Abiotic Factor Save Location: Local Worlds and Server Saves

The Abiotic Factor save location on a Steam PC is %LocalAppData%\AbioticFactor\Saved\SaveGames\<your SteamID64>\Worlds\. Every folder in there is one world. On a dedicated server, worlds live in AbioticFactor\Saved\SaveGames\Server\Worlds\ inside the server install, and the server loads the folder named Cascade unless it is told otherwise.

This page covers both locations, where your character actually lives (inside the world, not beside it), the automatic backups, and how to move a world onto a server. It also covers the one GSK-specific catch: the folder has to be called Cascade.

Checked against Abiotic Factor v1.4.0.28206

Hotfix of 27 July 2026, with Deep Field Games' dedicated server wiki as last edited on 13 July 2026.

Where Abiotic Factor saves your world

To get there on Windows, press Win + R, paste %LocalAppData%\AbioticFactor\Saved\SaveGames, and press Enter. You will see a folder named with a 17-digit number. That is your SteamID64. Open it, then Worlds. Deep Field Games' own example path is %LocalAppData%\AbioticFactor\Saved\SaveGames\76561198053306820\Worlds\.

Your character is saved inside the world. Abiotic Factor has no separate character slot. A scientist exists per world, and a client who joins someone else's world has their character stored in that host's world save. That is why Deep Field Games added a Server Profile option to the Escape menu. From there a client can delete their own character on a server. The host can't, and has to remove their own character from the world save on disk. It is also why copying the world folder carries everyone's progress along with it.

On a GSK server

Everything sits under /home/container, so the world your server runs is at:

/home/container/AbioticFactor/Saved/SaveGames/Server/Worlds/Cascade/

Open it from the Files tab. Cascade is the game's default world name. Our startup command doesn't pass -WorldSaveName, and there is no world-name field on the Startup tab, so the server always loads Cascade. If you want a different world live, give its folder that name (see below).

Backups the game makes for you

Since Community Update #1, Abiotic Factor keeps up to 5 world backups in your save folder, taking a new one every 30 minutes. Backups are deliberately not synced to Steam Cloud, so a bad cloud sync can't eat them too. If the game detects a damaged world on load, it offers to use a backup, and a Restore Backup button appears.

The same system runs on dedicated servers. Deep Field Games: "Upon launching your server, a red message will print out informing you if a world save was corrupted and a backup was swapped in its place." If your world looks like it jumped back in time after a restart, scroll up the Console tab for that red line before assuming anything else. The rotation had a bug in which only the first backup was ever replaced. It was fixed in Hotfix 1.0.0.20474 (August 2025) for both Steam and dedicated servers.

On a server you also have the Admin panel's Force World Save button (see Abiotic Factor Console Commands) and the panel's own Backups tab, which snapshots the whole server. How to create a backup covers the panel side. Take a panel backup before you move or replace a world folder.

Check the timestamp before Steam Cloud overwrites anything

Deep Field Games' most repeated warning: if Steam asks whether to use your cloud save or your local one, pick the newer one. "If you overwrite your save data with an older Steam Cloud version of your save file, WE CANNOT FIX THAT FOR YOU." If you only ever play on one PC, you never want the cloud copy.

Moving your world to a dedicated server

Steam solo and co-op worlds run on a dedicated server unchanged. They only need to be in the right folder with the right name.

1. Stop the server from the Console tab, and take a backup if the server already has a world you care about.
2. On your PC, open %LocalAppData%\AbioticFactor\Saved\SaveGames\<SteamID64>\Worlds\ and find the world folder you want.
3. On the server, open AbioticFactor/Saved/SaveGames/Server/Worlds/. If there is already a Cascade folder, rename it (for example to Cascade_old) so you can go back.
4. Upload your world folder into Worlds/ and rename it to Cascade. Deep Field Games' guide gives two options, rename to Cascade or pass -WorldSaveName=, and on a GSK server renaming is the one you control. Big worlds upload faster over SFTP.
5. Start the server, join, and check your base and inventory.

If the folder doesn't exist yet, start the server once so it creates Server/Worlds/Cascade, then stop it and follow the steps.

Console and Game Pass worlds can't be moved

Deep Field Games: "PS5, Xbox and Windows Gamepass Saves are not supported on dedicated servers." Only Steam saves transfer. Xbox and PlayStation players can still join a dedicated server. They just can't bring their existing world to one.

Going the other way works too: download the Cascade folder, drop it into your local Worlds\ folder under any name you like, and it shows up in your world list.

Resetting a world

To start fresh on a server, stop it, rename or delete Worlds/Cascade/, and start it again. A new Cascade is generated. Renaming is safer than deleting because you can undo it. To reset one player instead of the whole world, have that player use Server Profile → delete character from the Escape menu while connected. Their inventory is dropped in a loot bag rather than deleted.

Common Questions

Where is the Abiotic Factor save file location on Steam Deck or Linux?

Deep Field Games doesn't document a Linux path. The game runs under Proton there, and Proton keeps each game's Windows files in a separate prefix folder named after its App ID (427410 for Abiotic Factor) under steamapps/compatdata/. Inside that prefix, look for the same AppData/Local/AbioticFactor/Saved/SaveGames/ folder as on Windows, usually under pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/.

Why does my server make a new world every time it starts?

Because there is no folder called Cascade in Server/Worlds/. The server loads that exact name. If your uploaded world has any other name, the server creates a fresh Cascade next to it.

Are characters saved separately from the world?

No. Each world stores the characters of everyone who has played in it. Moving the world moves the characters.

Where are the backups?

In the save folder alongside the world. The game keeps up to five, 30 minutes apart, and doesn't upload them to Steam Cloud.

Can I move a world from Xbox or PS5 to my server?

No. Deep Field Games state that PS5, Xbox and Game Pass saves are not supported on dedicated servers.

What to Read Next

• Abiotic Factor Console Commands: The Honest Answer: the Admin panel, Force World Save and Admin.ini
• Getting started with your Abiotic Factor server: first boot and connecting
• How to upload files via SFTP: for large world folders

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