Console commands and cheats in The Forest can be very powerful tools to play with, especially if you’re having a hard time with the game’s hardcore survival mechanics. They can also be great for testing stuff as well, and if you find yourself needing some debug help for whatever purpose, here is a complete list of all the cheats and console commands for The Forest.
What are Cheats and Console Commands in The Forest?
In a nutshell, console commands allow players to modify the way The Forest works. Typically, console commands are also called by some players as cheats, and for the purpose of this guide you can treat these terms interchangeably.
One important thing to note is that most console commands do not work on the PS4 version of The Forest. That said, there are a select few which can work provided you have a connected USB keyboard.
Here are the game mode commands that work on both the PS4 and PC versions of The Forest:
- ironforest – turns buildings indestructible. You can disable this cheat by typing it again. Alternatively, you can toggle this within the game options.
- meatmode – disables all cheats and console commands.
- regrowmode – 10% of all fallen trees will regrow after you get some sleep. This only applies to intact stumps, meaning that trees with harvested stumps will not grow anymore. You can also toggle this within the game options.
- veganmode – enemies will only appear in caves.
- vegetarianmode – enemies only appear at nighttime.
- woodpaste – resets all the holes made by hole cutter and the crane.
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How to Activate Cheats and Console Commands in The Forest
You can’t simply type these console commands in-game and expect them to work right away. You must first activate the use of console commands in order to be able to use them. To do this, you must first be in the main title screen for The Forest. While in the main title screen, type ‘developermodeon’ (without the quotation marks).
There’s no notification pop-up that lets you know if you’ve successfully activated console commands. Instead, you need to press F1 while in the title screen. You’ll know it’s activated when you see a console pop up on the upper left that reads ‘$> toggleworkscheduler’.
After that, it’s just a matter of heading to the Options menu, picking the Gameplay tab, and turning on the Allow Cheats option. Remember that you need to have this on in order to actually use the console commands once in-game.
Once that’s done, congratulations! You can now hop onto a game and test out the console commands for The Forest. You can press F1 to bring up the console, where you can type the commands. F2 or the ~ key brings up the console log and current status. F3 brings up your current stats, which is very useful to see your character details.
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Cheats and Console Commands in The Forest
Here is a comprehensive list of the console commands in The Forest. Take note that due to their debug nature, some of these commands may impact your game in serious ways, such as deleting save files, resetting achievements, or even crashing your game due to performance issues. Always back up your save files just to be sure.
- buildermode on / buildermode off – turns on buildhack and godmode. Turns off survival mode as well, and adds all items (except story times) and turns enemies off. Perfect for building bases in peace.
- cavelight on / cavelight off – increases the amount of light in caves. Useful if you’re having trouble navigating in dark spaces.
- faststart on / faststart off – skips the plane crash introduction. Usable only during the introduction.
- godmode on / godmode off – turns off damage, gives you unlimited stamina, water, energy, etc. You basically cannot die.
- buildhack on / buildhack off – allows for building structures like in Creative Mode. Super-fast building with unlimited resources.
- cancelallghosts – removes every unfinished blueprint placed. Can be very loud if you have a lot placed.
- buildallghosts – builds all your placed blueprints. Can also be very loud if you have a ton.
- addallitems – adds all items except story items. You can use this command twice to easily fill inventory storage bags such as stick bags.
- addallstoryitems – adds all story items such as keycards.
- itemhack on / itemhack off – you never run out of items, but you must have that item in the first place. Use in conjunction with addallitems to never need to gather again.
- survival on / survival off – removes the need to eat or drink.
- save – saves the game no matter where you are in the world.
- speedyrun on / speedyrun off – lets you run and move fast. This has the potential drawback of killing you as you can get a lot of air time while using it. Sometimes bugs out when turned off, restricting you from moving. If that happens, try crouching, sprinting, or jumping to reset it.
- invisible on / invisible off – you can walk and run underwater and disables swimming effects like water lighting and texture. You also cannot wash off blood, paint, or mud anymore.
- killallenemies – instantly kill all cannibals and mutants in the game. They will still respawn, though.
- enemies on / enemies off – turns enemies on or off. Works for all cannibals and mutants.
- additem XX – adds items to the player’s hands. The XX refers to the accompanying item code; for instance, 77 refers to a live rabbit (additem 77).
