dayz-dma/README.md

DayZ Memory C++ Overlay

A Windows C++20 DMA reader for DayZ using VolkDMA backend. Reads game memory in real-time and streams data to two frontends: an overlay ESP (DirectX 11 + ImGui) and a web radar (HTTP + SSE).

Use only on authorized systems. The web server runs plain HTTP — protect with a password before exposing beyond localhost.

Features

Memory & Reading:

• DMA-backed memory access (VolkDMA)
• Runtime signature scanning + static offsets
• Auto-reconnect on process/session drop
• High-frequency camera reads
• Efficient batched entity scanning

Overlay (DirectX 11 + ImGui):

• Player/zombie/animal/vehicle/loot ESP
• Player skeletons with interpolation
• Health bars, held weapons, worn items
• Configurable draw distances
• Ballistic aim dot (weapon velocity + drag)
• Bullet trail visualization
• Lumin menu with live config save

Web Radar (HTTP + SSE):

• Real-time map with pan/zoom
• Entity filters + player list
• Bullet path visualization
• Server-sent events for live updates
• Map tiles (512x512 PNG cache)
• Optional Caddy proxy for static hosting
• CORS support

Requirements

Build:

• Windows x64
• Visual Studio 2022 (MSVC toolchain)
• Windows SDK (DirectX 11)
• CMake 3.20+
• Git
• Internet (first configure only, to fetch dependencies)

VolkDMA: Must be at this location (or update VOLKDMA_ROOT in CMakeLists.txt):

../dayz-dma/dma-dayz-cpp-master/VolkDMA/

Auto-fetched:

• nlohmann/json 3.11.3
• spdlog 1.14.1
• cpp-httplib 0.18.1
• stb

Vendored in external/lumin/: ImGui, Lumin framework, FreeType

Repository Layout

.
|-- CMakeLists.txt
|-- Caddyfile
|-- config/
|   |-- config.cfg
|   `-- item_filters.json
|-- external/lumin/
|-- maps/                  # optional, git-ignored map PNGs
|-- src/
|   |-- Core/              # shared runtime models
|   |-- Memory/            # VolkDMA/VMM access wrapper
|   |-- Overlay/           # DirectX/ImGui overlay and menu bridge
|   |-- Readers/           # entity, item, bullet, scoreboard readers
|   |-- Resolvers/         # world/local player/network metadata resolvers
|   |-- Runtime/           # service loop and snapshot orchestration
|   |-- SigScanner/        # signature scanner
|   `-- Web/               # web radar server, snapshots, maps, bullet cache
`-- webroot/               # browser radar UI

Build output is normally placed under build/<config>/. Post-build steps copy runtime DLLs, config/, webroot/, maps/, and icon font assets next to the executable.

Quick Start

From a Developer PowerShell or a shell with MSVC available:

cmake -S . -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64
cmake --build build --config Release

Run from the output directory so relative paths resolve to the copied assets:

cd .\build\Release
.\dayz-memory-cpp.exe

Typical launch flow:

1. Start DayZ and join a server.
2. Start dayz-memory-cpp.exe.
3. Watch the console or logs/dayz-memory.log for attach/status messages.
4. Press INSERT to open or close the overlay menu.
5. Open http://localhost:7777 for the web radar.

Running From an IDE

Use the dayz-memory-cpp CMake target.

Recommended debug/run settings:

• Generator/platform: x64 MSVC.
• Working directory: $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:dayz-memory-cpp> or the concrete output folder such as build/Debug.
• Configuration: Release for normal use, Debug for development.

Running from the repository root can work for some files, but the executable also needs the copied DLLs and data directories. The output directory is the least surprising working directory.

