The Forest
Difficulty, passwords, the Steam account requirement and why mods are limited.
Everything in Your panel applies. These are The Forest specifics.
Startup parameters
- Server Name and Max Players
- Server Difficulty — peaceful, normal, hard or hardmode
- Server Password and Admin Password
- Steam Account — needed to download the server files
- VAC — anti-cheat on or off
Difficulty is set at world creation and is not something to change casually mid-save; the game balances enemy behaviour and resources around it.
The Steam account
The Forest dedicated server files can only be downloaded with a Steam account. Enter yours in Startup parameters, then reinstall — the files download automatically.
Use an account that owns the game. If the download fails, this is nearly always the cause, and the console says so.
Mods
The Forest has no official mod framework for dedicated servers. Community tools exist, but they are unofficial and we cannot promise any particular one will work or keep working after a game update.
If mods are central to how you want to play, this is not the game to build a server around.
Memory
Plans start at 4 GB, comfortable for a small group. Memory grows with how much has been built and how much of the map has been visited, so a save meant to survive months rather than weeks deserves the next tier up.
Saves
The server writes the world periodically. Use Stop rather than Kill so the game can save cleanly, and take a manual backup before any big change.
Admin
Log in with the admin password from Startup parameters, then use the game's own admin commands. The console is available for anything you would rather do from outside the game.