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Setting up BepInEx Plugins for Sons of the Forest

Sons of the Forest Guide โ€ข Updated Feb 27, 2026

Setting up BepInEx Plugins for Sons of the Forest

BepInEx is the de-facto mod loader for Unity-based games, and Sons of the Forest is no exception. By installing BepInEx, you unlock access to a large ecosystem of community plugins that can extend your server with more player slots, custom enemy behaviour, quality-of-life tweaks, and admin tools. This guide covers installation on both Windows and Linux dedicated servers.

๐Ÿ“ฆ What BepInEx Adds

BepInEx acts as a mod injection framework. Individual plugins (DLLs) are dropped into the BepInEx/plugins/ folder and automatically loaded when the server starts.

โš ๏ธ Server vs Client

Some mods are server-side only (players don't need them). Others require matching plugin versions on both server and clients. Always check each plugin's README before deploying.

Step 1: Download BepInEx

Sons of the Forest uses a 64-bit Unity build. Download the correct BepInEx build from the official BepInEx GitHub releases:

  • Windows: BepInEx_win_x64_5.4.x.x.zip
  • Linux: BepInEx_linux_x64_5.4.x.x.tar.gz

BepInEx 6.x (for Unity IL2CPP) is NOT required โ€” SOTF uses Mono, so the stable 5.4.x branch is correct.

Step 2: Install BepInEx into the Server Directory

Extract the downloaded archive directly into your Sons of the Forest server folder (the same directory containing SonsOfTheForestDS.exe):

# Example server path (Linux):
/home/steam/sotf/

# After extraction, you should see:
/home/steam/sotf/BepInEx/
/home/steam/sotf/winhttp.dll       โ† (Windows only, the patcher hook)
/home/steam/sotf/doorstop_config.ini

Linux: Additional Doorstop Configuration

On Linux, BepInEx requires a launch wrapper. Edit your start script to use the BepInEx launch script:

#!/bin/bash
# start-server.sh โ€” wrap the server with BepInEx Linux patcher
export DOORSTOP_ENABLE=TRUE
export DOORSTOP_INVOKE_DLL_PATH=./BepInEx/core/BepInEx.Preloader.dll
./SonsOfTheForestDS "$@"

Step 3: First Launch โ€” Generate Config

Start the server once without any plugins to let BepInEx generate its configuration files:

# Expected output in console:
[Info  :   BepInEx] BepInEx 5.4.x - Sons of the Forest
[Info  :   BepInEx] Running under Unity v2021.x.xxxx
[Info  :   BepInEx] Loaded 0 patcher plugins
[Info  :   BepInEx] Loaded 0 plugins

This creates the BepInEx/config/ and BepInEx/plugins/ folders.

Step 4: Install Plugins

Download plugin DLL files from Thunderstore (Sons of the Forest) or GitHub. Drop them into:

/home/steam/sotf/BepInEx/plugins/
  โ”œโ”€โ”€ MorePlayers.dll         โ† Increases max player limit
  โ”œโ”€โ”€ SOTFServerTools.dll     โ† Admin commands + RCON extensions
  โ””โ”€โ”€ BetterStamina.dll       โ† Custom stamina rebalance

Popular SOTF Server-Side Plugins

PluginPurposeServer-Only?
MorePlayersRaise the 8-player cap to 12โ€“20โœ… Yes
SOTFServerToolsExtended admin commands and loggingโœ… Yes
NoCannibalsInSafeZonesPrevent mutant spawns near baseโœ… Yes
WinterSurvivalAdds cold mechanics and resource scarcityโŒ Both
CustomSpawnRateTune enemy spawn frequency per hourโœ… Yes

Step 5: Verify Plugin Loading

After restarting the server with plugins, check the BepInEx log file for successful loads:

cat BepInEx/LogOutput.log | grep "\[Info\]"

# Expected output:
[Info :   BepInEx] Loading [MorePlayers 1.2.0]
[Info :   BepInEx] Loading [SOTFServerTools 0.8.1]

Errors will appear as [Error] lines โ€” typically caused by wrong Unity version targeting or a missing dependency DLL.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

  • Server won't start after BepInEx install: Verify doorstop_config.ini is present and winhttp.dll is in the root server folder (Windows only)
  • Plugins not loading: Confirm the DLL targets .NET Standard 2.0 or .NET Framework 4.6, not .NET 5/6 (incompatible)
  • Linux: No BepInEx output: Make sure the start script exports DOORSTOP_ENABLE=TRUE before launching
  • Game crashes on load: Isolate which plugin causes the crash by moving DLLs out of plugins/ one at a time

Important: After every Sons of the Forest game update (via SteamCMD), verify your installed BepInEx version still works. Major Unity engine updates can break plugin compatibility. Subscribe to the BepInEx GitHub releases for update notifications.

Professional Hosting

Want one-click mod installations? Launch your Sons of the Forest server with Supercraft and manage mods through our intuitive drag-and-drop control panel.

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