SpawnPass · DayZ
Base building and stashes
Fences, tents and locks — and why a buried stash often beats a base you cannot defend.
Last checked 2026-09-21
Overview
Base building in DayZ is a persistence strategy, not a fortress strategy. The question is always what you can afford to lose while you are logged off.
The baseline
Modular kit building, fences, tents and combination locks. Nothing you build is genuinely raid-proof; it is a delay and a deterrent.
Stashes versus bases
A buried stash costs nothing to defend and nobody can see it. A base advertises that there is something worth taking. Most successful long-run survivors use several small stashes and one modest base, not the reverse.
Code locks are coming
Update 1.30, on experimental at time of writing, adds official code locks with a battery: when the battery dies the door unlocks. If you are reading guidance written before that, its "there are no code locks on official" line is about to stop being true.
Rebuilding houses
The 1.30 and Badlands work introduces repairing damaged houses on the new map with bricks, mortar and a trowel. That changes what a base even means on that terrain.