How to Disable Big Head Mode & Seasonal Events in Sons of the Forest
During the holiday season or specific community events, Sons of the Forest often activates "Big Head Mode" or places Red Santa Hats on cannibals by default. While entertaining for some, these "Seasonal Events" can break immersion for serious roleplay or hardcore survival servers. This guide explains how to disable them on your dedicated server.
๐ฟ Big Head Mode
This is a legacy setting that sometimes triggers accidentally after a patch. It increases the head scale of all NPCs (Kelvin, Virginia, and Cannibals) by 300%.
๐ Seasonal Cosmetics
Red hats and holiday decorations are tied to the server's system clock. You can bypass this without changing your server's time.
How to Force "Normal" Mode
1. Use the -noseasonal Launch Flag
The most reliable way to disable all holiday-themed content and "joke" modes is to add the -noseasonal argument to your server's launch string. In your start.sh or launch.bat, update the command:
./SonsOfTheForestDS.exe -batchmode -noseasonal +owner_id 123452. Editing the ServerSettings.ini
You can also attempt to disable specific "Cheat" modes that might have been enabled by an admin. Check your ServerSettings.ini for the following line:
# Ensure BigHeadMode is set to off
BigHeadMode=off3. Resetting NPC Scales
If you disabled the mode but Kelvin's head is still huge, it means the scale data was saved into the GameStateSaveData.json. You may need to restart the server twice or manually edit the save file (see our Companion Revival Guide) to reset the "F_HeadScale": 1.0 value.
Admin Tip: Some "Cheat" mods like SOTF Edit can force these modes back on. If the launch flag doesn't work, verify that no plugins are overriding the server's base configuration.
Professional Survival Environment
Maintaining a consistent atmosphere is key to player retention. At Supercraft, we provide a "Vanilla Immersion" toggle in our control panel that automatically applies the correct anti-seasonal flags, keeping your island terrifying (and head-proportional) year-round.