Are you experiencing the DayZ keeps crashing issue when playing the game on your computer? This could be due to an outdated graphics card driver, corrupted game file, or compatibility issues, To fix this, you will need to perform a series of troubleshooting steps.

DayZ is a survival video game developed and published by Bohemia Interactive and is available for the Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 platforms. The game places you in a world that has fallen to the zombie outbreak. Your aim is to survive by scavenging for food, water, weapons, and medicine. You will also need to kill zombies that you encounter and avoid or cooperate with other players.

How to Fix Day Z Crashing on Windows?

One of the issues that you might experience when playing the Steam version of DayZ is when it crashes. This can happen before the game starts or even during gameplay. This can be a frustrating experience as you won’t be able to enjoy playing the game.

Here’s what you can do to fix the DayZ keeps crashing issue.

Solution 1: Make sure your PC meets the necessary hardware requirements to play DayZ

There’s a possibility that DayZ crashes because your computer does not have the necessary hardware to run the game properly. The Steam store page of DayZ has listed all the system requirements needed to play the game. Your computer should at least meet the minimum system requirements in order for you to have a good gameplay experience.

Minimum system requirements:

OS: Windows 7/8.1 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core i5-4430
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 or AMD R9 270X
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 16 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX compatible
Additional Notes: Internet connection

Recommended system requirements:

OS: Windows 10 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core i5-6600K or AMD R5 1600X
Memory: 12 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD RX 580
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 25 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX compatible
Additional Notes: Internet connection

Solution 2: Update graphics drivers

Another factor that can cause the DayZ crashing issue is an outdated graphics driver. You need to make sure that your graphics card has the latest drivers installed as this will come with several performance enhancements as well as bug fixes that can make your DayZ game run better.

Time Needed : 3 minutes

Update graphics driver manually

Right click on the Start button.
This can be found at the lower left side of the screen.
Click on Device Manager.
This will open the device manager window.
Click the arrow before Display adapters.
This will expand the display adapter list.
Right click on the selected graphics card then choose Update driver.
This will allow you to update your driver.
Select Search automatically for drivers.
This will search online for any new drivers and install it.

You can also update the graphics drivers using the Nvidia GeForce Experience app if you have an Nvidia card or the Radeon Software if you are using a Radeon card.

Once the graphics drivers have been updated you should restart the computer then check if the DayZ game still crashes.

Solution 3: Update your Microsoft Windows operating system

You will experience game crashes if your Windows operating system is not running on the latest update. An older update version will not have the necessary components needed by the game to run properly. Try checking if a new update to Windows is available then update it accordingly.

Manually download Windows updates

Right click the Start button.
Click Settings.
Click Windows Update section found on the bottom left side of the new window that appears.
Click Check for updates.
If new updates are found then click on the Install now button.

After the new updates have been installed you will have to restart your computer then check if the game crashing issue still occurs.

Solution 4: Get the latest patch for your DayZ game

You should make sure that you are running the latest version of DayZ since this will usually have several improvements as well as bug fixes that can fix several issues such as memory usage drain, freezing, and crashing issue just to name a few.

Getting the latest patch

Launch Steam and sign in with your account details.
Click on game Library option and right-click on DayZ from the left tab.
Select Properties from the list and then click on the Updates tab.
Make sure that the Always Keep this game up to date Option is selected under the Auto Updates option.

Solution 5: Run DayZ as an administrator

There’s a possibility that DayZ will crash frequently if it is unable to access certain Windows components. To fix this , you will need to run DayZ as an administrator so that it is able to access the components it needs.

Run as administrator

Navigate to the DayZ installation folder.

Right click DayZ application file.

Click on Properties.

Click on the Compatibility tab.

Make sure to place a check mark on the box for Run this program as an administrator.

Click Apply then Ok.

Solution 6: Close background application running when playing DayZ

You will experience the DayZ crashing issue if there are a lot of application running while you are playing the game. This will usually divide your system resources to all applications that are open leaving less resources for the game. You need to allocate as much memory as possible to DayZ so that it will run smoothly.

Close running applications

Open task manager window by right clicking the Start button then select Task Manager.
Make sure to click on More details.
Click on the Processes tab.
Right click on the apps running and select End task. Do this for all applications except DayZ and Steam.

Solution 7: Check if your antivirus is causing DayZ to crash

You will usually experience crashing issues on your PC games if the antivirus program is constantly checking the game files for any threats to the system. You can check if this is the culprit by disabling the antivirus software of your computer then try to launch DayZ and play it. If the game does not lag, freeze, crash, or have decreased framerates with the antivirus software disabled then you will need to add DayZ to its exception list.

Disable the Windows antivirus software

Click the Start button.
Click on Settings.
Click on Update & Security.
Click on Windows Security.
Click on Virus & threat protection.
Click on Manage settings.
Turn off the Real time protection switch.

Adding DayZ to the exception list of antivirus software

Click the Start button.
Click on Settings.
Click on Update & Security.
Click on Windows Security.
Click on Virus & threat protection.
Click on Manage settings.
Click Add or remove exclusions.
Click Add an exclusion.
Click Folder.
Find the folder location of DayZ and select it.

Solution 7: Verify the integrity of game files

There’s a possibility that the problem is caused by a corrupted game cache, wrong configuration files, or missing game files. To fix this you will have to verify the integrity of DayZ using the Steam game client. The client will ay check for any file errors and automatically download the replacement files if errors are found.

Verifying integrity of the files

Open the Steam client.
Click on your Steam Library.
Find DayZ then right click it then click on Properties.
On the new window that appears click on Local Files tab.
Click Verify integrity of game files…

Once the game files have been fixed try to play the game and check if it still crashes.

Solution 8: Reinstall the game

If you are still experiencing the DayZ crashing issue at this point the you need to uninstall the game and reinstall it.

Uninstalling the game

Go to the Steam Library tab.
Right click on DayZ then click on Manage then uninstall.
Click on Uninstall again to uninstall the game.

Installing the game

Go to the Library tab.
Right click on DayZ then click on install.
Click next to proceed with the installation.

With the game newly installed, try to play DayZ and check if the crashing issue still occurs.

Feel free to visit our YouTube channel for additional troubleshooting guides on various devices.

DayZ Keeps Crashing? Here’s how to fix it