Most online games rely on the community to test changes before they go live, and DayZ is no different. To iron out the creases and ensure that DayZ players are getting the optimal experience, devs launched the DayZ experimental server where you can test out upcoming changes headed to the game before the wider player base.
This can be a great way to get experienced with big gameplay additions before you see them in DayZ so it’s something you’re going to want to get familiar with. Fortunately, it’s not too difficult to start playing but you will need to download DayZ experimental from the Steam store before you can jump into the test servers.
How to play DayZ experimental
If you already own DayZ you should automatically have the experimental launcher in your Steam library. If you head to Steam it should appear right under the standard DayZ game. Simply click on this and then install it.
Once fully installed launch DayZ experimental and you can now play on test servers. It is worth noting that these servers aren’t always live so you’ll need to wait until the devs set them live to test something before you can jump on and play. If none of the DayZ experimental servers are up, don’t stress! You can still jump back into the regular game and adventure until they next go live.
Similar to the PC version, you will get the DayZ experimental game on Xbox simply by owning the original game on your console. Doing one better, if you’re a GamePass subscriber you can get access to both games. That’s pretty cool, right?
