Player guide
Getting started
RotorCraft Evolution adds flyable helicopters to DayZ 1.30. This page gets you from subscribing to your first hover; the other guides go deeper on each topic.
What you need
- DayZ 1.30.
- Community Framework (CF) and RotorCraft Evolution, both from the Steam Workshop. CF loads first.
- A server that runs both mods. A server-only install is not enough: your game needs the models, sounds, controls and scripts too.
Subscribe and join
- Subscribe to RotorCraft Evolution on the Steam Workshop, and to Community Framework.
- Let Steam finish downloading both.
- In the DayZ Launcher, find a server running the mod and join. The launcher loads the server's mods for you, in the right order.
Your copy of the mod must be the same version as the server's. If you get kicked while loading in right after an update, the server usually just hasn't restarted onto the new version yet. See Troubleshooting.
There is a public test server on Nasdara with the whole fleet parked on the runway. Its address and how to join are on the home page.
The fleet
| Mosquito XE | One-seat ultralight. Car battery and two spark plugs. |
| MH-6 Little Bird | Six seats, light transport. |
| AH-6 Little Bird | Gunship: M134 minigun and 40 mm HE grenade launcher. |
| SA342M Gazelle | Four-seat scout. |
| Gazelle, 20 mm cannon | Fixed forward cannon under the nose. |
| UH-60M Black Hawk | Twelve seats, troop transport. |
| Black Hawk, door guns | Two crewed M240H guns in the gunner windows. |
| CH-47 Chinook (Experimental) | 22 seats and a cargo hold that carries cars and motorbikes. |
Everything except the Mosquito runs on a truck battery and a glow plug. Details are in Parts, fuel and repair.
Your first flight in 60 seconds
A freshly spawned helicopter usually already has its battery and plugs fitted, a blowtorch with gas in it, and a quarter tank of fuel. If you find one like that:
- Get in the pilot seat. Aim at the seat and hold F. Only the pilot seat flies.
- Start the engine. Make sure you are not holding the right mouse button, then hold LMB.
- Wait for the rotor. Full rotor speed takes about 25 seconds. While the HUD shows ROTOR SPINNING UP, the lever will not go above centre on the ground.
- Lift off. Once rotor speed reads 100%, roll the mouse wheel up, one notch at a time, until the aircraft rises. Centre is roughly a hover.
- Fly. W/S tip the nose down and up, A/D bank, Q/E turn the nose. Pitch and bank stay where you leave them, so put them back yourself.
- If it gets away from you, press Left arrow. It levels the aircraft, centres the lever and brakes drift and descent for about two seconds, as long as the engine is running.
- Land. Slow down, level off, lower the lever a little at a time and settle onto flat ground.
- Shut down. On the ground, click LMB to stop the engine. The rotor takes roughly 55 seconds to coast to a stop.
Holding F gets you out even in flight. That is not a safe way to leave a helicopter.
Where to next
- Controls: every key, and how to rebind them.
- Flying: the lever, recovery, the HUD, landing and engine failures.
- Parts, fuel and repair: what each aircraft needs and how to fix it.
- Locks, keys, camo and paint: keeping your helicopter yours.
Questions or bugs: ask on the Discord.
Something missing or wrong? Ask in the Discord.