SOTF Speedrun Category & Rules Reference
Official-style reference for Sons of the Forest speedrun categories. Approximate records as of research date 2026-05-29. Use the Community Event Mode at the bottom to generate a rules card for Discord.
Any% (Glitched)
Fastest possible completion — all glitches allowed
Approx. WR
~7 min
Uses every known exploit to skip the majority of the game. The mountain skip allows bypassing the entire mid-game section. Survival guide speed glitch provides near-instant movement. Stick door glitch skips multiple locked areas.
ALLOWED GLITCHES
+ Mountain skip
+ Survival guide speed glitch
+ Stick door glitch
+ Out-of-bounds traversal
BANNED / REQUIRED
- No cheats or console commands
- No modified game files
Timing Method: RTA (Real Time Attack) — from first control input to credits
Start Condition: Fresh save, no pre-existing world, no items
Any% Glitchless
Fastest completion without exploits
Approx. WR
~44 min
Complete the game as quickly as possible without using known glitches. Requires completing major story objectives and bunker sequences legitimately.
ALLOWED GLITCHES
None — glitchless category
BANNED / REQUIRED
- No mountain skip
- No survival guide speed glitch
- No stick door glitch
- No OOB traversal
- No menu-based time saves
Timing Method: RTA — from first control input to credits roll
Start Condition: Fresh save, no pre-existing world, no items, default settings
Co-op Any%
Multiplayer completion run
Approx. WR
Varies by sub-category
Cooperative multiplayer run — 2 to 8 players completing the game together. Glitch usage varies by sub-category (Glitched / Glitchless). All players must be in a single session from start to credits.
ALLOWED GLITCHES
+ Depends on sub-category (Glitched or Glitchless)
BANNED / REQUIRED
- All players must remain in session throughout
- No solo player abandoning and rejoining to skip content
- Credits must roll for all players
Timing Method: RTA from host's first input to credits
Start Condition: Fresh world, no pre-existing save, all players connected before timer starts
Peaceful Any%
No combat required — enemies disabled
Approx. WR
Category record varies
Run with Peaceful difficulty (EnemyDifficulty: Peaceful) — no enemies spawn. Pure navigation and story completion challenge. Shows the game's minimum story-required content.
ALLOWED GLITCHES
+ Mountain skip
+ Stick door glitch (varies by ruleset)
BANNED / REQUIRED
- EnemyDifficulty must be set to Peaceful
- No other difficulty settings modified to speed up run
Timing Method: RTA from first input to credits
Start Condition: Fresh save, Peaceful difficulty set before world gen, no items
Speedrun Glossary
Mountain Skip
An out-of-bounds glitch that allows the player to bypass the mountain section of the map, skipping a major portion of the mid-game traversal required to reach key story bunkers.
Survival Guide Speed Glitch
An exploit triggered by opening the survival guide book in a specific way that dramatically increases player movement speed, reducing travel time between objectives.
Stick Door Glitch
A glitch that allows players to clip through doors and barriers by placing a stick item at a specific angle relative to the door frame, bypassing locked areas without keys.
RTA (Real Time Attack)
Timing method using a wall clock (real time) from the moment the player gains control to when the credits roll or the game is completed. Does not pause during menus.
IGT (In-Game Time)
Time tracked by the game's internal clock. Some categories prefer IGT to avoid penalizing players for load times or menu navigation.
Fresh Save
Starting a brand-new world with no pre-existing progress, items, or knowledge carry-over. Required for all standard speedrun categories.
Community Event Mode
Set a community time-limit target and export a rules card for your Discord server event.
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