DayZ Update 1.21 Takes Us Back to Medieval Times, Patch Notes and more

Angel Kicevski May 23, 2023Last Updated: May 23, 2023

0 10 minutes read

A time-traveling update has landed in DayZ as the post-apocalyptic survival game now features medieval-themed gear and the first-ever spring-powered weapon, a crossbow. This unexpected twist came as part of the 1.21 update recently released on all platforms.

The new weapon, a crossbow, is a significant addition to the game, marking the first spring-powered weapon in DayZ. The crossbow fires deadly bolts and can be equipped with various sights and scopes, enhancing its lethal potential. Players can recover bolts after the shooting, although they will sustain some damage with each use. If players can’t find their bolts, they can create improvised ones, keeping their ammunition supply well-stocked.

While the crossbow is not strictly a medieval artifact, Bohemia Interactive has scattered an array of other medieval-themed items and clothing throughout the DayZ world. Specifics are being kept under wraps to maximize the surprise factor, but the new additions promise to be diverse enough to kit out a full-fledged survivor knight, ready for a castle siege. The full patch notes can be found below:

PC Stable 1.21 Update 1 – Version 1.21.156201 (Release on 23.05.2023)

NOTES

Consider using the Steam client option to verify the integrity of the local game cache to avoid corrupted data after downloading this update.
Consider de-fragmenting your HDD after downloading large updates.
In case of problems, please check the Bohemia Interactive support F.A.Q., DayZ F.A.Q., or BattlEye F.A.Q.
You can help us to further improve the game by posting your feedback on the Feedback Tracker.

GAME

ADDED

Crossbow and color variants
Bolts and Improvised Bolt variants
Sword
Mace
Chainmail
Chainmail Leggings
Chainmail Coif
Norse Helm
Chestplate
Medieval Boots
Wool Gloves with fingerless and color variants
Feathers
Game hints in the loading screen
Added new game hints
Thrown items and moving vehicles now move smoother on high refresh rate devices
Status icon for mild leg injuries
UI brightness can be adjusted in the settings
The character now spawns with items pre-assigned to their quickbar
Sound indicator when dying of thirst