- terrainrender on / terrainrender off – turns terrain on or off. You can still walk on it regardless.
- forcerain heavy / forcerain sunny – changes the weather to either heavy rains or sunny. Heavy rains are useful for filling up water collectors.
- cutdowntrees XX – cuts down trees. The XX refers to the number of trees; ‘cutdowntrees 10’ cuts down ten trees.
- cutdowntrees XX% – cuts down a percentage of trees.
- cutgrass XX – cuts down grass in radius around the player. The XX refers to the radius; larger radii may take a long time to load depending on the area with grass.
- setdifficultymode peaceful / normal / hard / hardsurvival – sets the difficulty of the game to your choice.
- setgamemode standard / creative / mod – changes the game mode to your choice.
- advanceday – skips one day ahead.
- setcurrentday XX – skips to the day of your choice, with XX referring to the number of days.
- timescale XX – changes the speed of the game. Test this one out in increments of 1 (timescale 2, timescale 3, etc.) as going too high too quickly can break the game once you move.
- gametimescale XX – changes the speed of day/night cycle, hunger, thirst, energy, etc. Use if you just want to advance certain aspects without losing control of your character.
- timescale 0 – pauses the game without the pause screen. Press Escape to make the game run normal again.
- lightingtimeofdayoverride morning / noon / sunset / night – sets game to chosen time of day until turned off. Use ‘lightingtimeofdayoverride off’ to turn off the command.
- allowsunshine on / off – turns sunshine and fog on or off. Useful for increasing viewing distances, but some faraway textures may appear bugged.
- plantallgardens – plants all gardens.
- growalldirtpiles – refill dirt piles used for camouflage.
- revealcavemap – reveals the entire map. Includes above and below ground locations.
- unlimitedHairspray on / off – you never run out of Hairspray fuel. Type off to turn the cheat off.
- killmefast – permanent suicide. This one requires a reload for you to revive.
- setvariationextra None / Jacket – gives your player a jacket, or takes it away if you have one already.
- poison – poisons your player. Has the same effect as being hit with a poison arrow or poison upgraded weapon.
- setstat full – changes all player stats to full, including health, stamina, energy, and more.
- setstat Health XX / Stamina XX / Energy XX / Sanity XX / Fullness XX – sets the chosen stat to any number of your choosing, from 0 to 100.
- setstat BatteryCharge XX – sets flashlight batteries charge from 0 to 100. Also affects weapons with flashlights attached.
- setSkill runTime 100 – sets sprint and run time to 100, maxing out athleticism.
- setSkill lungTime 100 – sets underwater swim time to 100, also maxing out athleticism.
- setSkill ath 100 – sets athleticism to 99, the maximum possible, regardless of sprint or lung capacity.
- killallanimals – kills all animals in the game. They will still respawn.
- killclosestanimal – kills the animal closest to you. Useful for hunting that elusive deer.
- animals on / off – turns animals on or off.
- birds on / off – turns birds on or off.
- spawnanimalquiet – spawns a trapped animal in a nearby animal trap.
- spawnanimal rabbit / lizard / deer / turtle / tortoise / raccoon / squirrel / boar / crocodile – spawns an animal of your choice. Add the line [ –X] at the end to indicate the number; for instance, [spawnanimal rabbit –5] spawns five rabbits.
- resetallenemies – resets the AI of all enemies before killing them.
- killclosestenemy – kills enemy closest to you, whether cannibal or mutant.
- knockdownclosestenemy – knocks down closest cannibal to you. Does not work on all mutants. Useful for trapping enemies without killing them.
- killallworms – kills all worms in the game.
- Killendboss – kills the End Boss.
- astar on / off – turns enemy pathfinding on or off. When off, enemies will walk into walls, cliffs, traps, etc.
- gotoenemy – teleports you to a random enemy.
- spawnregularfamily – spawns three to six regular cannibals
- spawnpaintedfamily – spawns three to six painted cannibals
- spawnskinnedfamily – spawns three to six masked cannibals
- spawnskinnyfamily – spawns two to three skinny cannibals.
- spawnmutant male_skinny / female_skinny / skinny_pale / male / female / fireman / pale / armsy / vags / baby / fat / worm / girl – spawns the enemy of your choice. ‘girl’ refers to the End Boss.
