How does it work? Never succumbing to an illness in DayZ sounds like clickbait at first. But that is actually possible and neither a glitch nor a bug, but a deliberate feature. A healthy immune system is the key to this. The only thing you have to do is feed like a barn thresher. The current update 1.15 has thrown this mechanic a bit over the heap. Among other things, the rates for the digestion of food have been changed, as well as:
- A full stomach empties faster than an empty stomach (exponential curve)
- Maximum food value has dropped from 7500 to 5000 – just as high as water.
- With a continuous sprint, it takes around 2 hours until your stomach is empty.
Illnesses and the immune system: this is how you stay healthy in DayZ
This is how the immune system works: DayZ simulates your immune system, although you don’t even see it, you can consciously influence it. The following attributes change your immunity:
- food,
- liquid,
- blood,
- Health,
Body temperature, on the other hand, does not play a significant role. You have to fill the four values mentioned above to 95 percent. Once you’ve done that, you can even eat raw meat and offal without food poisoning. Plus, you can’t get infected with any other disease!
For the sake of simplicity, let’s say 95 percent of around 200 percent. That sounds strange, but in DayZ you can almost overfill your stomach – just not too much, otherwise it will come out where it came in.
As soon as you have reached the “95 percent†mark, the symbols are completely filled. Make sure that the liquid icon (water bottle) does not fill up to the lid!
So if the symbols of your values are full, you can then stuff yourself with everything you can find and drastically extend the time until the next real meal.
How to get rid of Food Poisoning in DayZ
What you need: In the current version of DayZ, unlike the previous one, you need more than just tablets. Whereas in DayZ 1.09 it was already enough to swallow charcoal tablets, in 1.18 you have to do more to prevent diseases.
Just like never getting sick again, you have to eat and drink a lot to recover. Also, until the value rises above 95 percent. Once again, you can see that the icon is full. As you can see, it is quite easy to cure food poisoning in DayZ.
What other diseases are there in DayZ & how do you cure them?
Food Poisoning: Described in detail above!
Kuru (Brain Disease): This infection is one of the most annoying diseases in DayZ: you laugh and shake. You get infected by distorting human flesh, fat, or blood. There is no cure.
Wound Infection: One of the most complex diseases in DayZ — We have a full guide on Wound Infection and treatment for you.
Cholera: You get cholera from the distortion of unclean water. Your character will vomit frequently, and a cure is possible with Tetracycline tablets.
Common Cold: If you are hypothermic for too long, you may catch a cold. An already infected player can also transmit the disease. You cough and shiver. You cure a cold with tetracycline tablets.
Influenza: You also get influenza from prolonged hypothermia or contact with an infected player. Sneezing, coughing and even fever are the result of infection. Influenza can be cured with tetracycline tablets.
Some additional clarifications to update 1.19 that changes things drastically. Now at 65% you're only immune to colds and influenza, and 95% to be immune to everything but Kuru. Previous to 1.19 it was 65% for everything.
They've also drastically increased the amount of tablets required to be taken during the jump from 1.18 to 1.19. Most diseases usually require 4-8 now. You can take different types at once, but multiple of the same type will not stack. Keep in mind this can be a bit buggy, sometimes requiring re-logging for the disease to be cured.
One of the main issues however is people re-infecting themselves, if you eat food or drink from a container you're almost guaranteed to have contaminated them. You don't have to worry about this while you're still sick and medicating yourself, but as soon as you're cured you need to chuck the contaminated food and empty or sterilise any water containers you have used. This doesn't apply all items, just the ones you have eaten or drank from.
Here is a link to Wobo's immunity checker https://wobo.tools/dayz-immunity-stat-checker-tool.php
Also see a disease chart below which is incredibly useful. Note that vitamins are usually optional (excluding the common cold, but that generally goes away naturally anyway). Also wound infections and Toxic poisoning are a bit more complex and have different medical requirements depending on the stage of infection More in depth details in the links below.
https://dayz.fandom.com/wiki/Gas_Poisoning
https://dayz.fandom.com/wiki/Wound_Infection