FIXED

Fixed further exploits to look through walls (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170298 – private)
Fixed an exploit to glitch through walls
It was possible to execute a stealth kill even if there was an obstacle between the player and the target
Several explosions were missing their tail sounds
The camera would move sharply when a vehicle turns opposite to the mouse/joystick movement
The camera would glitch when swimming with a broken leg (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170499)
The action to refill a partially filled gasoline container would appear at water sources
The Scout rifle reload sounds would echo (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T169535)
Items ruined while in a container carried in hands would float in the air
Fixed issues with several structures (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T160592, https://feedback.bistudio.com/T168942, https://feedback.bistudio.com/T169537 – private)
It was very difficult to reach the “Open trunk” action for the Olga 02 wreck
Ruining handcuffs would not free the cuffed player (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T169831)
Arming/disarming damaged Remote Detonation Units would reset the health of the explosive and detonator (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T169981)
Links between remote detonators and explosives were not persistent
The character could collide with items dropped from a thrown fireplace
Interrupting of building by another player could result in desync
On lowest FOV settings, the camera would zoom out instead of in when focusing the view
Items inside the vehicle cargo were not drying or changing their temperature (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T163152, https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170216)
Exhaling sound was missing when exiting ADS while holding breath (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T169869)
The player could fall to their death when reconnecting while high on a ladder (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T156308)
Infected could walk through specific base building objects
Fire barrels did not have accessible cargo space when attached to a truck (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170054)
Aiming to attach wooden sticks to an improvised shelter could display non-functional selection arrows
Weight of the heat pack was irrationally high
It was not possible to purify water in a cauldron (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170056)
It was possible to purify an empty container
Placing a tent inside a bigger tent could cause inventory management problems
Thermometer was not displaying realistic temperatures in cases of sickness
The character could get stuck when changing stances while dropping an item
Player could desync and fall through the map by going prone or being attacked by infected (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170823, https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170837, https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170747, https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170752, https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170854)
Accessing ladders from crouch position could offset the character’s collision
PU scope reticle would glow slightly at night
Heat comfort was not handled properly after reconnecting on elevated positions in buildings
The tripwire could not be moved in the inventory in ruined state (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170682)
Advanced placement did not work as intended in the small factory building (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170826)
Some clothes, accessories, tools and car parts could not be shot through (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVCXhVkur0M)
A damaged Battery could lose quantity when being swapped
A square shape was present when looking through the iron sights of the 4x ATOG optic (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T159711)
UI tabs were resized when changing sliders in the settings (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170570)
The control when looking through binoculars and certain scopes in hands was very floaty (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T167629)
Desync when reconnecting near a car or entering a running car’s network bubble could result in the client showing a stalled state for the car
Aiming while prone would not take the terrain surface into account normally
The state of weapons would not be reflected properly when dropped to the ground
The texture for b***** hands was darker on survivor model 11
The action to wash hands was even available when gloves are put over the b***** hands
Infected could walk through rocks
Infected could walk through piles of wooden planks
The NVG headstrap could be dropped on the ground upon reconnect
Vehicle startup sounds were not synchronized with the animation (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T169846)
Freelook could only turn the camera by 90 degrees (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T160427)
Bird and cricket ambient sounds would cut instantly when a player shoots within 500 meters
Bird and cricket ambient sounds would not react to explosion sounds
Soft braking a vehicle with CTRL+S was not working as intended
The player could get stuck in the load-in queue at position 0 while being kicked off the server
Fixed a bug that could transform vehicles into unusual shapes
Fixed an issue where players with poor network connection could influence the connection of other players
Fixed several cases of items falling through the map when being thrown
Reigniting a fireplace would not increase its heat again (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T171086)
It was possible to glitch through a wall of the airfield tower (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T171454 – private)
Vehicles stuck outside of the map would not despawn (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170836 – private)
M1025 tires were not properly aligned on wrecks (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T171065)
Interrupting the unpacking action by jumping would spawn unlimited amounts of paper
Fixed an instance of the blow torch causing desynchronization (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170681)
Eye zoom reduction would trigger in not-intended situations (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170939, https://feedback.bistudio.com/T171809)
It was not possible to repair certain masks with a sewing kit (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T171736)
Water from animal troughs was not contaminated with cholera
It was possible to shave a character’s face while it was covered with a mask
RPM of cars could jump up while entering

CHANGED

Reworked falling damage impact depending on height
Updated the falling animation for medium heights
Removed the BattlEye license agreement prompt in-game (PC only – https://feedback.bistudio.com/T166065 – private)
Tweaked sounds of doors with valve lock
Changed the horn sound of the M3S truck
Increased the audibility of explosions
Allowed eye gear to spawn on infected (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T162844)
Login timers are now also displaying in minutes and hours
Zoom functionality is no longer reduced during fast movement in crouch or prone
Applied minor visual tweaks to the Great Helm
Reduced the weight of the plastic explosive by 60% (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170175)
Tweaked impact sounds for metallic objects depending on the targeted surface
Ripened horticulture plants now stay for twice as long before they start to decay
Increased the minimum amount of quick slots available to the player
Reduced the amount of additional quick slots given by certain gear
Interactions with a power generator now refresh the lifetime of it and all items connected to it (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T137688)
Removed the “Loading…” text on the login timer
Washing hands is now a continuous action
Tweaked the width of all tire tracks
Changed the animation for pill consumption
Improved the visuals of the PSO-1, PSO-1-1 and P1-87-L Scopes
Reduced the reflection on the glass of scopes
Improvised fishing rod can now be dismantled
Adjusted position/rotation of individual weapons when carried on the shoulder (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T165127)
Distant lights are much dimmer
Transition from close up light to distant is much smoother
Slightly increased the damage the Sarka 120 takes from impacts
The drying rate of items has been adjusted to correctly reflect item location and outside influences
Increased the duration of the wringing action
Adjusted inventory lighting to make the item previews more read-able (less over-exposed) and more in the style of UI (flatter lighting)
Reduced the chances of pristine weapons getting jammed when chambering a bullet
It was possible to see under the map while driving with vehicles in 3rd person
Reduced the view obstruction of the great helm
Adjusted the sizes of several dialogue boxes to better fit their texts
Items will now be placed to the side of vehicles when dropped

