How to Host a The Forest Dedicated Server

How to Host a The Forest Dedicated Server

The Forest is a survival horror game where players must survive on a peninsula inhabited by cannibalistic mutants. Running a dedicated server on your Breeze instance provides a persistent world for cooperative survival with friends, complete with base building and cave exploration.

System Requirements

A Breeze instance with 2 CPU cores, 4 GB of RAM, and 5 GB of storage handles The Forest server well. The server is relatively lightweight compared to the full game client.

Installing via SteamCMD

The Forest dedicated server runs as a Windows application, so you will need Wine on Linux:

sudo useradd -m -r -s /bin/bash theforest
sudo apt install -y steamcmd wine64 xvfb
sudo su - theforest
mkdir -p ~/forest_server
steamcmd +@sSteamCmdForcePlatformType windows \
  +force_install_dir ~/forest_server \
  +login anonymous \
  +app_update 556450 validate \
  +quit

Server Configuration

Edit the configuration file at ~/forest_server/config.cfg:

serverName My Forest Server
serverPlayers 8
serverPort 8766
serverIP 0.0.0.0
serverSteamPort 8766
serverQueryPort 27016
serverPassword your-password
serverAutoSaveInterval 15
enableVAC on
serverContact admin@example.com
saveFolderPath /home/theforest/forest_saves

Gameplay Settings

Additional gameplay options can be configured in the config file:

difficulty Normal
initType Continue
slot 1
showLogs on
treeRegrowMode on
allowCheats off
realisticPlayerDamage off
allowBuildingDestruction on
veganMode off
vegetarianMode off

Difficulty options include Peaceful (no enemies), Normal, Hard, and Hard Survival. Vegan mode removes cannibals entirely, while vegetarian mode makes them passive until attacked.

Running with Wine

Start the server using Wine and a virtual display:

export DISPLAY=:99
Xvfb :99 -screen 0 1024x768x24 &
cd ~/forest_server
wine TheForestDedicatedServer.exe \
  -serverip 0.0.0.0 \
  -serversteamport 8766 \
  -serverqueryport 27016 \
  -servergameport 27015 \
  -serverplayers 8 \
  -serverautosaveinterval 15 \
  -configfilepath config.cfg

Firewall Configuration

Open the required ports on your Breeze instance:

sudo ufw allow 8766/udp
sudo ufw allow 8766/tcp
sudo ufw allow 27015/udp
sudo ufw allow 27015/tcp
sudo ufw allow 27016/udp
sudo ufw reload

Save Management

The Forest stores save data in numbered slots. Configure the saveFolderPath to point to a dedicated directory and back it up regularly. You can maintain multiple save slots for different playthroughs or rollback purposes.

Administration

• Player limits — The Forest supports up to 8 players per server
• VAC — enable Valve Anti-Cheat for public servers
• Tree regrow — enable tree regrowth so the forest regenerates over time
• Building destruction — toggle whether enemies can destroy player structures
• Auto-save — configure the interval in minutes between automatic saves

Players connect through the Steam server browser or by direct IP connection using your Breeze public address.