You may now officially monetize your private DayZ server

1 Dayz

If you operate a private server for DayZ, Bohemia Interactive's open-world zombie-dodging survival game, you now have the official green-light to monetize it—that is, to charge real money for access and items, and to bar entry to those who don't want to fork over the dough. But there are some limitations.

Only perks and rewards that don't impact gameplay can be offered; the sale of items including "in-game money, weapons, ammo, vehicles, discounts, vehicle spawns, housing and any other gameplay affecting features" are not allowed, and servers offering them will not be approved. The use of mods on monetized servers is okay, but only with permission from the mod maker; product placement, in-game advertising, and sponsorships are also allowed.

The accompanying Server Monetization FAQ takes pains to differentiate between accepting donations, which has been allowable all along, and charging for access, which has not. Simply put, if you're offering any kind of reward in exchange for money, then it's not a donation, it's a sale—and in that case, you'll have to register your server for approval.

Bohemia, which isn't taking a cut of the server income, described the rollout of server monetization as a "test run," and as such it will come to an end on May 31 of 2016. "At that point, we will evaluate its effects on the community," the studio wrote. The full list of currently approved servers is available here.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.