How to set a password on a DayZ server

You already have the dedicated server running and want only people who know the password to join. In DayZ that is not a panel button: it is the password field in serverDZ.cfg. By the end of this guide, anyone who types the wrong password in the client stays out.

This is not the RDP password, not the hosting panel password, and not passwordAdmin. It is only the game join lock.

Where the password lives

File C:\DayZServer\serverDZ.cfg, password line. Do not touch types.xml, BattlEye, or the executable shortcut.

Step by step

1. On Remote Desktop, close the DayZServer_x64.exe window (or end the process in Task Manager).
2. Open C:\DayZServer\serverDZ.cfg in Notepad.
3. Find the line password = ""; (or with an old value).
4. Put the password between the quotes. No spaces around =. End with a semicolon.
5. Save the file (Ctrl+S).
6. Start the server again with the same start command you already use.

password = "change-this-password";

How to verify

1. In the DayZ client: Direct Connect → machine IP → port 2302.
2. The game asks for the password. Type the one you saved: you should join.
3. Ask a friend to try without the password (or with the wrong one): they should be refused.

If it failed

• Server will not start → missing ; at the end of the line or unclosed quotes.
• Joins without asking for a password → saved the wrong file or did not restart the process.
• Confused with passwordAdmin → that field is not asked at join time.