What is this about?
Player memorials are small wooden crosses placed across the vanilla maps of DayZ. They commemorate players who were deeply connected to the game and are no longer with us. The crosses are placed by the developers at the request of friends or family. In many cases, the location reflects a place that held special meaning to them in-game.
Earlier memorials were mentioned in official status reports (e.g. Dec. 12th 2017 or June 5th 2018). More recent ones have often been added quietly, without public announcements and known only to those involved. Even without official acknowledgement, some memorials have since been identified by name through community verification — for example, friends or family members who shared confirmation on social media platforms.
How are you finding them?
Some crosses are discovered the old-fashioned way — by coming across them in-game. Others are identified through file analysis and map research to locate their exact positions. In many cases, players share screenshots on Reddit after finding a cross and asking who it was placed for. Occasionally, related friends respond and provide the story behind it. That’s how some of the confirmed dedications have been identified.
If you discover a cross that isn’t listed, know a name, or can share a story, feel free to reach out. I’ll review it and update the list accordingly.
How can you request such memorials?
If you'd like to request a memorial for a deceased friend, you can reach out to the developers through X (Twitter) or the Official Bohemia feedback tracker.
Some crosses seem to be missing
That’s correct. Not every cross found on the map is a player memorial. Some (such as the orthodox-style crosses) are regular static objects placed for environmental design, in some cases dating back to the ArmA era.
Player memorials, however, typically use a specific small wooden cross asset and are often placed in standalone locations, sometimes with a bench or other items nearby. These are the ones documented in this project.
10 Year Anniversary (December 2023)
Tim Pulsmeier, Senior Producer of DayZ talked briefly about the memorials in the DayZ 10 Year Anniversary Q&A Dev Vlog (06:35):
"Over the course of 10 years, there have been several stories where people actually lost their loved ones. Players have reached out to us dozens of times, sharing memories, stories, or experiences they had with a player. This has deeply impacted us. These days, if you traverse Chernarus or Livonia, you might come across individual gravesites on hills or vantage points close to villages, or just randomly in the forest. Each of these gravesites is connected to a memory, an adventure, and an experience — a player who, in many cases, left us too soon and is now deeply missed."