Sons of the Forest Server Hosting
Survive the island and its cannibals with your group while the AI copilot keeps the world running.
What does it take to host a Sons of the Forest server?
To host a Sons of the Forest server you need 8–12 GB of RAM, Endnight's dedicated server tool (Steam app 2465200, a Windows program), three UDP ports open (8766, 27016 and 9700) and a valid dedicatedserver.cfg that only appears after the first start. The easier route is to rent one. GameTeam is a Sons of the Forest server host that bills per GB of RAM, from $0.49/GB a week, never per slot (the game caps a session at 8 players), and the AI copilot edits the config, reads the log and backs up the island when you ask in plain English.
Run your Sons of the Forest server by just asking.
Sons of the Forest refuses to boot if its JSON config has one missing comma, and its self-test only says why in the console and the log. Say what you want instead: the copilot writes the file, checks it still parses, and reads the log when the island stays dark.
Binge It, Then Pause
Weekly billing fits a game played intensely for a few weeks.
Config That Appears Later — Handled
The server writes its own config on first run; the copilot edits it once it exists, so you do not go looking.
Same Server, Next Game
When the group leaves the island, switch the server to whatever comes next.
Sons of the Forest with friends
The survival horror sequel: crash onto an island of cannibals and mutants, build to survive, and uncover what happened there. Building is hands-on and physical, and a group turns the island from a nightmare into a stronghold — most nights.
Sons of the Forest server RAM requirements
8-12 GB. Terrain edits and structures persist and accumulate, so a long-running world needs headroom.
| Your server | Starting RAM | From (Budget, weekly) |
|---|---|---|
| 1–4 players, early game, one camp | 8 GB | $3.92 / week |
| 5–8 players, a couple of bases | 10 GB | $4.90 / week |
| Long-running world with big builds | 12 GB | $5.88 / week |
Every log wall, platform and terrain change stays in the save, so a Sons of the Forest world weighs more each week it runs. Start at 8 GB for a fresh island and add RAM in one click when the build gets ambitious; the save is untouched. Player limit: 8 is the supported session size.
How to set up a Sons of the Forest server on GameTeam
Choose RAM and a location
8 GB covers a fresh island for a small group. Pick the location nearest most of your players, from 25+ across Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. Activation takes seconds.
Make the island yours
Tell the copilot the server name, password, difficulty and save slot, or edit dedicatedserver.cfg in the file manager. Add your SteamID to ownerswhitelist.txt so you get admin rights in game.
Bring the group
In Sons of the Forest pick Multiplayer, then Join, and find your server by name in the dedicated server browser. Friends enter the password and spawn on your island.
Good to know before you start
The dedicated server writes its own config on first run, so the file to edit only exists after the first start.
The most common problem
Terrain edits and structures persist in the save and accumulate, so memory use rises over the life of a world.
Sons of the Forest server settings explained
The server reads one JSON file, dedicatedserver.cfg, from its user data folder. Text goes in quotes, numbers and true/false don't, and every line but the last ends in a comma. A key you leave out falls back to its default. These are the settings groups actually change:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
ServerName | Name shown in the dedicated server list and in Steam contacts. |
MaxPlayers | Players at once, 1 to 8. Default 8, the game's own ceiling. |
Password | Makes the server private. Up to 40 characters; empty means anyone can join. |
LanOnly | Hides the server from the internet list. |
SaveSlot | The slot number the server loads, or creates if it is empty. |
SaveMode | continue loads the slot. new starts a fresh world and keeps overwriting that slot on every restart while it is set. |
GameMode | Difficulty for a new save: normal, hard, hardsurvival, peaceful, creative or custom. Ignored once a save exists. |
SaveInterval | Seconds between autosaves. The default 600 is every 10 minutes. |
IdleDayCycleSpeed | How fast time runs with nobody online, from 0 (frozen, the default) to 1 (normal speed). |
IdleTargetFramerate / ActiveTargetFramerate | Server frame rate when empty (5) and with players on (60). |
LogFilesEnabled | Writes logs to the logs folder. Off by default; worth turning on before something breaks. |
GameSettings | Works in any mode: Gameplay.TreeRegrowth (trees regrow while you sleep) and Structure.Damage (whether buildings take damage). |
CustomGameModeSettings | Your own rules for custom mode: enemy spawns, health, aggression and search parties, season and day length, cold penalties, creative and god mode. Read once, when the save is created. |
Sons of the Forest server commands
Sons of the Forest has no chat commands for server admins. Owners listed in ownerswhitelist.txt open Pause Menu → Players to promote players to admin, demote them to guest, kick, ban and unban. What the tool does take is launch arguments, which override the config file:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
-dedicatedserver.<Setting> "<value>" | Overrides any key from dedicatedserver.cfg, for example -dedicatedserver.MaxPlayers "4". |
-userdatapath "<folder>" | Moves the user data folder: config, owners list, saves and logs. |
-verboseLogging | Full log output. Useful while chasing a problem, noisy the rest of the time. |
Can I add mods to a Sons of the Forest server?
