The winter days for Short, Long and Realistic assume the world starts in summer, like a default world.
Does Sons of the Forest have seasons?
Yes. The year goes summer, autumn, winter, spring. Spring and summer look and play almost the same. In winter:- Snow covers the island and you can’t pick up rocks or small rocks.
- Lakes freeze, so players, Kelvin, enemies and animals can walk across them.
- The cold drains your energy. A winter jacket reduces this.
- Mutants are more common in the snow.
How long is a day in Sons of the Forest?
On a dedicated server, time stops while nobody is online, so seasons only move on while people play. The
IdleDayCycleSpeed value in dedicatedserver.cfg controls this (0.0 means time stops).
How to change the season length on your server
Season length and day length are custom game mode settings. The server reads them only when it creates a new world, so you start a new save to use them.1
Back up your server
Open Backups and click Create backup, so you can go back to your current world. See how to create a backup.
2
Set Gamemode to custom
Open Startup and set the Gamemode variable to
custom. The field saves when you click away.3
Edit dedicatedserver.cfg
Open Files, go to Keep the commas and brackets as they are, or the file stops being valid JSON.
serverconfig and open dedicatedserver.cfg (see how to use the File Manager). Add your settings to the CustomGameModeSettings block, then click Save Content:4
Start a new save
On Startup, change Save Slot to a slot you haven’t used, for example
0000000002. Your old world stays in slot 0000000001.5
Restart the server
Restart the server. It creates a new world with your season and day length.
How to change the season right now
On a world created with cheats on, type this in the F1 console:season spring, season summer and season autumn work the same way. The change takes a few moments. See console commands to enable cheats.
Frequently asked questions
How long is each season in Sons of the Forest?
5 in-game days on the default setting, so a full year is 20 days. Short is 3 days, Long 10 days and Realistic 90 days per season.What is the realistic season length?
Each season lasts 90 in-game days, so winter lasts 90 days. Combined with the Realistic day length (24 hours per day), seasons follow real time.Can I change the season length on an existing world?
No. The setting is read only when a world is created. Start a new save slot with the custom game mode, as in the steps above.Does winter freeze the water?
Lakes freeze in winter, so you can walk on them, and so can enemies.Related guides
Sons of the Forest server guide
Every Sons of the Forest page in one place.
Change difficulty
Game modes and every custom setting.
dedicatedserver.cfg explained
Every key of the server config file.
Save slots
Start a new world or upload your save.
Sleep in multiplayer
How sleeping skips time.
Checked by the FREAKHOSTING team against the Sons of the Forest Wiki and the official dedicated server guide, with the steps on the Sons of the Forest dedicated server on our Game Panel, on 30 October 2026.
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Last Updated: October 2026