Wipe your DayZ server

A wipe resets the server on the persistence side: players, bases, vehicles and ground loot disappear, but the configuration (types.xml, events.xml, mod load order) is kept. This is the operation to run for a new season or when the map is saturated.

Cause / The problem

Without a periodic wipe, persistence clogs up: thousands of objects on the ground, abandoned vehicles, ghost bases. Performance drops and loot bugs out. Conversely, deleting everything also wipes your mission settings if you do not target the right folders.

Solution

1. Announce the wipe to your players in advance (Discord, signs). Plan a clean stop rather than killing the process.
2. Stop the server cleanly via the panel. Never delete files while the server is running.
3. Identify what needs to be wiped: the persistence folder, usually /serverfiles/mpmissions/<mission>/storage_1/. It contains:
   • players/ — character data (position, health, inventory)
   • objects/ — constructions, tents, fences, traps
   • vehicles/ — vehicle state and position
   • Persistence files (.core, .sav)
4. Delete the player and object folders:

   rm -rf storage_1/players
   rm -rf storage_1/objects
   rm -rf storage_1/vehicles

   Or, for a full wipe, delete the whole storage_1 — it will be recreated on startup.
5. Keep the config: do not touch types.xml, events.xml, cfgspawnabletypes.xml or the mod load order. These files define server rules, not data.
6. Wipe with persistence: if you enable persistence (enableStore=1 in serverDZ.cfg), the new cycle starts fresh after the wipe. Otherwise, the server is already “fresh” on every reboot.
7. Restart the server. Check the logs: no persistence file should be loaded on the first post-wipe boot.
8. Communicate to players: new cycle, positions reset, they must recreate their character.

For a partial wipe (bases only, keep characters), only delete storage_1/objects. For a regular full wipe (e.g. monthly), script the operation via a scheduled task in the panel.