The Sons of the Forest shovel location is the end of the Shovel Cave, on the west side of the snowy mountain in the middle of the island. Look for three dead operatives propped up near the entrance. You can’t reach the shovel without two other items: the rebreather from the cave on the north shore and the rope gun from the cave on the west side. The shovel then unlocks the first keycard, and the keycards open the rest of the bunkers.
No coordinates here: every location is a landmark direction from the Sons of the Forest Wiki and dated guides from PC Gamer, GamesRadar+ and PCGamesN., checked against Endnight’s Steam patch notes on November 1, 2026.
Table of Contents
Quick answer
- Shovel: at the end of the Shovel Cave, west of the snowy central mountain. Three impaled operatives stand in the water outside, and the middle one carries the slingshot.
- Get these first: the rebreather (cave on the northernmost shore) and the rope gun (Endnight’s “Cave B”, on the west side between the mountains and the coast).
- Keycard order: Maintenance (dig up Maintenance Bunker A with the shovel), then VIP (Food and Dining Bunker), then Guest (Entertainment Bunker nightclub).
- Ancient Armor (called Gold Armor before 1.0): on a skeleton deep in the Cultist Cave, which Endnight calls “Cave D, the gold armor/rifle cave”. Both entrances need the rebreather.
- Patches: nothing in Endnight’s notes since 1.0 (February 22, 2024) moves these items.
Sons of the Forest key items in progression order
All locations are landmark directions. Bunkers show up as green points of interest on your GPS, and laptops inside caves and bunkers add new locations to it.
| Item | Where | You need | What it opens up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rebreather + Stun Gun | Rebreather Cave, northernmost shore (boarded entrance) | Tactical Axe (starting gear) to break the boards | Underwater sections of every cave; GPS mark for the Entertainment Bunker |
| Rope Gun | Rope Gun Cave (Cave B), west side, between the mountains and the coast | Time bombs found inside, or a lot of spear hits on the Sluggy | Ziplines, cave rope crossings, building your own ziplines |
| Shovel (+ slingshot outside) | Shovel Cave, west/north-west side of the snowy central mountain | Rebreather + rope gun | Dig sites, graves, Maintenance Bunkers A and B, the shotgun |
| Maintenance Keycard | Maintenance Bunker A, a dig site with survey gear and golf carts in the north-west | Shovel | Inner doors of the Food and Dining and Entertainment bunkers |
| VIP Keycard | Food and Dining Bunker, security room past the flooded hallway | Maintenance Keycard | The dining hall boss fight |
| Guest Keycard | Entertainment Bunker nightclub (west side) | Maintenance Keycard | Rooms in the Entertainment Bunker; full access to the Residential Bunker |
| Ancient Armor + Rifle | Cultist Cave (Cave D), crossing the central mountain | Rebreather | Endgame gate once upgraded with solafite |
The inventory mat shows collected gear; the shovel, rope and axes sit in the middle rows. Image: Endnight Games
Before the shovel: rebreather and rope gun locations
Rebreather location
The Rebreather Cave is on the northernmost shore of the island. You can break its boarded entrance with the Tactical Axe from your starting pack, so the wiki calls it the cave most players finish first. A laptop near the entrance adds the Entertainment Bunker to your GPS. Inside, the path splits in two:
- Left fork: the rebreather (the wiki warns a shark sometimes spawns here).
- Right fork: the Stun Gun, on a dead maintenance worker hanging from the ceiling. A side branch has a Powered Cross blueprint and an artifact piece.
Rope gun location
Endnight’s own Patch 13 notes call it “cave B (the rope gun cave)”. PC Gamer places it halfway between the mountains and the western coast. It’s a long cave full of enemies. Here are the landmarks the sources agree on:
- Break the boards at the entrance. The Stun Baton sits in a pile of skulls in the pool of water near this cave, the wiki says.
- At the first big cavern, head left until you reach a Sluggy wedged into a crack. Two time bombs lie next to the dead workers there, and both PC Gamer and the wiki say to throw them at it.
- PC Gamer marks two forks: keep left at the first (a tunnel lined with ore) and keep right at the second (a low room with stalactites and standing water). The wiki adds a final T-junction where the left path goes to the rope gun. Straight ahead is a dead end with a story item and a crate.
- The rope gun lies at the end of the path. A zipline then takes you to the exit corridor, and the wiki warns that two Twins wait behind where you land.
Do you need the rebreather for the rope gun? The sources disagree here. GamesRadar lists the rebreather as a requirement. The wiki’s walkthrough only uses it on an optional right-hand branch that leads to an artifact piece. Either way, the Rebreather Cave is the easier one, so do it first.
Ammo for the rope gun is Zipline Rope. You find it in supply crates or craft it from a Rope and a Printed Grappling Hook from a 3D printer. The wiki gives the zipline range as 150 meters since 1.0, and the 1.0 patch notes added a range and valid-target readout to the gun.
