Best Base Locations in The Forest — Ranked
The best base site by our formula is the lake at x -540, z -367 (9.6 points): 2 water sources, 66 animals held by nearby zones and 0 cannibal sites within 250 m.
- Best site9.6x -540, z -367
- Runner-up8.8x 401, z 831
- Lakes ranked33from 63 drink zones
- Free of cannibals20of 33 lakes
There is one candidate per lake: the surface drink zones of the map joined into lakes, then everything the markers place near each.
On this page
All 33 lakes, ranked
Open on our weights. Pick a numbered pin or a row for the breakdown, and drag a slider to re-rank the whole list. A lake is named by its position, x and z in the game's world metres: the same numbers the interactive map shows.
Weights of the formula
Numbers are the top 10; white dots are the other lakes. Positions use the same transform as the interactive map.
#1 · x -540, z -367 · score 9.6
No mapped landmark within 150 m · 1 drink zone at this lake
- Water sources
- 2
- Animals held
- 66
- Cave entrances
- 1
- Hostile sites
- 0(0 huts, 0 villages, 0 mutant zones)
| # | Lake site | Score | Water | Animals | Caves | Hostile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | no landmark within 150 m | 9.6 | 2 | 66 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | 98 m from Plane crash (cutscene origin) | 8.8 | 5 | 48 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 32 m from Old boat #1 | 8 | 4 | 40 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | no landmark within 150 m | 7.4 | 4 | 24 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | no landmark within 150 m | 7.2 | 4 | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | no landmark within 150 m | 7.2 | 1 | 52 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | no landmark within 150 m | 6.8 | 2 | 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 142 m from Plane crash debris point #6 | 6.8 | 3 | 48 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | no landmark within 150 m | 6.6 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | no landmark within 150 m | 6.6 | 2 | 46 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | no landmark within 150 m | 6.2 | 3 | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 93 m from Plane crash debris point #5 | 6.2 | 3 | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | no landmark within 150 m | 5.8 | 2 | 38 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | no landmark within 150 m | 5.3 | 2 | 23 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | no landmark within 150 m | 4.9 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | no landmark within 150 m | 4.8 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 142 m from Plane crash debris point #4 | 4.5 | 2 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | no landmark within 150 m | 4.4 | 3 | 24 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | no landmark within 150 m | 4.2 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | 75 m from Plane crash debris point #7 | 4.2 | 1 | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | no landmark within 150 m | 3.8 | 1 | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | no landmark within 150 m | 3 | 1 | 40 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | no landmark within 150 m | 2.9 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | no landmark within 150 m | 2.9 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | no landmark within 150 m | 2.6 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | no landmark within 150 m | -0.2 | 1 | 28 | 2 | 3 |
| 27 | no landmark within 150 m | -1 | 1 | 40 | 2 | 4 |
| 28 | no landmark within 150 m | -2.5 | 1 | 35 | 1 | 4 |
| 29 | no landmark within 150 m | -4.1 | 6 | 19 | 0 | 6 |
| 30 | 91 m from Plane crash debris point #3 | -4.8 | 3 | 32 | 1 | 6 |
| 31 | no landmark within 150 m | -5.2 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 6 |
| 32 | 69 m from Old boat #3 | -6.8 | 1 | 32 | 1 | 6 |
| 33 | 65 m from Hanging_Woman | -21.3 | 1 | 27 | 1 | 13 |
How the formula works
Each lake is a cluster of the 63 surface drink zones (zones closer than 150 m belong to one lake), centred on their mean position. Around that centre, within 250 m, we count what the markers place:
| Input | Total on the island | Counts |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 63 surface drink zones | + per drink zone in range. Every surface zone is flagged polluted in the files, so boil it (the game's hint: "find a pot to boil water"). |
| Animals | 131 spawn zones, up to 964 animals | + per 10 animals the zones in range hold |
| Caves | 18 cave entrances | + per entrance in range |
| Danger | 36 huts, 5 villages, 17 mutant zones | − per cannibal hut, village or surface mutant zone in range |
What the danger count is
The 17 surface mutant zones carry the file's own note "spawn table not read from the files", so we count them as one hostile site each and say nothing about what spawns there.
The lakes to avoid
13 of 33 lakes have at least one hostile site within 250 m. The most crowded is x -803, z 1255 (11 huts, 0 villages, 2 mutant zones), 65 m from Hanging_Woman.
FAQ
Where is the best base location in The Forest?
By our formula, the lake at x -540, z -367: 2 water sources, 66 animals nearby and 0 hostile sites within 250 m (no mapped landmark within 150 m).
Is there clean water on the surface?
Every one of the 63 surface drink zones is flagged polluted in the files. The game's loading hint says to find a pot to boil water.
What does the formula leave out?
Terrain, flat ground and tree cover, because the files hold no number for them, and the spawn tables of the surface mutant zones, which are not read from the files.
Pages to keep open
Related pages
Sources
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