At it’s core DayZ is a survival game. Sure there are undead people wanting to bite your face off everywhere you look but you’ll also have to manage your characters stats if you want to survive. DayZ is a simulation game where you will have to look after your character’s well-being too. From hunger and thirst to warmth and rest you will have to manage all of these at the same time. If you exert a lot of energy you character will have to rest. So how do you sleep in DayZ? Well, by just taking a break.
How to Sleep/Lie Down in DayZ
Unlike most survival games such as Project Zomboid and MineCraft your character doesn’t actually sleep in the DayZ. That being said, your character will need to rest eventually if they are exerting a lot of energy. Your character does not need to sleep at all in the game. To rest in DayZ, simply stop your character from moving for a short time. You can open up the emoticon wheel and have your character sit down and actually just let them relax for a short time. The more they run around, the more their stamina will be drained. Plus, your hunger and thirst meter will fall quicker if you are sprinting around not taking a rest.
If you’re wanting to lie down though, you are in luck! There are a set of different actions you can make in the game. Whether it be for RP purposes or to just have your character physically rest. You are able to open up a emote wheel which lets you choose from a range of actions. One of these is the Lie Down action which you can see being used in the image above.
How to Use Emotes in DayZ
If you want to use some emotes you will have to first go into the in-game settings. By default there is no key designated to open up the emote wheel on PC. First, navigate to your Options menu and go to the CONTROLS tab. Here you will find the setting CONFIGURE BINDINGS. Select this option and you can change some of the key bindings for different actions. The one we are looking for is the Gestures Radial Menu. Assign one of your free keys to this by clicking the first box and then pressing a key. Now select the button APPLY on the bottom right of the screen. You can now use this key to open up the emote menu.
The emote wheel is separated into different categories. First, hold the emote wheel hotkey down and move your mouse to one of the actions. Now, press the ENTER key with your mouse over the action you want to make. Included in this are a bunch of taunts and also the gestures to lie down and sit down. Helpful if your character needs a rest.