globals.xml

Purpose

globals.xml is a flat list of runtime variables that control the server’s Central Economy (CE) behavior at the macro level — population caps, cleanup timers, spawn behavior, respawn rules, and world simulation settings. It is the “ceiling and floor” file: it sets the hard limits that the rest of the economy system operates within.

Unlike most other economy files, globals.xml has no nesting or complex structure. Every setting is one line.

Console Path 

dayzxb_missions/dayzOffline.<mapname>/db/globals.xml    (Xbox)
dayzps_missions/dayzOffline.<mapname>/db/globals.xml    (PlayStation)

Connects To

  • types.xml — nominal/min values only matter up to the caps set here
  • events.xml — zombie and animal counts tie into ZombieMaxCount and AnimalMaxCount

Full Block Structure (Vanilla Defaults) 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<variables>
  <var name="AnimalMaxCount" type="0" value="200"/>
  <var name="CleanupAvoidance" type="0" value="100"/>
  <var name="CleanupLifetimeDeadAnimal" type="0" value="900"/>
  <var name="CleanupLifetimeDeadInfected" type="0" value="240"/>
  <var name="CleanupLifetimeDeadPlayer" type="0" value="3600"/>
  <var name="CleanupLifetimeDefault" type="0" value="45"/>
  <var name="CleanupLifetimeLimit" type="0" value="50"/>
  <var name="CleanupLifetimeRuined" type="0" value="240"/>
  <var name="FlagRefreshFrequency" type="0" value="432000"/>
  <var name="FlagRefreshMaxDuration" type="0" value="3456000"/>
  <var name="FoodDecay" type="0" value="1"/>
  <var name="IdleModeCountdown" type="0" value="60"/>
  <var name="IdleModeStartup" type="0" value="1"/>
  <var name="InitialSpawn" type="0" value="100"/>
  <var name="LootDamageMax" type="1" value="0.82"/>
  <var name="LootDamageMin" type="1" value="0.0"/>
  <var name="LootProxyPlacement" type="0" value="1"/>
  <var name="LootSpawnAvoidance" type="0" value="100"/>
  <var name="RespawnAttempt" type="0" value="2"/>
  <var name="RespawnLimit" type="0" value="20"/>
  <var name="RespawnTypes" type="0" value="12"/>
  <var name="RestartSpawn" type="0" value="0"/>
  <var name="SpawnInitial" type="0" value="1200"/>
  <var name="TimeHopping" type="0" value="60"/>
  <var name="TimeLogin" type="0" value="15"/>
  <var name="TimeLogout" type="0" value="15"/>
  <var name="TimePenalty" type="0" value="20"/>
  <var name="WorldWetTempUpdate" type="0" value="1"/>
  <var name="ZombieMaxCount" type="0" value="1000"/>
  <var name="ZoneSpawnDist" type="0" value="300"/>
</variables>

How to Read Each Line 

<var name="LootDamageMin" type="1" value="0.01"/>
  • name — the engine variable key. Never rename these.
  • type="0" — whole number (integer) expected.
  • type="1" — decimal number (float) expected. Putting an integer value in a type 1 field causes an error.
  • value — the active setting.

Critical rule: Do not change type. Do not put a decimal in a type="0" field.

Field-by-Field Reference

Population Caps

AnimalMaxCount

Type: Integer
The hard cap on how many animals (deer, boar, wolves, bears, etc.) can exist on the map simultaneously. CE will not spawn new animals once this number is reached regardless of nominal targets in types.xml or territory settings.

Default: 200
Console typical range: 200–1500
Warning: Setting this very high without matching territory capacity causes CE overtime pressure.

ZombieMaxCount

Type: Integer
The hard cap on total infected population on the map. Works the same way as AnimalMaxCount.

Default: 1000
Console typical range: 1000–2000
Note: This cap applies globally. Even if you raise individual zombie event nominals, they cannot exceed this total.

SpawnInitial

Type: Integer
The quantity target used during the startup spawn phase when the server first initializes the economy. Setting this too low causes an under-populated world immediately after restart.

