Saves

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Revision as of 05:23, 9 March 2020 by Minervamaga (talk | contribs) (→‎Advanced: added host changing guide)
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For information about how the game saves progress on mobile devices, see Mobile Saves.

The game saves progress when the in-game day ends, i.e., when the farmer goes to bed, collapses from exhaustion, or collapses at 2am. All progress during a day is lost if the player quits the game without ending the day.

Save format

The saves are stored as XML files on your computer or mobile device. They're stored separately from your game, so you can safely reinstall or update the game without losing them. On PC, they're shared between different copies of the game (e.g. if you buy it from both GOG and Steam).

Each save has a folder like JonSnow_123456789, with two main files inside it: JonSnow_123456789 and SaveGameInfo. Both files are needed to load the save.

Find your save files

Note: in multiplayer, the save is only on the main player's computer.

Windows

  1. Press Windows + R to show a 'run' dialogue box.
  2. Paste this exact text: 
    %appdata%\StardewValley\Saves
  3. Click 'OK' to open the folder.

Linux

  1. From Files, click Go » Enter Location.
  2. Enter this exact text: 
    ~/.config/StardewValley/Saves
  3. Submit to open the folder.

Mac

  1. From Finder, click Go » Go to Folder.
  2. Enter this exact text: 
    ~/.config/StardewValley/Saves
  3. Submit to open the folder.

Mobile (Android)

  1. Connect the device to your PC.
  2. Browse to internal shared storage > Stardew-Valley. (The folder won't appear if you haven't created a save yet.)
  3. Each subfolder inside is a save slot.

Mobile (iOS)

In iOS v1.30+:

  1. Open the Files app.
  2. Tap the Browse button on the bottom-right side of the screen.
  3. Under the Locations section, tap On My iPhone.
  4. Select the Stardew Valley folder.
  5. Each subfolder inside is a save slot.

Before iOS v1.30:

  1. Open iTunes on your computer.
  2. Attach your iOS device via USB.
  3. When iTunes opens, click on the device icon in the top toolbar (If the icon doesn't appear, try disconnecting and reconnecting the device USB cable). The device's page should appear.
  4. Click 'File Sharing' in the menu on the left.
  5. Click Stardew Valley in the 'apps' list that appears.
  6. The 'Stardew Valley Documents' panel shows which save files are already on your iOS device. (They appear as folders, but you can't navigate into the folders directly.)

Transfer a save

Back up or transfer between two PCs

  1. Find your save files.
  2. Zip the entire folder that looks like JonSnow_123456789.
  3. Share or back up that zip file.

Android

Android to PC
  1. Find the saves on your device.
  2. Copy it into your computer's saves folder.
PC to Android
  1. If you use mods, remove any custom content before transferring to mobile.
  2. Find the save folder on your computer.
  3. Find the Android saves on your device.
  4. Copy the entire save folder (the one that looks like JonSnow_123456789) into the saves folder on your device.

iOS

iOS to PC
  1. Find the saves in iTunes.
  2. Choose the save folder in iTunes and click the 'save' button.
  3. That will save a folder containing two files (both required for the save to work).
  4. Copy the whole folder to your computer's save location.
PC to iOS
  1. If you use mods, remove any custom content before transferring to mobile.
  2. Find the save folder on your computer.
  3. Find the iOS saves in iTunes.
  4. Copy the entire save folder (the one that looks like JonSnow_123456789) into the 'Stardew Valley Documents' panel in iTunes.
    Note: there's one folder for each save. You need to drag each of these folders into iTunes, so that the individual save folders are all in the 'root' of the 'Stardew Valley Documents' panel. You can't drag the folder containing all your save games into iTunes.
  5. Click the 'sync' button in iTunes to synchronize your iOS device with your computer. The save should now appear in the game's Load Game menu on your device.

Troubleshooting

Save disappeared or doesn't load

Here's how to recover your save in most cases. (Note that save issues are almost always caused by the game itself, not mods.)

  1. Find your save files.
    • If the files are still there, here are some common fixes (try one at a time):
      1. If some of the files have _STARDEWVALLEYSAVETMP in the name, remove that from their name and reload the game.
      2. If you recently renamed or created the folder (e.g. to restore a backup), make sure the folder name exactly matches the file that looks like YourName_0123456789.
      3. Try undoing the last save.
    • If the files are missing but you have SMAPI installed, here's how to recover a backup:
      1. Find your game folder.
      2. Open the save-backups subfolder.
      3. Unzip the latest backup which has your save, and copy the save folder back into Saves.
  2. If the above fixes didn't help, see this guide or ask for help; we might be able to recover the save for you.

Note: don't keep backup folders in the saves folder, since the game will try to load them. Either move those into a different folder, or delete them.

Undo the last save

If something went wrong, you can undo the last save.

For a save from Linux/Mac/Windows:

  1. Find your save files.
    You should see two files with an _old suffix in the name; if not, ask for help instead!
  2. Back up your save folder just in case.
  3. Delete SaveGameInfo and the file that looks like YourName_123456789.
  4. Remove the _old suffix from SaveGameInfo_old and the file that looks like YourName_123456789_old.

