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

Complete Sons of the Forest server config reference — all JSON settings for server name, players, difficulty, custom game mode, saves, performance, and admin setup.

Sons of the Forest uses dedicatedserver.cfg — a JSON file that controls all server settings. This guide covers every setting including the granular Custom game mode options.

Server File Structure

dedicatedserver.cfg

ownerswhitelist.txt

How to Edit

Stop your server

Go to Console in the XGamingServer Panel and stop the server.

Open the config

Click Files in the sidebar and open dedicatedserver.cfg. This is a JSON file — make sure your edits maintain valid JSON syntax (quotes around strings, commas between fields).

Save and start

Click Save Content and start from Console.

Full Configuration Reference

{
  "ServerName": "My SotF Server",
  "MaxPlayers": 8,
  "Password": "",
  "LanOnly": false
}

Setting	Default	Description
`ServerName`	`"Sons Of The Forest Server"`	Name displayed in the server browser
`MaxPlayers`	`8`	Maximum players. Hard cap of 8 — cannot go higher
`Password`	`""`	Join password (up to 40 characters). Empty = public
`LanOnly`	`false`	When `true`, the server only appears on LAN, not the public server list

{
  "GameMode": "Normal",
  "GameSettings": {
    "Gameplay.TreeRegrowth": true,
    "Structure.Damage": true
  }
}

Game Modes

Mode	Description
`Normal`	Standard survival experience
`Hard`	Tougher enemies, scarcer resources
`HardSurvival`	Permadeath — death deletes your character progress
`Peaceful`	No enemy spawns, relaxed survival
`Creative`	Building-focused, no survival threats
`Custom`	Unlocks all granular settings (see Custom Difficulty tab)

GameSettings (Apply to Any Mode)

These global settings work regardless of which GameMode you pick:

Setting	Default	Description
`Gameplay.TreeRegrowth`	`true`	Cut trees regrow over time
`Structure.Damage`	`true`	Player-built structures can take damage from enemies

When GameMode is set to "Custom", you can fine-tune every aspect of the game via CustomGameModeSettings. These settings only apply to new saves — you can't change them on an existing world.

{
  "GameMode": "Custom",
  "CustomGameModeSettings": {
    "GameSetting.Vail.EnemySpawn": true,
    "GameSetting.Vail.EnemyHealth": "Normal",
    "GameSetting.Vail.EnemyDamage": "Normal",
    "GameSetting.Vail.EnemyArmour": "Normal",
    "GameSetting.Vail.EnemyAggression": "Normal",
    "GameSetting.Vail.AnimalSpawnRate": "Normal",
    "GameSetting.Vail.EnemySearchParties": "Normal",
    "GameSetting.Environment.StartingSeason": "Summer",
    "GameSetting.Environment.SeasonLength": "Default",
    "GameSetting.Environment.DayLength": "Default",
    "GameSetting.Environment.PrecipitationFrequency": "Default",
    "GameSetting.Survival.ConsumableEffects": "Normal",
    "GameSetting.Survival.PlayerStatsDamage": "Off",
    "GameSetting.Survival.ColdPenalties": "Off",
    "GameSetting.Survival.BuildingResistance": "Normal",
    "GameSetting.Survival.ReducedFoodInContainers": false,
    "GameSetting.Survival.SingleUseContainers": false,
    "GameSetting.Survival.CreativeMode": false,
    "GameSetting.Survival.PlayersImmortalMode": false,
    "GameSetting.Survival.OneHitToCutTree": false,
    "GameSetting.Multiplayer.Cheats": false,
    "GameSetting.Multiplayer.PvpDamage": "Normal"
  }
}

Enemy Settings

Setting	Values	Description
`EnemySpawn`	true / false	Toggle all enemy spawning
`EnemyHealth`	Low / Normal / High	Enemy hit point pools
`EnemyDamage`	Low / Normal / High	Damage enemies deal to players
`EnemyArmour`	Low / Normal / High	Enemy damage resistance
`EnemyAggression`	Low / Normal / High	How aggressively enemies hunt players
`AnimalSpawnRate`	Low / Normal / High	Frequency of animal spawns
`EnemySearchParties`	Low / Normal / High	Frequency and size of enemy patrols

