How to Add a Savegame to Your The Forest Server

The Forest has no world name, it uses five fixed save slots (1 to 5) instead. A savegame is always a complete folder named Slot1 to Slot5 – not a single file. You upload that folder with all of its contents to your server and then set which slot should be loaded.

Tip

Create a backup of your current server save before uploading, in case you want to switch back later.

Find your local savegame

1. Open the savegame folder
   Press Windows key + R, enter the following path and confirm with Enter:

   %userprofile%\AppData\LocalLow\SKS\TheForest

2. Choose the right subfolder
   Open the folder whose name is a long sequence of numbers – that is your SteamID64. Inside it, switch to the Multiplayer folder.

   Note

   Multiplayer contains the worlds in which you were the host yourself, SinglePlayer your singleplayer worlds. For a dedicated server you use a savegame from Multiplayer.

3. Select the slot folder
   Inside you find the folders Slot1 to Slot5. Choose the folder of the savegame you want to transfer – you need the complete folder including its contents.

Upload the savegame

1. Stop the server
   Stop your server via the dashboard. While the server is running it writes to the save files itself.

2. Connect via SFTP
   Connect to your server via SFTP.

3. Open the directory
   Change to the following directory:

   /TheForestDedicatedServer_Data/Multiplayer/

   Note

   If the folder does not exist yet, start the server once so the folder structure is created. Stop it again afterwards before uploading the files.

4. Upload the slot folder
   Upload the complete folder Slot1 (or Slot2 to Slot5) with all of its files into this directory. If a folder with the same name already exists there, delete it first or rename your uploaded folder to a free slot number.

5. Set the slot in the configuration
   Open the following file:

   /TheForestDedicatedServer_Data/forest/config/config.cfg

   Enter the number of the slot you uploaded:

   slot 1

6. Set Init Type to Continue
   Open the dashboard, switch to the Settings and change the Init Type field from New to Continue.

7. Start the server
   Save all changes and start your server. On startup it now loads your uploaded savegame.

Important

Init Type has to be set to Continue. If the value stays on New, the server generates a fresh world on every start and your progress is not saved – your uploaded savegame would be lost.

Warning

Some values in config.cfg are rewritten on server start from the fields in the dashboard – among them initType, serverName, serverPassword, serverPlayers, difficulty, the ports and serverSteamAccount. Only change those values in the dashboard. The slot value is not affected and stays in the file.

Do not forget the Steam Account Token

Without a valid Steam Game Server Login Token (GSLT) your server runs anonymously – player data and savegames may then not be stored correctly. Create a token with App ID 242760 at steamcommunity.com/dev/managegameservers and enter it in the dashboard under Settings in the Steam Account Token field.

Note

The server saves automatically. How often is controlled by the serverAutoSaveInterval value in config.cfg – the value is given in minutes, and values below 15 are not possible.