How to Change the Save Slots on Your The Forest Server

The Forest lets your server run different saved worlds through save slots. Each slot holds a separate world with its own progress, so you can switch between playthroughs, start a fresh survival run, or keep a backup world ready without overwriting anything important.

The RiverHosting panel gives you a dedicated Save Slots page for your The Forest server so you can manage this without editing any files manually.

Before you start

• You need an active The Forest server on your RiverHosting account.
• Log in to the RiverHosting panel at panel.riverhosting.com before following these steps.
• Stop your server before changing the active save slot. Changing it while the server is running can cause the wrong world to load or lead to save corruption.

1. How to open the Save Slots page

1. Log in to the RiverHosting panel.
2. Click on your The Forest server from the server list.
3. In the left-hand menu, click Save Slots.

This page shows all the save slots available on your server. Each slot represents a separate world that the server can load when it starts.

2. How to switch your active save slot

1. Make sure your server is stopped. You can stop it by clicking the Stop button on the main server page or from the Console tab.
2. Go to the Save Slots page in the left-hand menu.
3. Find the slot you want to use. Slots are usually numbered, such as Slot 1, Slot 2, or Slot 3.
4. Select or activate the slot you want the server to load on next startup.
5. Save your changes if prompted.
6. Start your server again. It will now load the world stored in the slot you selected.

3. How to keep your existing world safe before switching

If you are switching away from a slot that has important progress on it, it is a good idea to take a backup first. That way, you can always restore that world later if you need it.

1. Stop your server.
2. Go to Backups in the left-hand menu.
3. Click Create Backup and wait for it to finish.
4. Once the backup is complete, go to Save Slots and switch to the slot you want.
5. Start your server.

Troubleshooting

• The server loaded the wrong world after switching. Make sure you stopped the server fully before changing the save slot. Restart the server after confirming the correct slot is selected.
• A slot appears empty but I expected a world to be there. The world data for that slot may not have saved correctly during a previous session. Check your backups to see if an earlier version can be restored.
• The Save Slots page is not showing in the menu. Make sure you are on a The Forest server. This page only appears for The Forest servers. If you cannot see it, contact support.
• Changes to the slot do not seem to take effect. Always stop the server before making slot changes and then start it again. If the issue continues, try clearing the slot selection and re-selecting it, then restart.

Need help?

If you run into any issues with save slots or your The Forest server, the RiverHosting support team is ready to help.