Lore

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This page contains information about an asset from DayZ Mod or a previous title by Bohemia Interactive.

This page contains information about an asset or historical reference to a previous title by Bohemia Interactive.

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Please help improve this article if you can. The Discussion page may contain suggestions.

DayZ Lore — The Hammer and Sickle on the Chernogorsk House of Soviets building

DayZ's lore is largely based on the events that transpired prior to the outbreak, and specific canon survivor stories. Specific lore regarding the cause of the outbreak and events after are intentionally left up to interpretation by players.

Introduction[ | ]

DayZ is set in the north-eastern province of South Zagoria in an ex-soviet republic called Chernarus. Geographically, Chernarus is sandwiched between the Russian Federation to the North of the Black Mountains and Takistan to the West of the Svetlaya River. The exact location of Chernarus is unknown, but it can be assumed it takes place somewhere in Caucasia based on the satellite imagery from the ARMA 2 launch trailer. DayZ's lore is set in an alternate timeline of the ARMA Universe (Officially titled as the Armaverse Timeline). This is evident by a variety of in-game references found throughout Chernarus. The most notable reference is the advertisement billboards, with at least four of them sporting the names of prominent islands set throughout the ARMA series. The four islands referenced are Malden, Everon, Kolgujev, and Sahrani. Another key reference is the flags of the various factions that took part in the Chernarussian Civil War of 2009, the CDF, ChDKZ, and NAPA.

The start of the outbreak and the divergence from the ARMA Universe can be likely considered to have occurred sometime during or after 2013. Although speculation, the presence of the FX-45 pistol in-game (a weapon produced from late 2012 onwards) provides a solid starting pointing as to when the outbreak occurred. The cause of the outbreak will most likely never be explained or referenced, as the DayZ Developers have specifically intended for players to make up their own story based on the foundations of the environment they're in. Thus, the only concrete lore pertaining to DayZ is from the pre-outbreak Arma Universe.

During the events of ARMA 2, the region of South Zagoria is rocked by a bloody multi-faction civil war. A Communist political party known as the "Chernarussian Movement of the Red Star was responsible for igniting the civil war after capturing and executing Chernarussian government officials, torturing and slaughtering local civilians, taking over military installations previously under control by the Chernarussian Defence Forces, and annexing most of South Zagoria. In October 2009, the USMC 27th MEU was sent to prevent further civilian casualties in the conflict. Nationalist guerrillas under the National Party (or "NAPA") were blamed responsible for a terrorist attack in Moscow, Russia - resulting in the Russian Armed Forces entering the conflict. USMC forces eventually captured the leader of the Chedaki rebels - ending the Chernarussian crisis.

In-game References[ | ]

RoadSign Chernarus Cities — A road sign at Calm Bay with the names of three cities: Miroslavl', Primorsk, and Novigrad

A multitude of references to the ARMA Universe are strewn across Chernarus, from the above aforementioned Billboards, to clothing items and flags of the political factions that took part in the Chernarussian Civil War of 2009. Physical maps of Chernarus can be found in schools and military facilities, as well as hiking trail map stands. Road signs of cities found outside the boundaries of the playable map can be found near the town of Lopatino and the evacuation site at Calm Bay.

Billboards[ | ]

The billboards in DayZ Standalone are the most prominent objects in the game that connect DayZ to the ARMA Universe. A majority of the billboards are written in the Czech language (Chernarussian) and some in Russian. All of the billboard models are from ARMA 2, and many of the advertisements show dates no later than 2009, coincidentally the same year as the Chernarussian Civil War. From political ads to tourist destinations at islands in the North Sea, many of the islands in question are from Bohemia Interactive's first game "Operation Flashpoint", also titled "ARMA: Cold War Assault."

Flag kos co — Flag of Sharani, as depicted in the Sharani tourist advertisement. It is an obtainable item in-game used for base building

Bardak Vodka Distillery Sign A1 — Bardak and Sons Vodka Distillery sign on top of a factory building in Vybor

Translation: "MALDEN - Come to us!"
Reference to Malden Island from Operation Flashpoint
Everon tourist advertisement
Reference to the island of Everon from Operation Flashpoint
Tourist advertisement for Sharani island. The female depicted in the frame is laying on top the flag of Sharani, an in-game item for DayZ
Reference to the Island of Sharani in ARMA: Armed Assault
Advertisement for a fictional movie titled "Escape from Kolgujev"
Reference to Kolgujev Island from Operation Flashpoint

Political advertisement of the ChDKZ
Reference to the Communist political party known as the Chernarussian Movement of the Red Star from ARMA 2
Translation: "Save Your Homeland - "Protect your ground!"
Reference to the Chernarussian Defence Forces from Arma 2.
Alexander Baranov, a Chernarussian Government official in the province of South Zagoria
Translation: "Traditional Chernarusskya vodka. - From alcohol plant - Bardak and sons."
Reference to Bardak vodka distillery from Arma 2. The company owns a factory in Vybor.

Berets[ | ]

Throughout DayZ any player can come across a variety of berets, these are definite references to the Chernarussian Civil war of 2009. They were added to fill in the gap that DayZ had, as a wearable item that would fit the theme of Chernarus.

While U.S and UN items didn't fit the theme of Chernarus, the developers had to justify the implementation of these items by connecting the Arma 2 story together with DayZ. Following this, the developers added American items varying from clothing or weapons such as the M4A1. All of these items spawned at American-UN Helicopter Crash Sites scattered around the environment of a post-soviet nation. Berets such as the "UN Beret", "ChDKZ Beret", and "CDF Beret" are wearable items from the former factions that fought in the civil war just before the outbreak.

Buildings[ | ]

These two buildings were removed from DayZ in patch 0.57, it's low poly and texture details never fitted Chernarus because it's model predated back to Operation Flashpoint. It never spawned loot and served no real purpose, you could find these buildings in Mogilevka, Kozlovka and Gorka.

Locations such as Bardak & Sons vodka distillery in Vybor were major targets from National Party. And a video from the official Arma website shows a video of NAPA bombing one of the vodka distillery sites in Chernarus.

Outside References[ | ]

The patches below are real-life merchandise that can be found on the official Bohemia Interactive store. They were also handed out at Pax South (2016) for free by the DayZ developers. Each patch represents a faction from the Chernarussian Civil war of 2009.