For a save from iOS:

  1. Find your save files.
    You should see a file with an _SVBAK suffix in the name; if not, ask for help instead!
  2. Back up your save folder just in case.
  3. Delete the files that look like YourName_123456789 and YourName_123456789_SVEMERG.
  4. Remove the _SVBAK suffix from the file that looks like YourName_123456789_SVBAK.

Advanced

Edit a save

A save file open in Sublime Text with formatted XML.

You can edit your save to fix some common issues or change your choices. This can permanently break your save; don't forget to create a backup first. You should also avoid automatic save editor tools, since they often break the save.

  1. Install Sublime Text for Linux, Mac, or Windows. (If you already have another text editor which supports XML formatting, feel free to use that instead.)
  2. Install the Package Control extension for Sublime Text.
  3. Use the Package Control extension to install the Indent XML and XPath plugins (see how to add plugins).
  4. Open your save file (the file that looks like Name_0123456789) in Sublime Text.
  5. Click Selection > Format > Indent XML.
  6. Make any changes you want and save. (See the sections below, this guide for changing the host of a co-op save, and this guide for other changes.)

Tips:

  • Click an element, and press CTRL + SHIFT + [ to collapse the whole section which contains it. This is useful when you want to ignore a large field. For example, given this text in the save file: 
    <ArrayOfInt>
    <int>1981</int>
    <int>0</int>
    <int>0</int>
    <int>0</int>
    <int>0</int>
    <int>0</int>
</ArrayOfInt>

    Click on one of the <int> fields and press those keys, and it will collapse into this: 

    <ArrayOfInt> […]
</ArrayOfInt>
  • Click any element, and look in the status bar to see the path to where you are in the save format (like /SaveGame/player/friendships/item[32]).

Duplicate a save

You can duplicate a save for testing purposes, or to explore different options without starting over.

  1. Find your save files.
  2. Create the new save folder:
    1. Duplicate the target save folder.
    2. Rename the new folder:
      • change the name so you can recognise it in-game;
      • change the number at the end to any number that's not used by another save.
    3. Open the new folder for the next steps.
  3. Prepare the new files:
    1. Delete any file whose name ends with _old or .back.*.
    2. Rename the file that looks like Name_0123456789 to match your new folder name.
  4. Edit the save metadata:
    1. Open the SaveGameInfo file in a text editor like Notepad.
    2. Look for <name> on the first line. Your farmer's name should be right after that. Change it to your new name.
    3. Search for the 2nd mention of your name (ctrl+f to 'find') and change it to your new name.
  5. Edit the save file:
    1. Open the file that looks like Name_0123456789 in a text editor like Notepad.
    2. Look for <name> on the first line. Your farmer's name should be right after that. Change it to your new name.
    3. Search for the 2nd mention of your name (ctrl+f to 'find') and change it to your new name.
    4. Search for the old save ID (the number from the filename). Change it to your new number.

That's it! Launch the game and check the load menu; you'll see both saves now.

Change farm type

You can change farm type by editing your save file:

  1. Open your save file for editing.
  2. Search for <whichFarm>. The number after that open tag is the farm type.
  3. Change the number to the one you want:
    code farm type
    0 standard farm
    1 riverland farm
    2 forest farm
    3 hilltop farm
    4 wilderness farm
    5 four corners farm

That will change the farm map, but everything placed on the farm will stay where it is. You may have things in an invalid position, like trees in a lake. Here are some ways to fix that:

  • Take note of what's out of bounds, then switch back to the old farm type and move them.
  • If you use SMAPI, install the Noclip Mode mod to reach things that are out of bounds, so you can remove or move them.
  • If you use SMAPI, enter one of these commands in the SMAPI console:
    command effect
    world_clear farm debris remove stones, branches, weeds, and dead crops.
    world_clear farm trees remove non-fruit trees.
    world_clear farm fruit-trees remove fruit trees.
    world_clear farm grass remove tall grass.
    world_clear farm everything remove everything, including placed objects.

Remove an NPC

You can remove an NPC from your save file (e.g. to fix an NPC permanently stuck in an invalid place). If it still exists in the game data, the NPC will respawn when you reload the save file. This should be a last resort, and is unnecessary when using SMAPI versions 3.0 and up, as SMAPI will attempt to remove this data for you.

  1. Open your save file for editing. Make sure you format the file for readability per those instructions.
  2. Remove the NPC:
    1. Search for the NPC's default name between 'name' tags (e.g. to remove Penny: <name>Penny</name>).
    2. Remove the entire 'NPC' section containing the line you found, starting from the previous <NPC> line up to and including the next </NPC> line.
  3. (optional) Remove the NPC friendship data:
    1. Search for the NPC's default name between 'string' tags (e.g. to remove Penny: <string>Penny</string>).
    2. Remove the entire 'item' section containing the line you found, starting from the previous <item> line up to the next </item> line.
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