The fact that some players jam coins under their W key in order to sustain movement in DayZ gives players a hint of how much running there is. There’s a lot, but as of a few updates ago there’s a new way to travel from the Northwest Airfield to Elektro, and that’s the V3S truck that spawns mostly inland.
While we’d encourage people to check out the DayZ DB map for themselves to find the exact locations of all the truck spawns around Chernarus, we figured we’d outline some of the better “truck runs” to save survivors from too much wandering around. Of course, there are no guarantees, but the chances are good that following our formula will pay off.
Nadezhdino – Pavlovo Military Base
For players that find themselves in the southwest corner of the map, these two locations are their best bet to find some wheels for the trip inland, although they aren’t particularly close together.
Nadezhdino is just to the north of Cherno and features three truck spawns in a relatively small town. Given the popularity of this route, however, expect to come up empty handed on anything but a recently restarted server.
As for the military base to the southwest of Pavlovo (and Pavlovo itself), there are a total of five truck spawns. Three are at the base, and two more in the town to the northwest. It’s another high traffic area, so expect to meet resistance, or to come up empty handed in general.
The Northwest Run – Zelenogorsk to Vybor
This is by far the best run at potential V3S truck spawns in the game. Zelenogorsk alone has 10 possible truck locations, but there are more as players follow the road through Pustoshka and Vybor. The only bummer is that if the truck is found in Vybor, the chances are survivors have run further than they intended in the first place. Still, it’s likely to make the trip back to the coast a little more enjoyable.
The Northwest – Vavilovo to Zaprudnoe
Players usually avoid this area of the map, which means there is little chance they will want to venture up here to find a truck. The good news is it’s a short jog from the Northwest Airfield, which makes this truck run ideal for anyone looking to hitch a ride back to the coast. In fact, players could leave the airfield and head to Vavilovo, then Sinistok, Topolniki and finally, through Novaya Petrovka to Zaprudnoe. There are about 10 to 15 truck spawns on this run, which makes it appealing for those who might want to head back to Elektro, or even to the military base north of Severograd.
The New Town – Stary Yar
It’s as north as players can get in Chernarus, but it has four truck spawns and a batch of other useful buildings to hang out in. This location is for the player that just wants a truck and doesn’t care how far they have to travel to get one. If saving time is the goal, skip this option completely.
To ensure that our strategy works, take our advice and study the DayZDB map. Finding a truck is about being smart and playing the odds, not walking for ten minutes to check an isolated spawn point on the edge of the map. Hit up town and cities that have multiple locations that a V3S might turn up, then head off toward another community that offers the same advantages. Once players find a truck, read up on how to refuel it with the Jerry Can.