You can bring The Forest world you already have, from your own computer or another host, to your PlayNHost server.
Uploading a save can replace the world that is on the server now. Make a backup first and stop the server, and keep your own original files until the server loads the new world.
Upload and load your world
- Stop the server and make a panel backup of the current server first. The world already on the server may be replaced by your upload, and the old world is lost without that backup.
- On your PC, find your save slot folder. Single-player saves on Windows are in your user folder under AppData, LocalLow, SKS, TheForest, then a folder named after your Steam ID, then Singleplayer or Multiplayer, then a folder for the slot (Slot1 to Slot5).
- In Files, open TheForestDedicatedServer_Data and look for the folder where the server keeps its own save slot folders. Upload your slot folder there. If the server already created a slot folder such as Slot1, rename yours to match it, so the server finds it. If the server has never saved, start it, let it run until a save slot folder appears in TheForestDedicatedServer_Data in Files and its files show a recent time, then stop it first.
- Make sure Starting World is set to Continue, so the server loads the save instead of building a new world.
- Start the server and join. If your world does not load, or a blank world appears, open a support ticket.
Large files are best uploaded with SFTP. See How to connect to your server files with SFTP and How to upload, edit and manage your server files.
Start a fresh world
Starting fresh can permanently remove the current world. Back it up first.
- Stop the server and make a panel backup. A fresh world replaces your current world and everything built in it, and this cannot be undone without the backup.
- Set Starting World to New and set Difficulty to what you want, since difficulty is fixed when the world is created.
- Start the server and join it so the new world is created. The new world only replaces the old one at the next autosave. Stay in the world, and in Files wait until the save slot folder under TheForestDedicatedServer_Data shows files with a recent time. If you stop the server before that, the old save is still there and Continue loads it again.
- Only after the autosave, stop the server and set Starting World back to Continue, then start it again. A restart, a crash or a scheduled restart while Starting World is still on New creates another brand-new world and replaces the one you just made.
