DayZ types.xml Explained

Q: What does nominal mean in DayZ types.xml?

nominal is the target number of instances of an item that the Central Economy tries to keep on the map. When the count drops below min, the economy spawns new instances until nominal is reached again.

Q: What is the difference between min and nominal?

nominal is the target amount, min is the threshold that triggers respawning. If an item has nominal 40 and min 30, nothing respawns while 30 or more exist; once fewer than 30 exist, the economy spawns new ones until it is back at 40.

Q: Where is types.xml located on a DayZ server?

In the mission folder: mpmissions/dayzOffline.chernarusplus/db/types.xml for Chernarus, dayzOffline.enoch for Livonia, dayzOffline.sakhal for Sakhal and dayzOffline.nasdara for Nasdara (Badlands).

Q: Do I need to restart the server after editing types.xml?

Yes. types.xml is read when the server starts, so changes only take effect after a restart.

Q: How do I increase loot on my DayZ server?

Raise nominal (and min) for the items you want more of. When you raise weapons, also raise their magazines and ammunition, otherwise players find guns they cannot use. Check that the items have a usage and value so they can spawn at all.

Every parameter of the Central Economy loot file, with real values from the official Chernarus types.xml.

Updated October 2026 · Based on the official files from Bohemia Interactive (16 October 2026, update 1.30)

types.xml is the file that tells DayZ's Central Economy (CE) which items exist on your server, how many of each should be on the map, how long they stay there and where they can spawn. Every weapon, can of food, piece of clothing and vehicle part has its own <type> entry.

You find it in the mission folder of your server:

Map	Path
Chernarus	`mpmissions/dayzOffline.chernarusplus/db/types.xml`
Livonia	`mpmissions/dayzOffline.enoch/db/types.xml`
Sakhal	`mpmissions/dayzOffline.sakhal/db/types.xml`
Nasdara (Badlands)	`mpmissions/dayzOffline.nasdara/db/types.xml`

The server reads the file on startup, so changes only take effect after a restart. Need a clean copy? Get the official files on the download page.

Anatomy of an entry

This is the AKM entry exactly as it appears in the official Chernarus file:

<type name="AKM">
    <nominal>3</nominal>
    <lifetime>7200</lifetime>
    <restock>3600</restock>
    <min>2</min>
    <quantmin>30</quantmin>
    <quantmax>80</quantmax>
    <cost>100</cost>
    <flags count_in_cargo="0" count_in_hoarder="0" count_in_map="1" count_in_player="0" crafted="0" deloot="0"/>
    <category name="weapons"/>
    <usage name="Military"/>
    <value name="Tier4"/>
</type>

Read it like this: the economy aims for 3 AKMs on the map. When fewer than 2 are left, new ones are spawned. A dropped or untouched AKM disappears after 2 hours (7200 seconds). It only spawns in military buildings in Tier 4 areas, and its internal quantity is rolled between 30 % and 80 %.

How respawning works

The Central Economy constantly counts how many instances of every type exist. For each type it compares that count with two numbers:

While the count is at or above min, nothing new spawns.
When it drops below min, the economy starts spawning new instances until the count reaches nominal again.

Example: BandageDressing has nominal 40 and min 30. Players can loot ten bandages before the economy reacts; after that it refills back up to 40.

Respawning is not instant across the whole map. The server's globals.xml limits how much happens per cycle: by default RespawnTypes (12) different types and RespawnLimit (20) items of one type at once. On top of that, loot only spawns in a loot group when no player is closer than LootSpawnAvoidance (50 m by default).

Which instances are counted at all is controlled by the counting flags.

Parameter reference

Parameter	Meaning	Typical vanilla values
`nominal`	Target number of instances on the map. `0` means the economy never spawns the item as loot (it can still come from crafting, events or other sources).	1–3 for rare weapons, 20–40 for common medical items
`min`	Threshold that triggers respawning. Below this number, new instances are spawned until `nominal` is reached.	Roughly 50–75 % of nominal
`lifetime`	Seconds an item stays in the world while nobody interacts with it before the cleanup removes it.	`14400` (4 h) for most loot, `7200` (2 h) for weapons, `3888000` (45 days) for barrels
`restock`	Delay in seconds before the item may be respawned again. `0` means it can respawn as soon as it is below `min`.	`0` for almost everything, `3600` for some weapons, `43200` (12 h) for tents
`quantmin` / `quantmax`	Range (in %) for the item's quantity when it spawns, for example rounds in a magazine, liquid in a canteen or pills in a bottle. `-1` means the item has no quantity.	`-1` for most items, `5`–`50` for magazines
`cost`	Spawn priority value. Vanilla leaves it at `100` for practically every item; there is rarely a reason to change it.	`100` (1,969 of 1,970 entries)
`flags`	Which instances count towards `nominal` and how the item is treated. See counting flags.	Only `count_in_map="1"`
`category`	Type of loot. Loot points in buildings only accept certain categories.	`weapons`, `tools`, `clothes`, `food`, …
`usage`	Kind of place where the item can spawn. An item can have several.	`Military`, `Town`, `Village`, …
`value`	Map tier the item can spawn in. An item can have several.	`Tier1`–`Tier4`, `Unique`
`tag`	Where inside a building the item is placed.	`shelves`, `floor`

Counting flags

The <flags> line decides which existing instances the economy counts when it compares against min and nominal.