Default: 1200
Safe guidance: Keep in rough alignment with ZombieMaxCount + AnimalMaxCount.

InitialSpawn

Type: Integer (percentage 0–100)
Controls how much of the economy is pre-populated during the initial startup spawn, expressed as a percentage of the SpawnInitial target.

Default: 100 (percentage — full startup population)
Note: Lowering this causes a slower economy ramp-up after restart.

RestartSpawn

Type: Integer
Controls restart-related spawn behavior. Rarely adjusted.

Cleanup System

The cleanup system removes dead bodies, ruined items, and unclaimed loot. These timers determine how long each category persists before removal.

CleanupAvoidance

Type: Integer (distance in meters)
The radius around players within which CE avoids running cleanup. Items within this radius of any player are not cleaned up even if their lifetime has expired.

Default: 100
Raising this: Items near players persist longer — reduces frustration of loot disappearing while nearby.
Lowering this: More aggressive cleanup near players.

CleanupLifetimeDeadPlayer

Type: Integer (seconds)
How long a dead player’s body remains in the world before cleanup removes it.

Default: 3600 (1 hour)
Console typical range: 1800–7200
Note: Higher values give players more time to retrieve their gear after death. Very high values cause body accumulation on active servers.

CleanupLifetimeDeadInfected

Type: Integer (seconds)
How long dead infected remain before cleanup.

Observed value: 240 (4 minutes)
Note: Lower values keep the world cleaner and reduce visual clutter from kills. High-traffic combat areas accumulate fast. This is a snapshot value, not a binary-hardcoded universal default — confirm against your own globals.xml.

CleanupLifetimeDeadAnimal

Type: Integer (seconds)
How long dead animals (not killed by players — natural despawn) remain before cleanup.

Observed value: 900 (15 minutes) — a snapshot value, confirm against your own globals.xml rather than assuming it is engine-hardcoded.

CleanupLifetimeDefault

Type: Integer (minutes)
Default cleanup lifetime for general objects not covered by a more specific lifetime rule.

Default: 45
Note: This acts as a fallback floor for miscellaneous world objects.

CleanupLifetimeLimit

Type: Integer
A threshold value used by the cleanup scheduler. Interacts with the general cleanup timing system.

CleanupLifetimeRuined

Type: Integer (seconds)
How long ruined items (condition = ruined) persist before CE removes them.

Observed value: 240 (4 minutes) — a snapshot value, not a confirmed universal default.
Lowering this: Ruined gear clears faster — keeps the world cleaner.
Raising this: Ruined gear sticks around longer.

Base and Flag Persistence

FlagRefreshFrequency

Type: Integer (seconds)
Observed value: 432000 (5 days). The variable name and value are confirmed present in globals.xml; the exact function that consumes it has not been isolated in the binary, so treat “how often the flag refresh cycle runs” as the intended purpose rather than a proven mechanism.

FlagRefreshMaxDuration

Type: Integer (seconds)
Observed value: 3456000 (40 days). Same caveat as FlagRefreshFrequency — name and value are confirmed, the exact consuming function is not independently isolated.

Loot Condition on Spawn

LootDamageMin

Type: Float (type=”1”)
Minimum damage value applied to items when they spawn. 0.00 means items can spawn in perfect condition.

Default: 0.0
Range: 0.00 to 1.00
Note: Combined with LootDamageMax, this defines the damage range for spawned loot. Vanilla default of 0.0 means items can spawn pristine.

LootDamageMax

Type: Float (type=”1”)
Maximum damage value applied to items when they spawn.

Default: 0.82 — vanilla loot spawns up to heavily worn condition.
Range: 0.00 to 1.00
Setting both to 0.00: All items spawn in perfect (pristine) condition — popular on boosted servers.
Setting high values: Items spawn more damaged — for hardcore/scarcity servers.

LootProxyPlacement

Type: Integer (0 or 1)
Enables/disables loot proxy placement behavior. Leave at 1 in normal operation.

