Flashlights | Surviving the night DayZ - ArmA 2 mod Guide

Each player beginning his journey from the coast is by default equipped with a basic flashlight. In can emit a cone of light powerful enough for moving through the night. The cone is rather focused, so a big portion of the screen stays dark either way, and the contrast between light and darkness additionally enhances this effect. The flashlight however has two very important advantages: zombies don't react to its light and pointed even towards the most distant building, it still sharpens its outline. The obvious downside is that other players will easily note its light. Flashlights can be used against bandits lurking in the night, as a ray of light pointed towards night-vision users will make them blind for a while, giving you enough time to run away or attack. Of course it works only on short distances. On long, it just gives away your position.

In DayZ you can also find a military flashlight. As the name suggests, it can be most often found in military buildings, deer stands and barracks. Its red light doesn't penetrate though objects like the light of the classic flashlight and is much harder to notice from far away. An additional advantage is the fact that light doesn't blind night-vision goggles users and doesn't appear as a super-bright point from far away. It helps you stay unnoticed by night snipers and avoid randomly blinding your team members. Flashlights can be used without any limits, as their batteries in DayZ cannot run out of power.