Runtime Controls

Keys:

• INSERT — toggle menu
• Ctrl+C in console — shutdown

Menu Tabs:

• Aim — ballistics, bullet trails
• Visuals — ESP toggles, draw distances
• Loot — item filters (from config/item_filters.json)
• Info — status, entity counts, DMA throughput, web radar URLs
• Config — resolution/render overrides, save settings, exit

Configuration

Two config files (both in working directory, copied at build):

• config/config.cfg — INI format, runtime reader settings (refresh intervals, batch sizes)
• config/overlay.json — JSON, overlay/web UI settings (auto-created/updated by menu)

config/config.cfg

The parser accepts key = value lines and ignores # comments. Missing keys keep the code defaults.

Supported runtime keys:

Key	Default if omitted	Purpose
processName	DayZ_x64.exe	Target process name.
useMemoryMap	true	Enables VolkDMA memory map usage.
networkMetadataRefreshMs	30000	Server name/version/map refresh interval.
scoreboardRefreshMs	30000	Scoreboard refresh interval.
nearEntityRefreshMs	20	Near entity list refresh interval.
farEntityRefreshMs	50	Far entity list refresh interval.
slowEntityRefreshMs	100	Slow entity list refresh interval.
bulletRefreshMs	50	Bullet table refresh interval.
itemRefreshMs	200	Item scan refresh interval.
playersRefreshMs	16	Player projection/update interval.
boneRefreshMs	4	Bone scatter refresh interval.
liveLoopIdleMs	1	Main loop idle sleep. Lower is more responsive and more CPU-heavy.
reconnectThreshold	5	Consecutive failures before reconnect.
reconnectGracePeriodMs	5000	Delay after session loss before reconnect.
farEntityBatchSize	64	Far entity batch size per tick.
slowEntityBatchSize	64	Slow entity batch size per tick.
itemBatchSize	64	Item batch size per tick.
bonePlayerMaxDist	500.0	Max player distance for skeleton reads.
boneZombieMaxDist	250.0	Max infected distance for skeleton reads.
vmmRefreshMs	30000	VMMDLL cache refresh cadence.
itemSpatialFilterRadius	300.0	Max item distance from local player published to overlay/web.

The checked-in file intentionally keeps conservative refresh rates. Reduce intervals only when you have enough DMA/CPU headroom.

config/overlay.json

If the file does not exist, defaults from OverlayConfig are used. Saving from the menu creates it.

Example:

{
  "showPlayers": true,
  "showAnimals": true,
  "showZombies": true,
  "showItems": true,
  "showBox": true,
  "showSkeleton": true,
  "showHeadDot": false,
  "showCorpses": false,
  "showWeapon": true,
  "showHealthBar": true,
  "showHealthNumber": false,
  "playerMaxDist": 1000.0,
  "animalMaxDist": 1000.0,
  "zombieMaxDist": 500.0,
  "itemMaxDist": 200.0,
  "overlayWidth": 0,
  "overlayHeight": 0,
  "renderWidth": 0,
  "renderHeight": 0,
  "stretchToFill": true,
  "webBindAddress": "0.0.0.0",
  "webPort": 7777,
  "webPassword": ""
}

Resolution notes:

• overlayWidth and overlayHeight should be the monitor resolution.
• renderWidth and renderHeight should be the resolution DayZ actually renders at.
• Leave render dimensions at 0 when the game render resolution matches the monitor.
• Set stretchToFill to false if the game is letterboxed or pillarboxed instead of stretched.

config/item_filters.json

Loot categories are data-driven. Each top-level key is a category and can match by:

• Name
• TypeName
• ConfigName
• ModelName

Values may be a string or an array of strings. Matching is case-insensitive substring matching after normalization.

Example:

{
  "isWeapon": {
    "desc": "Weapons",
    "Color": "#f43f5e",
    "TypeName": "weapon"
  },
  "isFood": {
    "desc": "Food and drinks",
    "Color": "#22c55e",
    "ModelName": ["\\food\\", "\\drinks\\"]
  }
}

If item_filters.json is missing, ItemFilterCatalog writes a default file.

Web Radar

When the app starts, it launches an HTTP server using settings from config/overlay.json.

