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Sons of the Forest Server Ports & Port Forwarding

Sons of the Forest Guide • Updated Aug 29, 2026

Sons of the Forest Server Ports and Port Forwarding

The official dedicated-server guide documents three UDP ports. Open the same values in every layer that applies: the server firewall, home router, and hosted-provider firewall.

PurposeProtocolDefault port
GameUDP8766
QueryUDP27016
Blob synchronisationUDP9700

Hosted server: do not forward ports on your home router for a remote provider. Add the ports in the provider panel or ask support which external-to-internal mapping it uses.

Home router forwarding

  1. Give the server computer a stable LAN address or DHCP reservation.
  2. Create UDP rules for 8766, 27016, and 9700 to that LAN address.
  3. Save the rules and restart the router only if it requires it.
  4. Allow the same ports in the operating-system firewall.

Router interfaces differ, so use the router's “port forwarding” or “NAT” screen. Do not assume a TCP-only rule is enough for this server.

Windows firewall

# PowerShell as Administrator
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "SOTF Game" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 8766 -Action Allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "SOTF Query" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 27016 -Action Allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "SOTF Blob Sync" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 9700 -Action Allow

Linux firewall example

sudo ufw allow 8766/udp
sudo ufw allow 27016/udp
sudo ufw allow 9700/udp
sudo ufw status

When the server is still not visible

  • Confirm the process is running and listening with the same ports shown in dedicatedserver.cfg.
  • Check the host firewall, provider security group, and router rule separately.
  • Verify that the server is not set to LanOnly.
  • Check the public address and port supplied to players; do not use the private LAN address from outside the home network.
  • Make sure the server and clients are on compatible builds.

Port scans from the public internet can miss UDP services or be blocked by a provider. The strongest test is a real join from outside the server's network.

Configuration reference

The port values belong in the JSON GamePort, QueryPort, and BlobSyncPort keys. See the full SOTF configuration reference and the setup guide before changing them.

Official source

Verify changes against the official Sons of the Forest dedicated-server guide.

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