Building a Flagpole is one of the most critical benchmarks when setting up a stronghold or base for future use. Flagpoles are one of the crucial elements of the DayZ base building. Without them, your team’s items in nearby buildings or on the ground will eventually despawn.
Fortunately, Flagpoles are not particularly time-consuming or costly to build. However, you will need to scour the map to find a Flag to use it with; otherwise, it will not work at all.
This article will explain what you need to build a Flagpole and raise a Flag in DayZ.
DayZ – How to Build Flagpole?
The first step toward building a Flagpole is getting all the raw ingredients in place. If you count the ingredients you need to craft a Flagpole Kit (one of the first building parts), you will need the following materials:
- 3 Wood Sticks
- 2 Ropes (but you can get away with using only one)
- 10 Wooden Logs
- 32 Stones
- 60 Nails
- Metal Wire
- Flag
Most of the materials on the list can be found or extracted relatively easily from your surroundings. Mining the Stones is perhaps the most time-consuming part of the gathering process since you must hammer or pick at nearby rocks for a while.
The Flag is a rare item; worse yet, you can not craft it if you do not find one on the map. Flags can appear in the following lootable locations:
- General Store
- Pub
- School
- Small Office
- Big Office
- City Hall
- Transit Bus Wreck
- ADA 4×4 Wreck
Currently, 27 different Flag configurations are found in-game, and a few additional ones are only available during events. There are no Flags that look like real ones, apart from the blank ones, although some designs are similar to existing country or organization flags.
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Additionally, you will need the following tools to create the Flagpole:
- A sledgehammer needs to be used directly in construction; also, one of the options is to get Stones.
- Shovel or Pickaxe for construction; the Pickaxe can be used to obtain Stones from rocks.
- Hatchet or Hammer for construction; the Hatchet can also be useful for getting wooden crafting components from raw wood.
Once you have gathered all the resources and tools you need for constructing a Flagpole, it is time to figure out its location. The Flagpole prevents items within 60 meters (200 feet) from despawning naturally as long as the Flag is raised. It can also serve as a deterrent for enemy teams, notifying any nearby players of your location. You should prioritize spots near most of your team’s buildings and fortifications.
Additionally, the terrain where you want to build a Flagpole has to be even and clear of any rocks, trees, or items to start the process. The Flagpole is the tallest structure you can craft, so you can not construct it indoors, and some tree foliage can also interfere with Flagpole placement.
One trick you can use is temporarily putting down some items around the intended location and leveling the terrain (like small brushes). After the Flagpole Kit is set up, you can clear its area to proceed, hopefully without any issues.
Building the Flagpole
- Craft a Flagpole Kit from your crafting menu. This requires 3 Short Sticks and one piece of Rope. Combine the two ingredients and scroll through the options until you find the Flagpole Kit. Note that other base-building kits look similar and have the same base components in different ratios, so do not mix them up.
- Select the Kit in your Inventory and deploy it to the chosen location to set up the Flagpole’s base frame. Not all sites are suitable for this. The Kit will only show the preview on appropriate terrain.
- Place a Wooden Log on the deployed Kit, then use the Sledgehammer to hammer it vertically into the ground. This drops the Flagpole Kit on the ground, allowing it to be reused or scrapped for Rope.
- When the base is complete, you’ll see a “Pole” section added to nearby buildings and objects. You can drop the required items directly to it to proceed.
- Interact with the created Flagpole base to use up 32 Stones and 6 Wooden Logs from your Inventory. This stacks the stones and logs to provide suitable base support for the Flagpole. You will need the Shovel or the Pickaxe for this part.
- While using the Hammer or the Hatchet, combine the base with a Metal Wire, all 60 Nails, one Rope, and the remaining Wooden Logs. This creates the pole and the hoisting mechanism to attach, raise, or lower the Flag.
- Once the Flagpole is complete, attach the Flag to it.
You can remove the Flag and do the construction process in reverse to dismantle the Flagpole if you need to move it and want to recycle most of the materials used.
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A completed Flagpole without a raised Flag does not do much, however. You will need to raise the Flag to prevent nearby objects (including the Flagpole) from despawning over time:
- You can use one action to hoist the Flag up or lower it.
- Use five hoisting actions to raise the Flag and activate the Flagpole.
- The Flag will drop over 45 days and requires the players to raise it periodically to keep working.
Most buildings last for at least 45 days before despawning. If you build a Flagpole and raise the Flag on it at the end of that period, you can extend its lifespan by another 45 days without any additional interactions.
An active Flagpole (meaning a fully raised Flag) refreshes all items once every five days, so players have time to raise it again after it drops.
Setting a Flag in DayZ
Hopefully, you had no issues finding a perfect spot for your base’s Flagpole in DayZ. The Flagpole is valuable, allowing you to venture further without worrying about your items and buildings despawning. Do not forget to raise the Flag periodically to keep the active effect going.
Where have you built the Flagpole? What Flag design do you prefer to use for your base? Let us know in the comment section below.