Sons of the Forest has no official dedicated-server mod support.
Sons of the Forest server ports
Self-hosted, all three have to be forwarded or the self-test stops the server from starting. On GameTeam there is nothing to forward, and the panel shows the exact address and ports your server uses.
Pay per GB of RAM. Never per slot.
You pay for memory, not seats, and billing can be weekly, so you are never locked into a month the group might not play. Change RAM in one click, or switch the same server to another game. The AI copilot is included on every plan.
- ✓ AI copilot included on every plan
- ✓ Unlimited player slots — we never charge per slot
- ✓ Ryzen 9 7950X · NVMe storage
- ✓ DDoS protection included
- ✓ Switch to another game anytime
Hardware & network
Locations
What server owners say
"Honestly didn't expect much from an 'AI manager', but it's how I run my server now. I'll type something like 'why did the server crash last night' and it actually reads the logs and tells me."
Verified review
"I'd been on two other hosts before this. What sold me was the AI manager catching a memory leak in one of my mods and naming the exact one — something I'd been chasing for weeks."
Verified review
"I'm not very technical and setting up servers always stressed me out. Now I just ask the assistant to fix a config, and it either walks me through it or does it for me."
Verified review
Sons of the Forest server hosting FAQ
How much RAM does a Sons of the Forest server need?
Plan for 8–12 GB. 8 GB runs a fresh island for up to four players; a full group of eight with several bases wants 10–12 GB. Structures and terrain edits pile up in the save, so a world that is fine in week one needs more later. RAM changes in one click on GameTeam.
How many players can join a Sons of the Forest dedicated server?
Up to 8. MaxPlayers accepts 1 to 8, and that ceiling is Endnight's, not ours. We never charge per slot, so a server for three costs the same per GB as one for eight.
Is it worth renting a Sons of the Forest server instead of hosting from the game?
If your group plays on different schedules, yes. A game hosted from the menu closes when the host quits; a dedicated server keeps the island up so anyone can log in, build and log out. Renting also skips the parts of self-hosting that stop most people: a Windows PC left on, three forwarded UDP ports and a self-test that will not boot the server until all of it is right.
How do I become admin on my Sons of the Forest server?
Add your SteamID64 to ownerswhitelist.txt, one ID per line, and restart (or ask the copilot to do both). Owners have the same rights as the host of a normal game and manage everyone else from Pause Menu → Players.
Can I move my co-op save to a rented server?
Yes. Stop the server, upload your world's save folder into the server's Saves folder, matching the slot number in SaveSlot, and keep SaveMode on continue so it loads instead of being overwritten. Keep a copy of the original until you have joined and checked your base.
Why does my world reset every time the server restarts?
SaveMode is set to new. In that mode the server generates a fresh world and writes it over the same slot on every start. Set it to continue, and restore the slot from a backup if a good world was already overwritten.
Can I change difficulty or custom rules on an existing world?
Server settings such as name, password, player count and autosave interval change any time with a restart. GameMode and CustomGameModeSettings are read only when a new save is created, so to change those you start a new world on another slot.
Can I add mods to a Sons of the Forest server?
Endnight offers no official mod support for dedicated servers, and unofficial loaders can break with any game patch. For a server that just works after every update, run it vanilla and tune it through GameSettings and custom mode.
How much does Sons of the Forest server hosting cost?
You pay per GB of RAM: $0.49/GB a week on Budget, or $1.99/GB billed monthly. An 8 GB server is $3.92 a week and 12 GB is $5.88 a week. Weekly billing suits a game groups play hard for a few weeks, and the first 72 hours are money-back.
Can I rent a Sons of the Forest server for just a few weeks?
Yes. Sons of the Forest dedicated server hosting on GameTeam can be billed weekly, so a three-week push to the ending costs three weeks. When the group is done, cancel, or switch the same server to the next game.
How do I update the server after a patch?
Stop it and start it again from the GameTeam panel and it updates itself to the latest build, so it matches your friends' game. A server left on an older build is the usual reason players suddenly cannot join after a patch.
Run it yourself — or let the copilot.
Same server, any game.
Your island, still standing when you log back in.
Deploy a server, tell the copilot how hard you want the island to be, and send the group the server name.
Deploy your Sons of the Forest server