Helpful Hints

* **PvE Servers**: If you are new, you might want to start here.  On your server select screen, toggle PvP off and click apply.  This will bring up a list of PvE servers where you can get used to the game mechanics without having to worry about PvP.

* **Grouping**: Grouping is very important. If you are in a group and die you can respawn near a group member. If you are not in a group and die you will respawn at a safe zone. To see how to group in game type /help in the chat channel. You will need to type /ginvite "name" to invite someone to your group. To accept a group invite type /gaccept "nameofpersonwhoinvited". You must use quotation marks.  Friendly fire is also turned off for teammates. You cannot  kill someone in your group by accidentally shooting them.
* S**pawning**: If you spawn immediately after death, you will revive in a safe zone.  If you wait 60 seconds more options will appear.  Some of these options include structures you can build in the world, proximity, or on your group leader.
* C**ampfires**: Campfires will restore health if you stand near them. You can also use them to cook food. Cooking food will increase it's effectiveness and allow you to eat it without getting food poisoning status effects. Campfires can not be placed near each other.
* **Water & Food**: Water bottles can be refilled. If your water is not pure, look for items and ways to purify it. You can drink dirty water if you need to, but do you really want to?  Pay attention to your food and water icons. When they hit red you are in trouble and will start taking starvation and dehydration  damage.  Pay attention to what foods do. Do some drinks make your hungry? Do some foods make you thirsty?
* **Killing**: Being a bandit has some drawbacks. If you want to kill without being a bandit, you need to have a Sheriff badge, and you need to be sure that you are only killing unscrupulous criminals. When you kill people who gain either positive or negative rep. This impacts where you spawn and what items you spawn in with at higher levels.
* **Structures**: Placing a flag gives you a respawn point and claims land as your own.  Only group members can place flags near yours. Foundations create a space that only you can build on. You don't have to have a foundation to build structures, you can build on any surface that allows it. Other structures include storage boxes, farms, etc...   You may only have three flags placed at a time.
* **Medicines & Buffs**: Medicines do different things. Some items that can be used for medicinal purposes will remove status effects but not heal much. Think about disinfectant. It can remove infection, but OUCH! Other items that you find (and can craft) can heal, work on different status effects, ... experiment and check it out. There is a bug right now that some medicines will appear to make your food and water status levels increase. If you eat something after using the meds, your food and water will reset to the correct level.
* **Global Inventory**: The global inventory bank is located at the safe zone. It is on the outside of a building near the campfire.  PvE servers do not have access to a global inventory.
* **Barricades, Traps, Land Mines, Grenades, etc**...: Place these items on your hotbar and have fun. They all have uses when someone will not stop trying to give you a hug, or you are playing in the road and a Dev is driving right at you.
* **Armor Plates**: If you have these in your backpack (I), drag them to the blank spaces in the upper right if your back/pack inventory screen (in line with your weapons slots) to equip them. Check values. Different types of armor offer more protection.
* **Weapons**: With a weapon equipped hit F6. Through this menu you can manage attachments, skins, and ammo types.  Pay attention to the type of ammo you have selected. Crafted and Factory ammunition are different. You will need to unload your weapon and change types in this menu if you wish to switch.
* **Wrench & Harvesting Axe**: The wrench and harvesting axe allow you to repair or harvest items, respectively.  Equip one of these items in your offhand and hit E.  For the wrench this will allow you to see the current health of an object and repair it. Keep your base in good shape, or your car running with these items.
* **Weapons Break**: Through use and upon your death, you weapons and armor will take damage. Under weapons and armor you can see a health bar and a number.  The health bar tells you how much health the item currently has.  The number tells you how many more times the item can be repaired before it breaks completely.  Tools and Parts are needed to repair items.
* **Vehicles**: If you use cars often, keeping a filled fuel pod with you is helpful, as cars usually spawn with an empty gas tank.  Empty fuel pods can be filled at working gas stations (they don't all work). A mechanics wrench is helpful for repairs.  If you are using a car with your team it is a good idea to all be in the same group to keep from running each other over. Accidents happen. If you are on foot, a spiked strip is a direct counter to vehicles. If you are trying to blow up a car, moving away before the car explodes is probably a good idea. F5 unstuck car key, you have to be touching the car literally for this to work.
* **Crafting**: Every item you get in the game can be used in some way.  If it doesn't have a direct use, it might be a crafting recipe requirement.  If it can't be used in a recipe it can be broken down in to crafting components.
* **Storage Containers:**Storage containers are another means of storing your items, much like the global inventory except it can be destroyed by other players. Just like base building it is one of the placeable building objects and thus has health which means it's not entirely safe. Storage containers can hold a large amount of items and are very useful in terms of being able to place them anywhere making it easy if you wish to store your items after a run and you have one close by. As of right now they have 500,000 health at full and although this may seem like a lot it's really not. A team of 4 can bring down a storage containers in around 15-20 minutes if they are using some of the best melee weapons in game such as the fire axe, noob smasher, machete or survival knife.

## **Commands/Keys**:

    F1, F2, etc.. cycle through the chats.

    T is push to talk. It works but you will not see an icon.

    I is your backpack/inventory.

    M is the map. You can zoom.

    C is first or third person exploration mode.

    Z is prone.

    Ctrl is crouch.

    B is build. In B, E and Q rotate the camera. Ctrl rotates your selected object.

    U is character customization.

    K is crafting.

    R is reload.

    F6 is weapons hud.

    Num Lock is autorun.

    F5 is the get car unstuck key.  Touch the car.