HaruHostGame server hosting
The Forest server hosting: host your own on a PC or VPS
Why host The Forest yourself
No player slots
The server takes as many players as The Forest and your machine handle. HaruHost plans count game servers, never player slots.
Hardware you know
On your own PC, the server gets your PC's CPU and memory. On a VPS, it gets the cores and memory you rent.
Your files, your rules
The server's files stay on your machine: edit any config file, copy the world and keep every save.
Free to try
Want to try it first? The free plan runs 1 server with web panel and basic server actions, without the paid features.
The Forest on your own PC or a VPS
On Linux, without a Linux server
The Forest has no Linux server of its own. HaruHost runs the Windows server on Linux, on a home server or a VPS, with nothing for you to set up. See The Forest on Linux.
On Windows
There is no Tunnel for The Forest on Windows. Friends find the server in the game's server list by its Lobby Name once its ports are reachable from the internet. Behind CGNAT, host on Linux with the Tunnel (paid plans) instead.
Friends join without port forwarding Paid
When HaruHost runs as a service on Linux, friends find the server in The Forest's own server list (search the Lobby Name), like any public server. No port forwarding, even behind CGNAT, through one of 14 regions.
Without the Tunnel, turn on Auto-manage UPnP and Auto-manage Firewall, and HaruHost on Windows opens the server's ports on your router and in Windows Firewall when the server starts, where your router allows it.
Back online after a reboot Paid
With the background service, HaruHost starts with the machine. An automation on the HaruHost starts trigger with a Start server if stopped step then brings the server back after every reboot, including the restarts Windows updates make, and Crash recovery starts it again when it stops unexpectedly.
- Game servers keep running when HaruHost updates or restarts on Windows
- Updates released while HaruHost was offline are caught up the next time it starts
Windows or Linux
Run the server on any Windows PC, from the desktop app or the background service.
Run it on an Ubuntu VPS or a Linux home server, installed with one command and managed from the web panel. HaruHost runs game servers in Docker and installs it for you on Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch Linux and Bazzite. Other distributions work once Docker Engine is installed. Pick a full virtual machine (KVM): container-based VPSes often cannot run Docker, and ARM servers are not supported.
curl -fsSL https://haruhost.com/install.sh | sudo bash
Full remote management
Manage the server from the desktop app, or from the web panel on any device, including your phone.
Discord bot Paid From Discord, start, stop, restart and update the server and see who is online.
The Forest server hosting questions
Is there free The Forest server hosting?
Yes, if you host it yourself: HaruHost's free plan runs 1 server with web panel and basic server actions on your own PC, or on a VPS you rent. The Tunnel, automations and backups are part of the paid plans.
Can I move my The Forest server from a host?
Yes. Download the server's files from your host, then browse to the folder in HaruHost: it recognises the server and keeps your saves and settings.