Controls Reference

Flight Controls

These controls apply while seated in the pilot seat — on DayZ 1.29 only the pilot seat can fly (see the note below).

Key	Action
`W`	Pitch forward (nose down, gain forward speed)
`S`	Pitch back (nose up, slow down / reverse)
`A`	Bank left (roll left)
`D`	Bank right (roll right)
`Q`	Yaw left (rotate left on pedals)
`E`	Yaw right (rotate right on pedals)
`Shift`	Increase collective (climb)
`Z`	Decrease collective (descend)
`P`	Autopilot destination map (new in v0.4.2) — opens the map in the pilot seat; click a destination and ENGAGE to be flown there. Touching any flight control cancels the autopilot instantly. See Autopilot.
`X`	Autohover toggle — decelerates to a locked hover and holds altitude, heading, and position. Control input does not disengage it — steering fades the hold’s grip and it re-arrests where you release; press `X` again to switch it off. Also used for ground flip recovery when grounded and inverted.
`K`	Mouse Flight toggle — mixes mouse aim into the cyclic on top of the keyboard. Saved to your DayZ profile, so it persists between sessions and servers.
`H`	Damage panel toggle — hides or shows the top-left damage panel (which also carries the battery, spotlight and nav-light icons). Client-side and personal; servers can remove the panel entirely with `features.damageZonePanelEnabled = 0`.
`T`	Transfer Controls — currently disabled. On DayZ 1.29 only the pilot seat can fly; the rebuilt handover (the control holder transfers priority to the other cockpit seat) is in development and returns in a future update. The keybind is marked (DISABLED) in the controls menu until then.

On DayZ 1.29, only the pilot seat flies — this applies engine-wide to every CarScript helicopter mod. The co-pilot seat is a full passenger seat with instant actions. All flight and systems inputs (cyclic, collective, yaw, Autohover, lights, engine) belong to the pilot seat, and the HUD control indicator shows green when your seat has flight control. See Flying & the Co-Pilot Seat.

Every keybind is rebindable in the DayZ controls settings. The defaults shown here are: Autohover = X, Mouse Flight = U, Damage Panel = H, Spotlight = L, Navigation Lights = N, Admin Panel = F10, Free-look = press Left Alt (single press toggles — changed from double-tap in v0.3.6; press Reset All in your controls once after updating so the new bind takes effect).

Controller / Gamepad

Full controller support is built in for flight. With a gamepad connected:

Input	Action
Left stick	Cyclic — pitch and roll
Right trigger	Raise collective (climb)
Left trigger	Lower collective (descend)
Right shoulder	Yaw right (rudder)
Left shoulder	Yaw left (rudder)
Y button	Autohover toggle

All gamepad bindings are rebindable in the controls settings alongside the keyboard bindings.

Engine & Lights

Action	Who	Notes
Start Engine	Pilot	Hold action — hold time is `gameplay.engineHoldTime` (default ~1 sec). Requires a fitted, charged Helicopter Battery (`CZ_HelicopterBattery`) in the `HelicopterBattery` slot, fuel above zero, and an intact main rotor (a destroyed or sheared main rotor blocks the start).
Stop Engine	Pilot	Hold action (`gameplay.engineHoldTime`). Blocked if the helicopter is airborne and travelling faster than about 5 m/s — you cannot cut the engine mid-flight.
Toggle Spotlight (`L`)	Pilot	Long-range white searchlight, also lights the cockpit dashboard. Network-synced toggle. Requires a fitted, charged battery to turn on.
Toggle Navigation Lights (`N`)	Pilot	Port (red), starboard (green), tail (white) and anti-collision beacon (red). Network-synced toggle. Requires a fitted, charged battery to turn on.

Both light types drain the battery at battery.lightDrain units per second while on. If the battery dies while lights are on, the lights will turn off automatically.

Crew & Passenger Actions

Action	Who	Helicopter	Notes
Move to Cabin	Pilot, Co-pilot	UH-1H, Blackhawk, Chinook	Hold action. Enters Cabin Mode — walk freely inside the cabin
Return to Cockpit	Cabin Mode player	UH-1H, Blackhawk, Chinook	Hold action. Returns to cockpit seat from Cabin Mode
Open / Close Door	Any crew seat with a door	MD500, SA342M, UH-1H, MH-60L Blackhawk, MH-47G Chinook	1st-person view only when seated, unless the server sets `features.doorAction3rdPerson = 1`. Available to any crew from outside in all views.
Toggle Sliding Window	Pilot, Co-pilot	Blackhawk only	Look at cockpit side glass for the action — instant action, no hold
Open / Close Rear Ramp	Pilot or Co-pilot (seated), plus anyone standing at the ramp	AW101 Merlin, MH-47G Chinook	Works in flight — there is no grounded requirement. Indeed the ramp must be open to leave the aircraft airborne. Displays on the side of the screen — not centre.
Raise / Lower Landing Gear	Pilot or Co-pilot	AW101 Merlin only	`F` key — requires the engine running and the helicopter more than 3 m AGL. Raise after takeoff, lower before landing. Displays on the side of the screen — not centre.
Remove / Replace Door	Any crew	MD500, SA342M, UH-1H, MH-60L Blackhawk, MH-47G Chinook	Doors become physical items

