The Forest Console Commands: Full List and Setup

The Forest has two completely separate command systems, and most guides only describe one of them. The developer console you open with F1 is a client-side cheat menu running on your own machine. The / commands you type into multiplayer chat are server administration, and they only work if you joined with the admin password. Knowing which is which saves a lot of time wondering why godmode did nothing on somebody else's server.

This page covers both: how to switch the console on, the commands worth knowing, and what a dedicated server actually permits.

This is The Forest, not Sons of the Forest

The 2018 original and its sequel have different command sets and different config files. Nothing below applies to the sequel — see Getting started with your Sons of the Forest Server for that one.

Enabling the developer console

Three steps, in order. The second gives no feedback whatsoever, which is where nearly everyone gets stuck.

1. From the main menu open Options > Gameplay and set Allow Cheats to On.
2. Return to the main title screen and type developermodeon. There is no confirmation message, no sound, and nothing appears on screen.
3. Load into a game and press F1.

If a small text box appears in the top-left corner, it worked.

If F1 does nothing, check your F Lock key

On keyboards with an F Lock, the function row sends media keys instead of F1-F12 and the console never opens. This is the most common cause of "developer mode is not working" — toggle F Lock and try again.

help lists every command the build recognises, but the output goes to the log rather than the input box. Press F2 to read it.

Console commands vs server admin commands

These are not the same system and they do not overlap.

The practical consequence: a dedicated server can switch the developer console off for everybody. The allowCheats setting in Server.cfg controls whether clients may use the built-in debug console. When it is off, developermodeon appears to work — you get a console that simply refuses to cheat, with nothing telling you why.

Note also that allowCheats off only disables the built-in console. It has no effect on external cheat mods, so it is a convenience setting rather than an anti-grief measure.

This is the same client-versus-server split Rust uses, where the F1 console is client-side and server administration is a separate privileged system.

Game mode codes typed at the main menu

A third category, and genuinely different: these do not require developer mode. Type them straight at the main title screen.

Type the same code again to switch it off. ironforest and regrowmode are also exposed in the in-game options menu, so you rarely need the codes for those two.

Player and survival commands

killmefast is permanent

killmefast is a hard suicide that requires reloading the save. It is not the same as killlocalplayer, and there is no confirmation prompt.

Items

additem 77 gives you a live rabbit, which is the usual way people restock a rabbit cage. Press F1, run the command, press Enter, place the rabbit, then press F1 and Up-arrow to repeat.

Enemies and animals

Add a quantity to any spawn command with a -- suffix: spawnmutant male --6 spawns six. spawnenemy and spawnmutant usually do the same job, but occasionally one works where the other does not, so try both. In creative or peaceful games you must change both the game mode and the difficulty before enemies will spawn at all.

World, time and weather

timescale can make a save unplayable

timescale changes the speed of the entire simulation, not just the clock. High values cause physics problems that can persist after you set it back. Use gametimescale instead when you only want days to pass faster.

Dedicated server admin commands

These are typed into multiplayer chat with the Enter key, not the F1 console, and only work for players who supplied a valid admin password when joining.

/restart deletes the save

/restart restarts the server and resets the save game. It is not the command you want for a routine reboot — use your control panel's restart button, which leaves save data alone.

Notice what is missing: there is no admin command to spawn items, grant godmode, or teleport. Everything in the cheat tables above is client-side only. A server admin password gets you moderation and world-rule toggles, nothing more. If you want the cheat commands on a multiplayer world, the server has to have allowCheats on and each player runs them on their own client. Icarus works the same way, and the same disappointment catches people there.

Server.cfg settings worth knowing

The dedicated server reads Server.cfg. The -configfilepath command-line parameter points it elsewhere if you need that.

Read your ports off the panel, not off the defaults

Endnight's stock values are serverSteamPort 8766, serverGamePort 27015 and serverQueryPort 27016. Your GameServerKings server is allocated its own game, query and Steam ports as a set, and the Network tab in the panel is the authoritative list. Typing the stock numbers into Server.cfg advertises ports that were never assigned to you, which is how a server ends up looking healthy in its own log while never appearing in the browser.

The query port is also the one players need in order to find you manually, and that trips people up because the process happens outside the game entirely.

Add the server to Steam favourites using the query port

The Forest servers are added through Steam rather than in-game: Steam > View > Servers > Favorites > Add a Server, using the query port rather than the game port.

Commands that no longer work

Command lists for this game have been copied between sites for years, and several entries in circulation are dead.

• fastrun was renamed. Use speedyrun on / off.
• rawmeatmode, the permadeath mode that wiped your save on death, is no longer available in the current Steam build.
• setdrawdistance and setshadowlevel still exist but are pointless — both are ordinary graphics settings in the options menu.
• toggleplayerstats and toggleoverlay are just F3 and F2.
• setplayerbody, growgrass and sendmessageto are no longer listed in the game and may or may not respond.

The developer console itself is a feature of the PC version. On console the main-menu game-mode codes can be entered with a keyboard attached, but the full F1 command set is not available there.

FAQ

Why is developermodeon not working?

Two likely causes. Either Allow Cheats is still off in Options > Gameplay, or your keyboard's F Lock is intercepting F1. The command deliberately produces no feedback, so a silent result does not mean it failed — load a game and press F1 to check.

Do console commands work in multiplayer?

Only if the server has allowCheats on. When that is set, each player runs commands on their own client and effects that are purely local, such as godmode, apply only to them. When it is off, the console opens but commands do nothing.

How do I become an admin on a dedicated server?

Set serverPasswordAdmin in Server.cfg, restart, and supply that password when joining. You then get the / chat commands. There is no in-game promotion command and no admin list file.

Can I spawn items on a dedicated server as an admin?

No. Item spawning is a client-side console command, not an admin command. Being an admin gets you moderation and world-rule toggles only. To spawn items on a server, the server needs allowCheats on and you run additem from your own F1 console.

Can console commands wipe my achievements?

Yes, and the command that does it sits in the same console as harmless ones like save. resetstatsandachievements clears all account stats and achievement progress with no confirmation prompt. The same family includes save-slot deletions such as clearsaveslot sp 1, which removes single-player slot 1 outright. Treat anything beginning clear or reset with suspicion. If you want a run with cheats provably switched off, use meatmode.

Are these the same as Sons of the Forest commands?

No. The sequel has a different command set and a JSON config file rather than Server.cfg. See the Sons of the Forest server guide.

---

Made with 💜 by GameServerKings