How to Configure Your Sons of the Forest Server (dedicatedserver.cfg)

Complete Sons of the Forest server config reference — all settings for name, players, difficulty, saves, and performance.

Sons of the Forest uses dedicatedserver.cfg (JSON format) in the server root.

All Settings

{
  "ServerName": "My SotF Server",
  "MaxPlayers": 8,
  "Password": "",
  "GamePort": 8766,
  "QueryPort": 27016,
  "BlobSyncPort": 9700,
  "LanOnly": false,
  "SaveSlot": 1,
  "SaveMode": "Continue",
  "GameMode": "Normal",
  "GameDifficulty": "Normal",
  "SaveInterval": 600,
  "IdleDayCycleSpeed": 0.0,
  "IdleTargetFramerate": 5,
  "ActiveTargetFramerate": 60
}

Key Settings

Setting	Description
`ServerName`	Browser display name
`MaxPlayers`	1–8 (hard cap)
`Password`	Join password (empty = public)
`SaveSlot`	1–4
`SaveMode`	`"Continue"` (load save) or `"New"` (fresh world, auto-switches to Continue)
`GameMode`	`"Normal"`, `"Creative"`, `"Custom"`
`GameDifficulty`	`"Peaceful"`, `"Normal"`, `"Hard"`, `"HardSurvival"`
`SaveInterval`	Seconds between auto-saves (default 600)
`IdleDayCycleSpeed`	0.0 = pause when empty, 1.0 = normal

Difficulty Levels

Value	Description
`Peaceful`	No enemies, relaxed survival
`Normal`	Standard
`Hard`	Tougher enemies, scarcer resources
`HardSurvival`	Permadeath — death deletes player progress
`Custom`	Unlock granular settings for enemy HP, damage, hunger, etc.

Ports

Port	Protocol	Purpose
8766	UDP	Game
27016	UDP	Steam query
9700	UDP	Blob sync (world state)

Player Management

No RCON or admin console. Use file-based lists:

allowlist.txt — SteamID64s allowed to join (whitelist)
blocklist.txt — SteamID64s permanently blocked

One ID per line.

How to Join