Environment Settings

Setting	Values	Description
`StartingSeason`	Spring / Summer / Autumn / Winter	Season when the world starts
`SeasonLength`	Short / Default / Long / Realistic	Duration of each season
`DayLength`	Short / Default / Long / Realistic	Length of a full day/night cycle
`PrecipitationFrequency`	Low / Default / High	Rain and snow frequency

Survival Settings

Setting	Values	Description
`ConsumableEffects`	Normal / Hard	Severity of hunger/thirst damage
`PlayerStatsDamage`	Off / Normal / Hard	Damage from spoiled food
`ColdPenalties`	Off / Normal / Hard	Cold effects on health and stamina regen
`BuildingResistance`	Low / Normal / High	Structure durability
`ReducedFoodInContainers`	true / false	Less food in world containers
`SingleUseContainers`	true / false	Containers can only be looted once
`PlayersImmortalMode`	true / false	Players cannot die
`OneHitToCutTree`	true / false	Trees fall in a single hit

Multiplayer Settings

Setting	Values	Description
`Cheats`	true / false	Enable console commands for admins
`PvpDamage`	Normal	Player vs player damage scaling

{
  "SaveSlot": 1,
  "SaveMode": "Continue",
  "SaveInterval": 600,
  "IdleDayCycleSpeed": 0.0,
  "IdleTargetFramerate": 5,
  "ActiveTargetFramerate": 60,
  "LogFilesEnabled": false
}

Setting	Default	Description
`SaveSlot`	`1`	Which save slot to use (1, 2, 3, 4...). Each slot is a separate world
`SaveMode`	`"Continue"`	`"Continue"` = load existing save. `"New"` = create fresh world (auto-switches to Continue after first run)
`SaveInterval`	`600`	Seconds between auto-saves. Lower = less data loss on crash but more disk I/O
`IdleDayCycleSpeed`	`0.0`	Time speed when no players are online. `0.0` = paused, `1.0` = normal speed
`IdleTargetFramerate`	`5`	FPS cap when no players are connected. Saves CPU while idle
`ActiveTargetFramerate`	`60`	FPS cap with players online. Minimum `10`
`LogFilesEnabled`	`false`	Enable server log files for debugging

Tip: Keep IdleDayCycleSpeed at 0.0 and IdleTargetFramerate at 5 to save resources when the server is empty.

Port	Protocol	Purpose
8766	UDP	Game traffic (gameplay netcode)
27016	UDP	Steam query (server browser discovery)
9700	UDP	BlobSync (game state synchronization during player connect)

All three ports must be accessible for the server to function. They are typically pre-configured by XGamingServer.

{
  "IpAddress": "0.0.0.0",
  "GamePort": 8766,
  "QueryPort": 27016,
  "BlobSyncPort": 9700,
  "SkipNetworkAccessibilityTest": false
}

Setting	Description
`SkipNetworkAccessibilityTest`	Skip the port check on startup. Set to `true` if the startup check fails but the server works fine

Admin Setup

Sons of the Forest uses ownerswhitelist.txt to designate server owners/admins.

Find the player's Steam ID

Get their SteamID64 from steamid.io.

Edit ownerswhitelist.txt

In Files, open ownerswhitelist.txt. Add one SteamID64 per line:

76561198012345678

Restart the server

Restart from Console. The listed players will have full admin access on next join.

Admins can use the in-game admin panel to kick, ban, teleport players, and promote/demote other admins. See Admin Commands if available.

Console Commands

With GameSetting.Multiplayer.Cheats set to true, admins can open the console by typing cheatstick and pressing F1:

Command	Description
`godmode on/off`	Toggle invincibility
`invisible on/off`	Enemies can't detect you
`addallitems`	Add every item to inventory
`settimeofday <0-23>`	Set time of day
`season <name>`	Change to summer/autumn/winter/spring
`killradius <number>`	Kill all enemies within radius
`aidisable on/off`	Disable all enemy AI

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

On this page