Migrate and Back Up a Sons of the Forest World

What to stop and copy

Tell players, and wait until nobody is connected. Stop the server from its console instead of killing the process mid-write. Copy off the machine the directory given to -userdatapath, or this one when that argument is absent:

C:\Users\<user>\AppData\LocalLow\Endnight\SonsOfTheForestDS

Inside it: dedicatedserver.cfg, ownerswhitelist.txt, Saves, and logs if you enabled them. Write down SaveSlot, SaveMode and the launch command. An archive that does not open is not a backup. Keep the previous copy. The newest archive alone does not let you step back from a bad edit.

The dedicatedserver.cfg guide explains the keys. Installation is in the SteamCMD guide.

Bring the world up on another machine

1. Install the same dedicated tool and start it once so it creates a user-data folder. Stop it.
2. Set that empty generated folder aside so you can return to it.
3. Restore your copy where the new command will read it. If you change -userdatapath, the script and the restored path have to match.
4. Open dedicatedserver.cfg and check SaveSlot and SaveMode. Leave Continue.
5. Do not change GameMode during the move. On an existing slot that key is ignored, and switching the mode to new destroys the slot.
6. Put ownerswhitelist.txt back with the same SteamIDs. A missing file stops startup: the server creates an empty one, and you have to fill it in and start again.

Start without deleting the source. The self-test should pass, or you should already know why you are bypassing it. Join, check a known camp, a container and a player. Place an object, stop cleanly, start again, and confirm the object is still there.

Co-op or solo into the dedicated server

The Steam Community guide documents the dedicated server folder (SonsOfTheForestDS). A game hosted inside the client uses a different LocalLow folder, Endnight\SonsOfTheForest, without the DS suffix. They are not the same files.

The source guide does not spell out a co-op-to-dedicated transfer. Treat the copy as unproven until this validation passes:

• back up both folders before moving anything;
• create a dedicated slot in Continue, stop, and see how Saves is laid out;
• copy the client save into that tree so the slot number still matches SaveSlot;
• start in Continue, never New;
• if the world does not load, restore both copies. Do not rename files at random to force the slot.

A brand-new world usually means the wrong user-data folder or SaveMode still set to new. The right world with no admin rights means a missing ownerswhitelist.txt or a truncated SteamID64.

Rollback

Leave the old server off but intact for a few days. On failure: stop the destination, keep its logs, restore the archive, and start again only after you have re-read SaveMode. Test from the Internet after the local test. If that fails, the save is no longer the problem: use the port diagnosis.

Common questions