LootSpawnAvoidance

Type: Integer (distance in meters)
Distance from players within which CE avoids spawning new loot. Prevents items from appearing directly next to players.

Default: 100

Map Loot Respawn Controls

These three variables control how the CE respawns map loot — they have nothing to do with player spawning.

RespawnAttempt

Type: Integer
How many placement attempts the CE makes per loot respawn cycle when trying to find valid spawn points for items. If all attempts fail (no valid loot point available), that respawn pass is skipped.

RespawnLimit

Type: Integer
Cap on the number of loot items the CE will respawn in a single cycle pass. Prevents CE from trying to refill too aggressively in one pass, which would cause performance spikes.

RespawnTypes

Type: Integer
Controls how many item types the CE processes per loot respawn cycle. Higher values mean CE evaluates more item types per pass — useful for large economies but increases per-cycle processing load.

Timing and Anti-Exploit

TimeLogin

Type: Integer (seconds)
How long a player must remain stationary during the login sequence before full world entry.

Default: 15

TimeLogout

Type: Integer (seconds)
How long the logout countdown takes when a player manually disconnects.

Default: 15
Raising this: Players must stay in place longer to safely log out — reduces combat logging.

TimeHopping

Type: Integer (minutes)
Penalty timer applied to players who switch servers frequently (server hopping). During this period their character has limited interaction capability.

Default: 60 minutes
Raising this: Stronger deterrent against server hopping for loot.

TimePenalty

Type: Integer
General time penalty value applied in certain anti-exploit situations.

World Simulation

WorldWetTempUpdate

Type: Integer (0 or 1)
Name and value are confirmed present in globals.xml; the exact consuming function has not been independently isolated in the binary. Treat “enables/disables wetness and temperature update simulation” as the intended purpose based on the name, not a fully proven mechanism. Leave at 1 unless you have a specific reason to disable.

ZoneSpawnDist

Type: Integer (meters)
Distance control used for zone spawn separation logic. Affects spacing behavior in zone-based spawning.

Idle Mode

IdleModeStartup

Type: Integer (0 or 1)
Whether idle mode is enabled on server startup. When idle, the server reduces simulation fidelity when no players are connected.

IdleModeCountdown

Type: Integer (seconds)
How long after all players disconnect before the server enters idle mode.

Food Decay

FoodDecay

Type: Integer (0 or 1)
Name and value are confirmed present in globals.xml; the exact consuming function has not been independently isolated. Treat “enables or disables food decay” as the intended purpose based on the name, not a fully proven mechanism.

Observed value: 1
0: Believed to disable food decay — popular on console servers to reduce gear maintenance frustration. Test before relying on this.
1: Food decays normally over time.

What Console Admins Typically Adjust

  1. AnimalMaxCount and ZombieMaxCount — raise to increase world population density, lower to reduce performance load.
  2. CleanupLifetimeDeadPlayer — raise to give players more time to recover their body.
  3. CleanupLifetimeDefault — lower to keep the world cleaner.
  4. LootDamageMin and LootDamageMax — set both to 0.00 on boosted servers for pristine loot.
  5. TimeLogin and TimeLogout — raise TimeLogout to reduce combat logging.
  6. TimeHopping — raise to deter server hopping.
  7. FoodDecay — set to 0 on servers that want a more casual food experience.

Safe Edit Pattern

  1. Change population (AnimalMaxCount, ZombieMaxCount) first and test.
  2. Then change cleanup timers as a group.
  3. Then change loot damage if desired.
  4. Never change type attribute on any line.
  5. Never put a decimal in a type="0" field.

Common Mistakes

Mistake Result
Putting decimal in type="0" field File parse error, server may fail to load config
Changing type attribute Breaks that variable’s interpretation
Raising MaxCount without cleanup capacity CE overtime pressure, lag, and overtime errors in RPT logs
Setting CleanupLifetimeDeadPlayer very high on active server Body accumulation, performance degradation
Editing many unrelated variables at once When something breaks, impossible to identify which change caused it

DayZ Console Server Configuration Reference — Xbox & PlayStation

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