CENTRAL ECONOMY

Fixed: Removed headtorches definitions from “cfgspawnabletypes.xml” and “cfgrandompresets.xml”
Fixed: Humvee wheels were not marked as “vehicleparts” causing them to often spawn in sheds instead of on wrecks
Fixed: Chickenfeather was missing from “types.xml”
Tweaked: Adjusted spawning of gloves to accommodate for the new wool gloves
Tweaked: Adjusted medieval loot spawns to accommodate new items
Tweaked: Reduced amount of 7.62×54 mm and 9×39 mm ammunition spawning

CHERNARUS

Fixed: Chernarus economy files included Livonia animal territories
Changed: Updated the Chernogorsk football field

LIVONIA

Added: Flags of the winners of the “Lights Out” event
Fixed: Shifted police situation at Bielawa (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170793 – private)

SERVER

Added: Object spawner supports direct p3d spawning (Documentation)
Added: Server config int parameter ‘networkObjectBatchSend’ (default = 10) which is how many objects within a players network bubble are sent to be created within a server frame (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T169094) (Documentation)
Added: Server config int parameter ‘networkObjectBatchCompute’ (default = 1000) which is how many objects within a players network bubble are processed to check if it already exists for the player within a server frame (Documentation)
Added: Optional logging for raising/lowering flags at flag poles (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170287)
Added: Object Spawner: “enableCEPersistency” which when set to true will make an object behave as configured by economy, otherwise it will not be saved in the server storage until a player puts it in inventory
Fixed: Script execution not functioning properly in certain situations depending on init.c (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T169822 – private)
Fixed Several inconsistencies in the admin logs (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170195)
Fixed: It was not possible to spawn infected with functional head torches attached (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T162844)
Fixed: Items spawned before CE Init were not persistent
Changed: Shortcut for map toggling is not available if use3dMap option is enabled (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T170401)

LAUNCHER

Fixed: Offline servers (in Favorites tab) now always appear after online servers
Tweaked: Offline servers (in Favorites tab) are now faded to clearly indicate they are offline

