Food & Cooking — Poisoning

Overview

Poisoning in DayZ is a critical survival threat caused by consuming contaminated food, dirty water, or rotten items. Failure to manage internal hygiene leads to rapid health loss, vomiting, and potential death, making it essential to understand ingestion risks and chemical cures.

How It Works

Poisoning is triggered when your character consumes items with low health status, raw animal flesh, or liquids contaminated by pathogens. Once ingested, the stomach icon appears, followed by symptoms like nausea and vomiting. You recover by maintaining high hydration and energy levels to boost your natural immunity, or by using specific chemical treatments like Charcoal Tablets to neutralize toxins or Tetracycline for infections caused by contaminated water.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Identify the source of sickness by checking the health status of food items; never eat items marked "Rotten" or "Damaged."
2. Immediately stop consuming any further food or water to prevent worsening the chemical buildup in your stomach.
3. Access your inventory and consume Charcoal Tablets if you suspect food poisoning from spoiled items.
4. If the sickness originated from dirty water or raw meat consumption, take Tetracycline Antibiotics to treat potential infections.
5. Sip water and eat small, infrequent bites of food once the sickness icon disappears to keep your vitals in the "white" range, which is necessary for immune system recovery.
6. If you begin vomiting, move to a safe area immediately, wait for the animation to finish, and ensure your hands are cleaned with Alcohol Tincture or Disinfectant Spray before handling new food.

Tips

• Always use a Disinfectant Spray or Alcohol Tincture on your hands if you have touched raw meat or rotten items before eating.
• Boiling water in a Cooking Pot or Metal Pot over a fireplace is the only guaranteed way to make pond or stream water safe to drink.
• High levels of energy and hydration create a passive health regeneration effect that significantly shortens the duration of mild food poisoning.
• Never eat human fat or human steak, as this will lead to Kuru (laughing sickness), which is currently incurable.
• If you run out of medicine, consume water in tiny, 2-second sips to keep hydration up without triggering the "stomach full" vomiting response.

Common Mistakes

• Eating with bloody hands; always wash them at a water pump or use a disinfectant after skinning animals.
• Drinking from water containers found on zombies, as these are frequently contaminated and will cause immediate cholera.
• Overeating while already sick; your stomach has a limit, and exceeding it while poisoned guarantees vomiting and rapid dehydration.
• Ignoring the "Rotten" tag on food; the stat penalty and sickness risk far outweigh the minor energy gain provided by spoiled loot.

Related Items

• Wolfsteakmeat
• Worm
• Waterpouch Natural
• Walleyepollockfilletmeat

Related Guides

• Cooking
• Skinning
• Hydration and Water Sources