Wiki · Survive the Drop

Getting Started

Original is DayZ built inside Rust — a 2× survival wipe where you scavenge for Cash, outlast the infected and rival teams, and claw your way up through events, monuments and the Lazarus Pass. Here's how to survive your first session.

What Original Is

Original keeps the core Rust loop — build, farm, loot, fight, raid — then layers a persistent Cash economy, a phone full of apps, custom outpost vendors, custom monuments, bank heists, drugs and a never-wipe schematic grind on top.

It's a 2× gather, DayZ-Epoch-inspired survival/PvP server. Your goal isn't just to wall off a base — it's to find a profitable niche, explore higher-tier map content, earn Cash and Redemption Points, unlock skills and schematics, run events, and outplay everyone else on the island.

2×
Gather rate
4
Players per team
250
Slots per server
The golden ruleCash is king. Everything — gear, explosives, vehicles, base upgrades — flows from it. Earn it, then bank it at an ATM so raiders can't take it off your corpse.

Your First Hour

A simple path to get rolling without dying broke:

  1. Open your menusPress T to free your mouse cursor, then open your phone with /phone. The phone is your hub — a home screen of apps that runs almost everything: the Lazarus Pass, skills, schematics, the marketplace, vendors and the ATM.
  2. Scavenge your first CashYou spawn with $1,250 to get you started. Build on it: loot ground spawns across the world, clear weak infected, and pick up scrap, components and resources. Anything you don't need can be sold for Cash.
  3. Sell at an outpostCarry your haul to the outpost vendors and sell. Different vendors buy different goods — weapons, resources, medical, drug ingredients and more.
  4. Bank your CashOpen the ATM app on your phone and deposit — no terminal to find, it works anywhere. Banked Cash can't be stolen when you die or get raided — Cash in your pockets can.
  5. Start your questsOpen your phone with /phone and tap Lazarus Pass to work quests for XP and skill points. Then tap Skills to spend those points and specialise.
Open the Help app any timeLost? Open /phone and tap Help for the in-game handbook. The tutorial cards also walk you through the basics on your first join — replay any of them with /t <guide>.

Cash & the ATM

Original runs on Cash — physical paper currency you carry, earn and spend. There are two states it can be in, and mixing them up is the most common rookie mistake:

  • Carried Cash — the notes in your inventory. You spend it at vendors and hand it to other players, but it drops when you die, just like any item.
  • Banked Cash — deposited through the ATM app on your phone. It's protected from theft — nobody can take it when they kill you or raid your base. The app shows your balance whenever you open it.

The rule is simple: earn it in the field, then bank what you don't need to spend. More on balances and the player market is on the Banking & Marketplace page, and every way to earn is on Earning Cash.

Staying Alive

This is still survival Rust, with two extra threats: the infected roaming monuments, and geared players hunting Redemption Points off your kills.

  • Food & medical are sold at the outpost Medical Store — keep supplies on you.
  • The infected swarm certain monuments and outbreak events. Early on they're easy Cash; geared up, they're a wall of bodies between you and the loot.
  • Die geared and you hand Redemption Points to whoever killed you — so don't roam kitted without a plan. See Redemption Points.
  • Set a spawn point early at a sleeping bag or your base so a death doesn't send you back to the beach.
Don't carry your whole bankIf it's on your body when you die, it's gone. Bank your Cash and stash spare gear before you push a fight or a monument.

Your Phone

Open your phone with /phone — it's the control panel for the whole gamemode, a home screen of apps. Press T first to free your cursor, then open the one you need:

  • The Lazarus Pass, Skills & Schematics apps — your progression.
  • The Marketplace & Market Info apps — trade with other survivors and watch prices.
  • The Crates Shop — spend Redemption Points on loot crates.
  • The Vehicle Store, Shop, ATM, Stats & Help apps — all on tap.

Every app gets its own walkthrough on the Phone & Apps page.

Where To Go Next

You've got the basics. Pick a direction and go deeper:

Earning Cash
Every way to fill your wallet — scavenge, sell, heist.
Outpost Vendors
Who sells what, and how dynamic prices move.
Lazarus Pass
Quests for XP, skill points and the reward track.
Monuments & Puzzles
Keycard routes, bank heists and the big payouts.