How to Fix a Sons of the Forest Server That Resets Its World

A Sons of the Forest world that disappears after a restart is nearly always a configuration setting, not corruption. Check these in order.

1. SaveMode is still set to New

In dedicatedserver.cfg:

"SaveMode": "New",
"SaveSlot": 1,

New regenerates the world in that slot every time the server starts. It is a one time action that people forget to undo. Stop the server, change it to:

"SaveMode": "Continue",

and start again.

2. The save slot changed

SaveSlot selects the world. A different number means a different, empty world, and your original is untouched on disk. Set it back.

3. The config was edited while the server was running

Sons of the Forest writes dedicatedserver.cfg back out on shutdown. An edit made while it runs is silently overwritten, which can put SaveMode back to whatever it was. Always stop, edit, start.

4. The server was stopped uncleanly

The world is written on the save interval and on a clean shutdown. Use the panel's Stop and wait for the server to report it is offline, rather than killing it. If you lose the last few minutes regularly, lower SaveInterval.

Check what is on disk

In the panel open Files and look in the saves folder. Each slot is its own directory. Modified dates tell you which one the server has actually been writing to.

Back up before you experiment

1. Stop the server so the world is fully written.
2. In Files, download the save folder for your slot.

Do this before changing the game mode, before a game update and before touching SaveMode.

The server will not start at all

Read the panel console. A JSON syntax error in dedicatedserver.cfg is the usual cause and the message names the problem. Restore your backup of the file, or fix the comma or brace it complains about.