dedicatedserver.cfg: tuning your Sons of the Forest server properly
Par Benjamin Dayan · PDG
· Lecture 6 min
Contents
The entire behavior of a dedicated Sons of the Forest server lives in a single text file: dedicatedserver.cfg. Knowing it line by line is what takes you from a server that "works" to a server tailored to your group. Let's break down the keys that truly weigh on an 8-player island.
Anatomy of the dedicatedserver.cfg file
ServerName: the label players see. A clear name avoids confusion in the menu.Password: filled in, it locks the island as private; left empty, it opens it to everyone.MaxPlayers: the number of slots, capped at 8. To be matched to the available RAM.GameMode: Normal, Hard or custom, which drives cannibal aggressiveness and the survival pace.PvpEnabled: allows or cuts off damage between teammates.SaveInterval: how often the persistent world is written to disk.
Lock or open: the Password question
A closed group sets a Password and shares it outside the game; the island then appears only to those who hold it. A public community leaves the field empty but exposes itself to moderation and unwanted visits. In either case, an Anti-DDoS active upstream keeps a session night from turning into a general disconnect.
Setting the difficulty without breaking the mood
Hard mode transforms the nights: more mutants, scarcer resources, more punishing seasons. For a mixed group, a Normal setting keeps the horror without discouraging newcomers. Test it across a few evenings before you lock in your choice.
Nothing applies on the fly: every change to dedicatedserver.cfg is only taken into account after a full server restart.
Editing without opening the file
On a Sons of the Forest server at Fly-Serv, FlyPanel exposes these settings in an interface: you adjust slots, difficulty or PvP with a click, then restart the server with a single button, no SFTP or text editor. No server on hand yet? Start with How to create a Sons of the Forest server, then deploy your own from €7.99/month.
Read next
- Joining a Sons of the Forest server: every methodVia a Steam friend, a direct IP or a dedicated server: the ways to join a Sons of the Forest game, and how to unblock the typical connection errors.
- Creating a Sons of the Forest server: the two possible pathsSteamCMD by hand or a one-click host: we walk through both methods to set up a dedicated Sons of the Forest server playable by 8, with the pitfalls to avoid.
- Does Sons of the Forest really have dedicated servers?Endnight added an official dedicated server tool to Sons of the Forest. We look at what it enables, its limits versus host mode, and who it's worth it for.