Default URL:

http://localhost:7777

LAN access:

http://<overlay-pc-ip>:7777

The overlay Info tab lists detected local URLs.

Authentication

Set webPassword in config/overlay.json before exposing the radar beyond localhost:

{
  "webPassword": "change-me"
}

Remote clients append the password as a query parameter:

http://<host>:7777/?password=change-me

Loopback requests are allowed without a password. An empty password disables password checks.

API Endpoints

Endpoint	Description
/	Serves webroot/index.html.
/api/bootstrap	Initial map/filter/server metadata.
/api/state	Latest full JSON state for polling clients.
/events	Server-sent events stream for live updates.
/tile	Serves 512x512 map tiles.
/map-image	Serves the full map image when available.
/api/debug	Debug information for paths and runtime state.

Cross-origin GET and OPTIONS requests are supported so the UI can be hosted separately from the C++ backend.

Static Hosting With Caddy

The included Caddyfile serves webroot/ on port 8080 and proxies API/data endpoints to the C++ backend on 7777.

From the repository root:

caddy run

Open:

http://localhost:8080

This mode keeps browser requests same-origin on :8080 while Caddy proxies /api/*, /tile, /map-image, and /events to the backend.

Static Host With server= Parameter

The web UI can also be hosted somewhere else and pointed at the backend:

http://static-host/index.html?server=http://192.168.1.25:7777&password=change-me

The server value is stripped of a trailing slash in webroot/app.js.

Map Images

Map PNGs are loaded from:

maps/<map-id>.png

The folder is resolved relative to the executable directory. The repository maps/ directory is git-ignored because map images are large/user-supplied.

Supported map IDs:

File	Map
chernarusplus.png	ChernarusPlus
livonia.png	Livonia / Enoch
namalsk.png	Namalsk
banov.png	Banov
deadfall.png	Deadfall
deerisle.png	Deer Isle
esseker.png	Esseker
lux.png	Lux
sakhal.png	Sakhal
takistan.png	Takistan
alteria.png	Alteria

Runtime disk files take priority. CMake can also embed map PNGs that exist under repository maps/ at configure time. Re-run CMake after adding new map images if you want them embedded into the executable.

The tile server cuts maps into 512x512 PNG tiles and caches encoded tile bytes in memory after first request.

Architecture

Startup (main.cpp):

1. Create logs, init spdlog
2. Load config/config.cfg → RuntimeConfig
3. Load config/overlay.json → OverlayConfig
4. Start WebRadarServer, DayZRuntimeService
5. Create overlay, enter DX11 render loop

Memory (VmmAccessor):

• Wraps VolkDMA/VMM access
• Finds + attaches to DayZ_x64.exe
• Typed/raw/string/scatter reads
• Tracks DMA throughput

Runtime Service (DayZRuntimeService):

• Main loop: wait for process, resolve base objects
• Refresh entity lists at configured intervals
• Read players, bullets, items, bones
• Publish RuntimeUpdate snapshot to overlay + web

Readers/Resolvers:

• BaseObjectResolver — world/network ptrs
• LocalPlayerResolver, NetworkMetadataReader
• NearEntityListReader, FarEntityListReader, SlowEntityListReader
• ItemListReader, BulletTableReader, ClientScoreboardReader
• EntityCategoryProjector — raw ents → typed lists
• ItemFilterCatalog — loot categorization

Offsets & Signatures:

• Offsets.h — static known offsets
• RuntimeOffsets.h — runtime-resolved addresses
• SigScanner.cpp — module pattern scanning
• After DayZ updates: check these first if data is wrong

Overlay (DirectX 11 + ImGui):

• OverlayWindow — Win32 window, DX device, font atlas
• GameOverlay — ESP rendering, projection, trails, ballistics
• MenuBridge → external/lumin/framework/gui.cpp (menu layout)

Web Radar:

• WebRadarServer — HTTP routes, SSE, auth, CORS
• WebSnapshotService — RuntimeUpdate → JSON
• BulletTrackCache — bullet history
• MapTileService — tile generation + PNG cache
• webroot/ — browser UI

Logs

Logs are written to:

logs/dayz-memory.log

The file sink logs at trace level and is truncated on each run. The console sink defaults to info level.

