This page covers the 2012 DayZ Mod for Arma 2. For information from DayZ (2018), see Navigating.
If you have not yet found a Compass in-game, then here are some techniques to find North.
When you first spawn into the game, the nearest location will be displayed in white text (bottom right corner) briefly. This will give you an approximate location.
If you're on the south coast between Kemenka and Otmel with the sea at your back, it is straightforward. This only works if you are on the south coast (which most fresh spawns choose, because of the higher loot concentration), though there is a chance that you spawn at the east coast between Solnichniy and Kamyshovo. In that case, straight forward is west.
Find North using a watch
Method 1
With your watch, check the time (Press O, your watch will be shown on the screen). The sun travels from East to West, so if it is 6 pm, the sun would be closer to the west side of Chernarus. If it is 9 AM, the sun would be closer to the East side. Therefore, if it is AM, the sun is closer to the East side. PM = West. If it's near 12 PM (noon), you will have to try another method listed below.
Method 2
If you've found a watch and do not have a compass, you can use shadows to find (roughly) north.
- find a shadow from a tree or other long object
- take out your watch and keep it horizontally (looking down)
- point the hour hand (short one) towards the sun
- draw a line from the center of your watch and between the hour hand and 12 o'clock
- north is at the other side of the center
Method 3
Use your watch or your vision to tell if the sun is rising or setting. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. If the sun is in the East at the time, look at the sun (you are looking East) and North will be to your left. If the sun is setting, look at the sun (you will be looking West). Look to your right and that is North. South is obviously the opposite of that.
Clouds
The Clouds in Chernarus always travel from the West to the East.
Northern Star
Especially during the night, it can be hard to orientate and very hard to know which direction you're walking. Since you can't use shadows, you'll need to rely on the stars. Here is how to do so:
- find the Big Dipper constellation
- draw a line from the 2 bottom stars and keep drawing this line upwards
- the next star you'll get is Polaris, the Northern Star
Power lines
A network of high voltage power lines near the Topolka Dam.
Power lines are a way to navigate Chernarus. The network consist of power plants, and high voltage transmission lines (the really tall ones) which go across the entire country-side.
The network goes along the coast between Solnichniy, Elektrozavodsk, and Chernogorsk. There is a three-way junction at Chernogorsk which then goes inland north-west to the Zelenogorsk sub-station, and then cuts east across Stary Sobor and Novy Sobor all the way to Berezino on the east coast.
Following power lines is a sure way to eventually find a town if you are lost, though care should be taken to not alert the Zombies that patrol around them.