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World desk9 min

The Forest Dedicated Server Commands and Admin Guide

A practical guide to The Forest dedicated-server administration: separate admin authentication, slash commands, Server.cfg editing, reported defaults, launch options, backups and version caveats.
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To administer a The Forest dedicated server, join it with the separate Admin Password, open multiplayer chat by pressing Enter, and run a slash command such as /help. The normal Server Password only controls who may join; it does not grant administrator rights. Back up the dedicated save before using commands that write or reset it, and treat the Server.cfg created by your installed build as the authority over older web guides.

What the two server passwords do

Dedicated-server hosting panels commonly show two different credentials. Server Password is the gate for joining a private server. Admin Password is an elevated credential that enables the in-game server command set after the player joins. Entering only the regular server password makes someone a normal player, even if that password happens to be identical to the admin password on paper.

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Keep the admin credential private. Anyone who joins with it can issue commands in the multiplayer chat, including commands that remove players or stop the server. Give ordinary players the Server Password only, and provide the Admin Password to the smallest group that actually moderates the game.

How to become an admin in The Forest

  1. Set an Admin Password. In a hosting panel, fill in the field labelled Admin Password, not just Server Password. On a self-managed installation, set the corresponding admin-password value in the generated configuration or launch parameters used by your build.
  2. Start or restart the dedicated server. A newly installed server normally creates its configuration file on the first dedicated-server launch. If you changed a setting while the process was running, stop it completely before editing and then start it again.
  3. Join the server with the admin credential. At the join prompt, enter the Admin Password. The game does not turn an already connected player into an admin merely because the host later changes the password; leave and rejoin if necessary.
  4. Open chat. Press Enter in multiplayer to open chat, type a command beginning with /, and press Enter again.
  5. Check access. Run /help. If the command list does not appear, verify that you joined with the Admin Password, that the server actually loaded the new configuration, and that you are on the dedicated server rather than a listen-hosted game.

Community documentation describes these commands as restricted to players who supplied the admin password when joining. The password is therefore an authentication step, not a chat role that can be granted later with a command.

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Dedicated-server command reference

The following commands are reported by community documentation for The Forest dedicated servers. Exact behavior can vary by game build; test on a backup save before using a command on a long-running world.

Command What it does Important qualification
/help Displays the commands available to the connected administrator. Use this first to confirm that your admin authentication worked.
/save <slot> Saves the current world to the specified save slot. The wiki warns that selecting a slot already containing another game can overwrite that game in the dedicated save folder.
/kick <SteamID> Removes the specified player from the server. Supply the player’s Steam ID, not a display name; the player may be able to reconnect.
/ban <SteamID> Bans the specified Steam account from the server. Use the exact Steam ID and record it before banning so you can reverse mistakes in your hosting controls.
/shutdown Stops the dedicated server process. Warn players first and allow normal saving; a shutdown is not a substitute for a planned backup.

Commands are entered in chat with the leading slash. Do not add a slash twice, and do not place a command in the operating system console unless your host’s documentation explicitly says that it supports that interface.

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Why /save needs caution

/save accepts a slot name or number, but the command does not protect a different game that already uses that slot. Before issuing it, identify the active slot and copy the entire dedicated save directory to a dated backup location. A useful naming pattern is forest-save-before-admin-change-YYYY-MM-DD, with the actual date substituted for the letters.

Why to avoid /restart

Community wiki guidance warns that the in-game /restart command resets the save. That is materially different from restarting the server process while preserving the world. For routine reboots, use the hosting panel’s Restart control or stop and start the service through your process manager. Reserve any reset behavior for a deliberate, separately backed-up test world.

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Server.cfg: location, creation and safe editing

The dedicated server generates Server.cfg on its first launch. One Windows guide places it under:

%USERPROFILE%AppDataLocalLowSKSTheForestDedicatedServerdsServer.cfg

The exact root can differ with the Windows account, installation method, or host panel. Search the dedicated-server data directory for the file if that path is not present. Do not assume that a configuration file from another installation is interchangeable.

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  1. Stop the dedicated server and wait until its process has exited.
  2. Copy Server.cfg and the dedicated save directory to a backup location.
  3. Open the file in a plain-text editor and change only the keys you understand.
  4. Save the file without changing its extension or character encoding.
  5. Start the server and inspect the startup log for the loaded ports, player limit and other values.
  6. Join with a normal account and, separately, with the Admin Password to verify both access paths.

Editing while the server is running is unsafe because the process can write its in-memory settings back over your changes. If a value appears to be ignored, check command-line arguments first: community documentation reports that launch parameters override matching entries in Server.cfg.

The admin-password key

The key commonly reported for the administrator credential is serverPasswordAdmin. A blank value means that no admin password is configured. Attribution for this key is less certain than the command behavior, so confirm the spelling and syntax in the file generated by your installed build rather than copying a line from an unrelated version.

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Defaults you should verify on your build

Third-party guides report the following defaults. They are useful starting points, not guaranteed values: the installed server’s generated Server.cfg and startup log take precedence.

Setting Reported default Operational meaning
Player cap (serverPlayers) 8 players Maximum simultaneous players unless changed by configuration or a launch option.
Game port 27015 Main game traffic; it must be reachable from the internet when hosting behind a router.
Steam port 8766 Steam networking traffic used by the dedicated server.
Query port 27016 Server-list and query traffic in guides that use the default port layout.
Autosave interval 15 minutes Reported periodic-save interval; verify the value and units in your generated file.