Flag	When set to 1
`count_in_map`	Items lying in the world and in buildings are counted. This is the normal setting for loot.
`count_in_cargo`	Items stored inside other items (backpacks, containers) are counted.
`count_in_hoarder`	Items in player storage such as tents, barrels and buried stashes are counted.
`count_in_player`	Items in player inventories are counted.
`crafted`	Marks the item as craftable, e.g. painted weapon variants like `AK74_Black`.
`deloot`	Dynamic event loot: the item spawns at dynamic events such as helicopter crash sites.

Anti-hoarding: In the vanilla files almost every entry counts only items on the map. The exceptions are about 50 base-building and rare items such as tents, barrels, flags, traps, some backpacks and night vision goggles. If players stockpile an item and it becomes too common, set count_in_hoarder="1" (and optionally count_in_cargo="1") for that item. Stored copies then count towards the limit and fewer new ones spawn.

Category, usage, value and tag

These four decide where an item can spawn. The names must match the definitions in the mission's cfglimitsdefinition.xml, otherwise the item has no valid spawn points.

usage

The kind of location: Town, Village, Military, Industrial, Farm, Hunting, School, Police, Medic, Office, Coast, Firefighter, Prison, Historical, Lunapark, ContaminatedArea and SeasonalEvent. An item with several usages can spawn in all of them.

value

The map is divided into tiers, from Tier1 (coast, starting areas) to Tier4 (far inland, high-value military areas). Unique is used for a handful of special items such as M79, ClaymoreMine and Plastic_Explosive. An item without a value tag is not limited to a tier.

tag

Fine placement inside a building: shelves or floor. Most entries have no tag.

The vanilla file in numbers

A few facts from the official Chernarus types.xml (October 2026) that help when you compare it with your own file:

2,382 entries; Livonia has 2,391, Sakhal 2,404 and Nasdara 2,411 (how Nasdara differs).
1,267 entries have nominal 0. They exist for crafting, events, infected, animals and similar, but do not spawn as regular loot.
172 of those have min 1 with nominal 0, mostly infected and animals. That looks odd but is harmless, because nothing spawns at nominal 0.
Only 57 entries count more than items on the map (count_in_player, count_in_cargo or count_in_hoarder), mostly tents, barrels, flags and traps.
The most common lifetimes are 4 hours (1,293 entries) and 8 hours (441 entries).

Common mistakes

Raising weapons without magazines and ammo

If you increase nominal for rifles, increase their magazines and ammunition too. Otherwise players find plenty of guns they cannot use.

min higher than nominal

For items that should spawn, min must not be larger than nominal. The economy would never reach a stable state for them.

Items without usage or value

Mod items are often added with a nominal but without usage or value, or with names that do not exist in cfglimitsdefinition.xml. Such items may never find a spawn point.

Editing the vanilla file for every mod

Since game update 1.08 you can keep mod items in their own file and register it in cfgeconomycore.xml, so it survives game and mod updates:

<economycore>
    <!-- existing content -->
    <ce folder="my_mods">
        <file name="my_mod_types.xml" type="types" />
    </ce>
</economycore>

Broken XML

A single missing closing tag can stop the economy from loading the file correctly. Validate the file before uploading it to your server.

The Loot Editor for DayZ shows all of this as a table, flags mistakes like the ones above and only writes valid XML. It runs in your browser and your files never leave your computer.

Open the Editor

FAQ

What does nominal mean in DayZ types.xml?

The target number of instances the Central Economy keeps on the map. When the count drops below min, new instances spawn until nominal is reached again.

What is the difference between min and nominal?

nominal is the target, min is the trigger. With nominal 40 and min 30, nothing respawns while 30 or more exist; below 30 the economy refills to 40.

Where is types.xml located on a DayZ server?

In mpmissions/<mission>/db/types.xml, for example dayzOffline.chernarusplus for Chernarus, dayzOffline.enoch for Livonia and dayzOffline.sakhal for Sakhal and dayzOffline.nasdara for Nasdara (Badlands).

Do I need to restart the server after editing types.xml?

Yes. The file is read on startup, so changes take effect after the next restart.

How do I increase loot on my DayZ server?

Raise nominal and min for the items you want more of, scale magazines and ammo together with weapons, and make sure the items have a valid usage and value. The Loot Editor's Mass Edit can change hundreds of items by a percentage in one step.

Sources: official DayZ Central Economy files by Bohemia Interactive (GitHub), Central Economy Configuration and mission files modding on the Bohemia Interactive Community Wiki.