Key Highlights:
- Structure damage can be toggled off in the Gameplay settings.
- Turning it off prevents damage from Kelvin, cannibals, and explosives.
- Players retain full customisation control without risking collapse.
Quick Links:
Whether you’re building a hillside lodge or a fortified lakeside compound in Sons of the Forest, structure damage can be your biggest enemy.
Cannibals, grenades, and even friendly companions like Virginia and Kelvin can destroy hours of effort in seconds. Fortunately, there’s a built-in safeguard that can preserve your architectural work indefinitely.
How to Turn Off Structure Damage
To disable structural damage:
- Open the Main Menu
- Navigate to the Options
- Select the Gameplay tab
- Toggle Structure Damage to Off
Once done, no part of your building will take damage – regardless of whether it’s hit with an axe, explosives, or caught in a mutant brawl.
You can still place new building elements like doors and windows, but deconstruction or reshaping requires you to toggle damage back on.
When and Why to Disable Structure Damage
This feature is most useful once your shelter or base is complete. It locks in the design, ensuring that accidental swings or environmental chaos don’t undo your work.
Kelvin, for example, is notorious for breaking base structures while collecting logs. With structure damage off, he becomes a safe and productive helper again.
Common scenarios for toggling structure damage off:
- Post-construction to prevent any accidental destruction
- After placing traps or explosives nearby
- When using Kelvin near base structures
However, if you’re planning a renovation or need to relocate a wall, you’ll need to re-enable structure damage temporarily to make changes.
Preventing Damage Without Using the Toggle
If you prefer keeping structural damage on for realism or challenge, there are other defensive measures.
Build treehouses away from deforestation zones to avoid destruction. Clear a buffer zone around your camp before assigning Kelvin to log duties to minimise accidental damage.
Avoid using explosive weapons near shelters or storage areas to prevent unintended harm.
Shotguns do the most damage in the game, so try not to be trigger happy when carrying this around your builds.
Reinforce walls and ensure fires and traps are placed at a safe distance to reduce the risk of damage.
For early-game players, consider building shelters away from the beach and at higher elevation, where cannibal raids are less frequent. If necessary, you can create layered walls or decoy huts to absorb damage during attacks.
Turning off Structure Damage in SOTF (Video Tutorial)
Disabling structure damage offers peace of mind and creative freedom but comes with trade-offs.
You’ll need to toggle it back on to rework or dismantle anything. For best results, complete your builds section by section and flip the setting only when necessary. This lets you scale your base while keeping destruction risks at zero.
In Sons of the Forest, mastering your environment means more than building walls, it means protecting them. Turning off structure damage allows you to explore, build, and survive without fear of watching it all come crashing down.
Use it wisely, and your base will stand strong, no matter what the island throws at you.