When the machine is behind a home or office router, forward each port and protocol required by the installed build to the computer running the server. Give that computer a stable local address so a DHCP change does not silently break the forwarding rule. If the server is hosted by a provider, ask which external ports are allocated; a panel may map public ports to different internal values.

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Launch options and the debug-console switch

A Steam community guide labelled for version 1.07 lists launch options for the server IP, game, Steam and query ports, server name, player cap, admin password, difficulty, save slot, -showlogs, and a cheat-mode switch. That guide is roughly ten years old, so treat its spelling and defaults as historical examples. Compare every option with the executable and configuration generated by your current installation.

A January 2023 SteamCMD guide identifies allowCheats as the setting that controls whether clients may use the built-in debug console. This is separate from the dedicated-server admin password: allowing the client console does not, by itself, prove that a player is an authenticated server administrator. Enable it only for a controlled test server, and disable it for a public survival world unless you intentionally want that gameplay mode.

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When a launch option appears to do nothing

  • Check the startup command for duplicate parameters. The last value may win, or the host panel may regenerate the command on every restart.
  • Look for the same key in Server.cfg; command-line parameters are reported to override matching configuration entries.
  • Confirm that you edited the configuration for the active instance, not a second installation or an old save directory.
  • Stop the server before editing, then start it and read the startup log instead of judging from an already connected session.
  • Verify the game build. Dedicated servers were introduced in update v0.59, and the veganmode and treeregrowmode launch options were added in v0.62; older guides may describe a different option set.
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Version history and why old command lists conflict

The community wiki records dedicated-server support beginning with update v0.59. It records the veganmode and treeregrowmode command-line options arriving in v0.62, while its administrative-command history stops around v0.67. A guide labelled v1.07 is therefore not proof that every listed command, parameter or default still behaves the same way in a current installation.

No official Endnight Games or Steam patch-note page confirming the current administrative command set was identified in the available documentation. For a production server, use the generated configuration and /help output as the first check, and test destructive actions on a disposable copy of the world.

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Unverified cs: console claims

One configuration site lists a separate cs: console with examples such as cs:teleport, cs:dayLength and cs:bansteamid. Other community documentation states that there is no administrator command to spawn items, grant god mode or teleport. Because the cs: set is not corroborated elsewhere and the same page mixes information for Sons of the Forest, do not treat those entries as established The Forest dedicated-server commands.

If you test an unverified command, use a copy of the save, keep -showlogs enabled where supported, and be prepared for an error or no response. Never promise players a teleport, item-spawn or god-mode feature based solely on that list.

Backups, moderation and recovery workflow

Before changing configuration

  • Record the current server name, ports, player cap, difficulty, active save slot and both password settings.
  • Copy Server.cfg and every file in the dedicated save directory.
  • Write down the server build and the date of the backup.

Before kicking or banning

  • Capture the player’s exact Steam ID from your panel or server log.
  • Warn the player when practical and document the reason privately.
  • Use /kick for a temporary removal; use /ban only when you intend to block reconnection.

After a failed save or reset

  1. Stop the server immediately if a wrong slot was written or the world reset.
  2. Do not issue another /save over the affected slot.
  3. Restore the dated backup into the dedicated save directory, preserving the directory structure.
  4. Start the server and verify the restored world with one test player before reopening it to everyone.
  5. Replace the admin password if you suspect that an unauthorized person accessed it.

Hosting-panel checklist

Before choosing or configuring a host, confirm these three capabilities rather than relying on a generic “admin access” label:

Capability Why it matters What to ask
Separate Admin Password field Without it, players may have no supported way to authenticate for slash commands. Is the admin credential distinct from the Server Password, and where is it applied?
File access to Server.cfg Direct access lets you inspect the generated values and make controlled edits. Can I download, edit and restore the configuration while the server is stopped?
Documented installed version Command and default-port behavior changes across old builds. Which game/server version is installed, and how are updates announced?

A panel that offers only a restart button but no save backup or file access requires extra care: schedule manual backups through the host’s export tools, keep a local copy of the configuration, and ask how to recover a previous slot before making changes.

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Troubleshooting common admin problems

/help does nothing

Leave and rejoin using the Admin Password, then press Enter in the game rather than entering the command in a panel’s general chat box. Check that the password was saved and that the server was restarted after the change. If the command still fails, inspect the startup log and the generated configuration for a blank serverPasswordAdmin value or a launch argument overriding it.

Players cannot find or join the server

Confirm that the server is running, that the public address and query port are correct, and that the router forwards the required ports to the current local address. A changed DHCP address, host firewall rule or provider port mapping can make a healthy process invisible to the server list.

Configuration changes revert

Stop the process before editing. Then check whether the hosting panel regenerates Server.cfg or appends launch parameters at startup. Because command-line values override matching file entries, remove or change the conflicting parameter in the panel’s startup settings.

A command from an old guide is rejected

Run /help on the server, compare the installed version with the guide’s version label, and test on a backup world. Do not substitute an unverified cs: command or a Sons of the Forest configuration key for a confirmed The Forest setting.

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