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DayZ server won't start after an XML edit? Here's how to fix it

It's the most common way to take a DayZ server offline: one small edit to a config file and it won't start, or it starts with no loot. The cause is nearly always a single broken line, and you can find it in a minute.

1. Get back online first

If players are waiting, put your backup of the file back and restart. Then fix your edited copy in peace. If you don't have a backup, the steps below will find the problem.

2. Find the exact broken line

Paste the file into an XML or JSON validator. It tells you the line and column where the file stops making sense, and that's almost always where your edit went wrong.

The free Blxckforge validator shows the lines around the error too, and nothing you paste leaves your browser.

3. Check the usual suspects

Most broken DayZ files have one of these:

  • A missing closing tag, such as a <type> with no </type>
  • A tag name typed differently at each end, such as <nominal> closed with </Nominal>
  • Curly quotes from a notes app or website where straight quotes should be
  • A stray & or < in a name or message
  • In JSON files like cfggameplay.json, a missing or extra comma at the end of a line

4. Upload, restart and keep a backup

Once it passes, upload it to the same folder and restart. Next time, keep the original before you edit, and change a few things at a time.

Blxckforge's editors check files before you download them, and on the Server and Pro plans they back up the old file every time they save to Nitrado.

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Common questions

My server starts but has no loot. Is that the same problem?

Often, yes. If types.xml or a file it depends on can't be read, the economy can't spawn items. Check the file with the validator and restart.

Which DayZ files can the validator check?

Any XML or JSON file: types.xml, events.xml, cfgspawnabletypes.xml, messages.xml, globals.xml, cfgeconomycore.xml, cfggameplay.json and the rest.

Does the validator upload my file?

No. It checks the file in your browser.

The file is valid but the server still won't start.

Check any other file you changed at the same time, and that cfggameplay.json is valid JSON if enableCfgGameplayFile is on. If you still can't find it, put the backups back one at a time to narrow it down.