Would love more info on this.

Many users use some sort of automated system to restart their servers. That is not correct way to shutdown the server and can result in such issues. The only correct way to shut down the server properly is using messages.xml.
https://server.nitrado.net/en-GB/guides/server-messages-for-dayz

@l909 I think the automated system you are referring to was designed to prevent "rollbacks" in the player.db by first locking the server and kicking all players before performing the shutdown. This ensures that the player.db is properly written for each player before the shutdown happens. The system uses RCon protocol to perform all of these commands.

It's possible that this system exists based on problems with DayZ that no longer exist. Are you saying that using messages.xml to perform the shutdown will not result in the players losing a small amount of progress?

messages.xml a system of pure randomness
why is this still the official method in 2026 when we have RCON access?

Okay so this is not a satisfying reply.
Although i have to admit that i never looked into that messages.xml file. But i will still take the automated system by CF.
The reason is simple:
- when players get kicked directly at restart, they can time certain actions and easily duplicate equipment.
By using CF, i can
- kick players 2 minutes before the restart to make sure that exploid can't be used
- lock the server to prevent players from joining within those 2 minutes or even more.
- add several things that might be relevant before or after a shutdown/restart

for the messages.xml to be a half decent option for anyone that cares, it would need to be able to kick players and to lock the server as well, not just shut it down.

I did do some modding recently expanding/refining the list of things that kill a player on log out.
Thats when i learned that players getting kicked is not a restart for the script. I tried to make the game recognize the reason that a player gets kicked for. Players get a window that display the reason for the kick so i thought it should be possible. But as it turns out that that part is not open to the script engine for modding. So i just added all RCON kicks to the list that does not kill players.