Cockpit Side Hints

The ramp, landing gear, sling, winch up, winch down and seated door actions all share the F key. They are shown one at a time in the side hint row and cycled with the mouse wheel:

Row	Action
1	Open / Close Rear Ramp
2	Raise / Lower Landing Gear
3	Attach / Release Sling Load
4	Winch Load Up
5	Winch Load Down
6	Open / Close Door

Only the currently selected row responds to F — if F seems to be doing the wrong thing (or nothing), scroll the wheel until the row you want is showing. Rows that do not apply to your aircraft or your current state are skipped entirely, and if the selected row becomes unavailable the hint snaps to the next available one.

Repair Actions

All repair actions require a Helicopter Repair Kit (CZ_HelicopterRepairKit) held in hands, the engine off, and the helicopter sitting low enough above the ground (3 m AGL for rotors, 5 m for the airframe zones).

A destroyed main rotor waives the engine-off requirement for every zone — it is an exemption, not a per-zone rule.

Action	Who	Hold Time	Notes
Repair Main Rotor	Any player	45 sec (default)	Player must be standing (not crouched/prone). Restores the rotor to full in one hold and clears a sheared blade.
Repair Tail Rotor	Any player	45 sec (default)	Same conditions as main rotor — also full restore in one hold.
Repair Body Zone	Any player	30 sec (default)	Repairs fuselage damage. One level per hold.
Repair Engine Zone	Any player	30 sec (default)	Same conditions as the other airframe zones — one level per hold.
Repair Chassis Zone	Any player	30 sec (default)	Repairs landing gear/skid damage. One level per hold.
Repair Fuel Zone	Any player	30 sec (default)	Repairs fuel tank damage. One level per hold.

See Repair & Battery for the full condition list.

Refuelling

Action	Who	Notes
Refuel (container)	Any player	Hold a fuel container (e.g. Jerrycan), approach within `fuel.refuelDistance` metres (default 5.0 m), and look at the fuel refill point on the helicopter to trigger the action
Pump Refuel	Any player	Park near a working fuel station (vanilla, Enoch, or a Simple Gas Pump) and refuel directly — no jerry can needed, at a faster fill rate

The container refuel action appears on a specific component on the helicopter’s model — the physical fuel filler point. You must be holding a compatible fuel container (gasoline only), within range, and looking at that point for the action to show.

Cabin Mode Controls

While in Cabin Mode (UH-1H / Blackhawk / Chinook):

Input	Action
`W / A / S / D`	Walk inside the cabin
Mouse	Look around
All weapon actions	Fully functional — draw, aim (ADS), fire
Return to Cockpit action	Re-seats you in your cockpit seat

Camera & Admin

Key	Action
`Left Alt`	Free-look — a single press toggles free look: orbit the camera without changing flight inputs, press again to lock the camera behind the aircraft. Changed from double-tap in v0.3.6 — press Reset All in your controls once after updating.
`F10`	Admin Panel — open the in-game fleet management panel (server owners and admins only).

Both keys are rebindable in the controls settings. The Admin Panel only opens for players whose Steam64 ID is configured as an admin in permissions_admins_config.json (admins moved to their own file in v0.2.9 — existing entries migrate automatically).

Setting features.freeLookAlwaysOn = 1 in mod_config.json pins free look on so crew never have to toggle it. If free look seems stuck off for a pilot on such a server, Mouse Flight is on — press K.

Server-Side Control Settings

Setting	What it does	Default
`features.doorAction3rdPerson`	`1` = lifts the 1st-person-only restriction on the seated door action, so crew can open and close their door in 3rd person too.	`0`
`features.freeLookAlwaysOn`	`1` = free look is pinned on for crew instead of being a toggle.	`0`
`features.damageZonePanelEnabled`	`0` = removes the top-left damage panel (and its battery and light icons) server-wide. `H` is the per-player toggle.	`1`
`gameplay.engineHoldTime`	Hold time in seconds for the Start Engine and Stop Engine actions.	`1.0`

Getting Started

The Fleet

Features

Server Configuration

More

Flight Controls

Controller / Gamepad

Engine & Lights

Crew & Passenger Actions

Cockpit Side Hints

Repair Actions

Refuelling

Cabin Mode Controls

Camera & Admin

Server-Side Control Settings

​Flight Controls

​Controller / Gamepad

​Engine & Lights

​Crew & Passenger Actions

​Cockpit Side Hints

​Repair Actions

​Refuelling

​Cabin Mode Controls

​Camera & Admin

​Server-Side Control Settings

Flight Controls

Controller / Gamepad

Engine & Lights

Crew & Passenger Actions

Cockpit Side Hints

Repair Actions

Refuelling

Cabin Mode Controls

Camera & Admin

Server-Side Control Settings