Useful messages to look for:

• Process attach and reconnect events.
• Signature scan results.
• Base object/session readiness.
• Skeleton loss diagnostics.
• Ammo chain diagnostics for ballistic prediction.
• Periodic live heartbeat with player/zombie counts.

Build Notes

• The project is Windows-only and intentionally fails CMake configure on non-Windows platforms.
• The target is dayz-memory-cpp.
• C++ standard is C++20.
• MSVC builds with /W4, /permissive-, /utf-8, and warnings not treated as errors.
• NOMINMAX, IMGUI_ENABLE_FREETYPE, and IMGUI_DEFINE_MATH_OPERATORS are set for the target.
• Runtime DLLs are copied from ${VOLKDMA_ROOT}/dlls after build.
• webroot/, config/, maps/, and Lumin icon fonts are copied after build.

Troubleshooting

CMake can't find VolkDMA

• Check: ../dayz-dma/dma-dayz-cpp-master/VolkDMA/ exists
• If elsewhere, set VOLKDMA_ROOT in CMakeLists.txt

Dependency fetch fails

• First configure needs internet (GitHub FetchContent)
• Check network/proxy; use pre-cached deps if offline

Exit code 0xC0000135 (DLL missing)

• Verify these exist next to exe: vmm.dll, leechcore.dll, FTD3XX.dll
• Rebuild or copy from ${VOLKDMA_ROOT}/dlls

Overlay ESP misaligned

• Open Config tab, set:
  • overlayWidth / overlayHeight = monitor resolution
  • renderWidth / renderHeight = game render resolution (if different)
  • stretchToFill = match your GPU scaling

Web radar blank

• Check Info tab: attached + connected?
• Browser URL correct (host/port)?
• webPassword matches ?password= param?
• webBindAddress not 127.0.0.1 for remote?
• Firewall allows port?

Map background missing

• Place PNG: maps/<map-id>.png (e.g., maps/chernarusplus.png)
• To embed: add to repo maps/, re-run CMake, rebuild

Caddy serves 404s

• Run caddy run from repo root, or fix root path in Caddyfile

Port in use

• Change webPort in config/overlay.json, restart
• If using Caddy, also update upstream port

Attach OK but data wrong

• DayZ offsets/signatures may be stale post-update
• Check: Offsets.h, SigScanner.cpp, logs/dayz-memory.log

Development Workflow

Add a memory field:

1. Add offset to Offsets.h or scanner logic
2. Read in appropriate resolver/reader
3. Add to Models.h / RuntimeUpdate if cross-module
4. Publish to overlay or web
5. Add diagnostics for fragile chains

Add overlay option:

1. OverlayConfig struct + Config.cpp load/save
2. Add to GameOverlay class
3. Sync in GameOverlay::SyncConfig()
4. Expose via MenuBridge
5. Add control in external/lumin/framework/gui.cpp
6. Use in draw path

Add web radar field:

1. Add to runtime model
2. Serialize in WebSnapshotService
3. Consume in webroot/app.js
4. Style in webroot/style.css
5. Update bootstrap data if needed

Known Limitations

• Windows-only
• Offsets/signatures must match current DayZ build
• Web server is HTTP only (use Caddy/proxy for TLS)
• Web auth is query-param password, not full session system
• Map recognition depends on server metadata + alias table
• Browser map images need correctly named PNGs (or embed at build)
• Overlay accuracy depends on monitor/render resolution config

Third-Party Code

Vendored/fetched components — check licenses before redistribution:

• ImGui, FreeType (under external/lumin/)
• Lumin framework, nlohmann/json, spdlog, cpp-httplib, stb
• VolkDMA + VMM/LeechCore (sibling checkout)