MODDING

Added: WORKBENCH define for script which should only compiled on Workbench launch
Added: Defines Window to set up custom Workbench validation
Added: “Compile Core Builds scripts” option to Build menu (CTRL+ALT+F7) to compile multiple important build setups in a row
Added: Flags parameter to DayZPlayerUtils::SceneGetEntitiesInBox (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T168610)
Added: Additional flags parameter for DayZPlayerUtils.SceneGetEntitiesInBox
Added: Class in CfgMods now auto generates a static (loaded before script compilation begins) script define (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T159481)
Added: Class in CfgMods now supports “defines[]” text array which adds static script defines
Added: Support for adding static script defines in gproj with ScriptDefines -> ScriptDefinesClass (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T159481)
Added: CGame::CreateStaticObjectUsingP3D
Added: ‘Serializer.CanWrite’/Serializer.CanRead’ to check if the serializer can be read or written to
Added: ‘IEntity.GetRenderTransform’
Added: Variable ‘DayZPlayerCameraResult.m_bUpdateEveryFrame’ to change camera update behaviour from fixed tick to unlocked frame rate
Added: Variable ‘DayZPlayerCameraResult.m_OwnerTM’ to override the transformation of the owner
Added: Ability to set proxy (inventory slot) offset per item in item config
Added: Methods for controlling brightness of UI (Widget.SetLV, Widget.SetTextLV, Widget.SetObjectLighting)
Added: “ignoregloballv” property flag to layout
Added: ‘HumanInputController.GetAimDelta’ to get the frame independent aim change
Added: ECE_NOPERSISTENCY_WORLD, ECE_NOPERSISTENCY_CHAR and ECE_DYNAMIC_PERSISTENCY flags to be used with CreateObjectEx
Added: ‘IEntity.AddChild’ can use pivot points on RV animated objects
Added: ‘Object.GetBonePivot(level, component)’ to retrieve the pivot index for the component in the shapes LOD
Added: Moved ‘GetBonePositionX’, ‘GetBoneRotationX’ and GetBoneTransformX’ to Object class, can be used on RV and Enfusion animated objects
Added: ‘DayZCreature.GetBoneIndexByName’
Added: Ability to set inventory lighting from config (top-level InventoryLighting config class)
Added: Exposed methods World::MarkObjectForPathgraphUpdate and World::ProcessMarkedObjectsForPathgraphUpdate
Added: ‘IEntity.GetHierarchyPivot’ to get the pivot point used when called with ‘IEntity.AddChild’
Added: CollisionInfo classes for OnProjectileStoppedInTerrain() and OnProjectileStoppedInObject(), which will fire for ALL projectiles that get stuck in objects
Added: InventorySlotsOffsets config class (on item/weapon), which can define position and rotation offset of an item when placed into a slot on the character
Added: Workbench: Defines: There is now a duplication check which will prevent the same define being present multiple times
Added: Workbench: Defines: “Combo” defines are now visible in defines window
Added: Object.GetShapeName to get full path of shape( https://feedback.bistudio.com/T171777)
Added: ‘Car.SetBrakesActivateWithoutDriver’ to disable the handbrake while there is no driver inside the vehicle (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T147126)
Added: ‘Car.GetClutch’ to get the value of the clutch
Added: ‘Car.SetClutchState’ to set if the clutch is disengaged
Added: ‘Car.EngineRPMMin’ to get the minimum rpm constant of the car engine
Added: ‘Car.EngineRPMIdle’ to get the idle rpm constant of the car engine
Added: Sample for driver-less cars (https://github.com/BohemiaInteractive/DayZ-Samples/tree/master/Test_SmartCar)
Added: New config class EnvironmentWetnessIncrements for wetting and drying parameters that can be defined on any item (see Inventory_Base config class for the default settings)
Fixed: Transformation synchronization for script class ‘Transport’ when the vehicle is inactive (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T153234)
Fixed: EntityAI which were previously reported as Object in script will now be properly reported as EntityAI (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T168610)
Fixed: ‘typename.GetVariableValue’ would not check inheritance
Fixed: Crash when calling methods on inventory owner in GameInventory.Init
Fixed: Crash on DayZCreatureAIInputController::GetMovementSpeed() (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T171426)
Fixed: ClientConnectedEvent not giving the proper UID
Changed: CGame.CreateStaticObjectUsingP3D, EntityAI.SetObjectMaterial and EntityAI.SetObjectTexture now disallows absolute paths and support ‘$’ prefixed paths
Changed: Man.SetFaceTexture and Man.SetFaceMaterial now disallows absolute paths and support ‘$’ prefixed paths
Changed: Moved ‘EntityAI.IsDayZCreature()’ to ‘Object’ class
Changed: Ignore detection of dropped items has partially been moved to script through overridable method ‘Object.CanBeIgnoredByDroppedItem’
Changed: ‘IEntity.AddChild’ (and ‘Human.LinkToLocalSpaceOf’) now synchronize the pivot and position only flags to clients (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T167549)
Removed: Obsolete sound config parameters: drySound, reloadMagazineSound, reloadSound, reloadAction, shotAction, reloadSkips, soundBullet, disarmAction, soundBegin, soundBeginExt
Removed: ‘Protected’ keywords from PPEMatClassParameter* Update method variables (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T171246)

KNOWN ISSUES

Player position on server can be desynced while combat with Infected
Falling through terrain\object structure when going prone near objects
Other players can hear character’s groan when landing from a small height
Arrow disappears right after removing from Crossbow
A bolt is missing from Crossbow after reconnecting
Bolt stuck in an AI can be picked up into your inventory but not taken into hands
Bolt stuck in an item sometimes disappears when taken into inventory
String is not stretched when Crossbow is on shoulder or in the inventory
Minutes and seconds values are swapped while logging out with French set up
Cancelling the pulling back of the crossbow string will show it as loaded
Plants, Rocks spawned by Object Spawner are deleted after interaction
Loot spawned with Object spawner does not despawn if moved (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T172579)