked a red flare will be seen in the sky |
| 2 | 15 seconds | A distant sound of artillery can be heard from outside the map
(faint but audible) |
| 3 | 45 seconds | The sound of a incoming shell can be heard which will then explode above the ground and start to spread the gas |
| 4 | 15 seconds | The gas will reach its maximum radius of 120 metres |
From the location being picked to the gas reaching full size will take around 75 seconds.
Live[ | ]
A dynamic contaminated zone will last for 25 minutes. During this time all Infected and Wildlife will be killed off by the toxic gas.
Shutdown[ | ]
Once a dynamic contaminated zone has 5 minutes of lifetime remaining the zone will slowly start to shrink towards the center. At this point the zone will despawn.
Gallery[ | ]
ATC at Vybor Air Base
Trivia[ | ]
- The roof of the Hospital in the Military Base (Pavlovo) and Chernogorsk is above the gas level allowing you to rest without draining your filter.
- On Livonia, Lukow Airfield has the same feature, allowing you rest in the ATC building and the silos with ladders, close to the medical tents.
- Strictly speaking, the NBC suit is an optional part of safely navigating toxic zones. If you have enough filters, bandages and saline bags or blood bags, you could in theory traverse the toxic zone with little issue - although this method is not recommended, due to the extreme amount of extra time spent bandaging yourself and injecting yourself with saline and/or extra blood.