Sons of the Forest shovel location: the Shovel Cave
All three guides put the entrance west of the snowy central region; PCGamesN calls it the large river cave. The landmark is hard to miss: three dead operatives stand in the water, held up on stakes. Take the slingshot from the belt of the middle one. PCGamesN says you also have to break a wooden blockade to get in.
- Zipline over the drop. Just inside, a gap blocks the way. Look up and ride the existing zipline with the rope gun.
- First dive. Use the rebreather to swim the flooded tunnel. Per the wiki, about eight Puffies wait when you surface, and the Wetsuit is by the right-hand wall.
- Water slide. A slide takes you further down, and you can’t climb back up it.
- The laptop room. Two Fingers and two Legsy guard a large room with dead operatives. Here you’ll find the weapon flashlight and a laptop that adds Maintenance Bunker A to your GPS. A side path on the left before the second dive leads to an operative with money and grenades.
- Second dive, then the shovel. At the very end, the shovel lies across the lap of a dead maintenance worker. Behind him, a large lit facility is visible through the rock. PC Gamer calls it an underground research facility, and the wiki identifies it as the Holosprings resort and luxury bunkers.
How to get out of the Shovel Cave
Unlike the first two caves, you leave the way you came. On the way out, a wall in a narrow passage crashes open and reveals a Sluggy. PC Gamer says hand grenades sit in cases nearby. Blow the Sluggy up and take the new tunnel behind it to the surface.
What to dig with the shovel
- Maintenance Bunker A: look for a dig site with survey equipment and golf carts. Dig out the “Maintenance A” hatch.
- Shotgun: dig up the operative’s grave marked by a GPS locator. The wiki’s infobox places it in the north-east.
- Maintenance Bunker B: a dig site at the south-western green point inside a cannibal village. It holds the Compound Bow and a silencer. Its GPS mark comes from the Entertainment Bunker.
A crashed helicopter in the woods. PC Gamer notes the rope gun cave is marked on your GPS map, so follow landmarks, not coordinates. Image: Endnight Games
Sons of the Forest keycard locations
| Keycard | Color / owner | Exact spot | Bunker entrance landmark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Orange, Carl Planter | Desk next to the 3D printer, off the long corridor | Dig site with survey gear and golf carts (north-west) |
| VIP | Yellow, Virginia Puffton | Desk in the security room with wall screens | Narrow cave next to a golf cart, then a “Food and Dining” hatch |
| Guest | Purple, Arnold Crand | Nightclub: a round glass table among bodies (PC Gamer), the third booth on the right (wiki) | Cave mouth behind an overgrown golf cart (west side) |
Maintenance Bunker A also holds the Firefighter Axe (emergency box by the generator), a laser sight, a pistol rail and a laptop that adds the Food and Dining Bunker to your GPS.
Food and Dining Bunker: the Maintenance Keycard opens the keypad door from the cold storage. Go through the hydroponics farm, where the crossbow lies by a body between the crop racks. Then go down into the flooded corridor and take the open door on the left to reach the security room with the VIP Keycard. A laptop there adds the Residential Bunker to your GPS. The VIP card opens the dining hall, where the mid-game boss fight happens.
Entertainment Bunker: past the room with the cot and 3D printer, the Maintenance Keycard opens the double doors into the gym. Then go through the spa, the hall with Twins, and up the stairs to the pool, bar and nightclub. The Guest Keycard then opens a computer room (Shotgun Rail, plus the GPS mark for Maintenance Bunker B) and the doors to the cinema, which holds the Electric Chainsaw.
Older guides differ on one thing. PC Gamer’s February 2023 guide says the VIP card opens the Entertainment Bunker. GamesRadar’s guide, updated February 21, 2024, and the current wiki both say the Maintenance Keycard opens it. Follow the newer sources.
With the Guest Keycard you can fully explore the Residential Bunker, at the eastern green point east of the Great Lake. The Katana is on its Level 2, and a laptop there gives you the Luxury Bunker.
Ancient Armor location (Gold Armor) and other armor
The 1.0 notes renamed Gold Armor to Ancient Armor. It’s in the Cultist Cave, the largest cave in the game, which runs under the central mountain. It has entrances on the eastern and western flanks, and the wiki says both routes need the rebreather. GamesRadar describes the entrance as a boarded-up cave near two bodies dressed in white. Deep inside, a golden spaceship sits in a room full of Demons, and a skeleton in the pilot’s seat wears the armor. Coming in from the east, you’ll also find the Rifle on a webbed operative hanging from the ceiling.
The 1.0 update let heavy cannibals wear armor and raised the chance enemies spawn with armor pieces. Image: Endnight Games
| Armor | How to get it | Notes (per the wiki) |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient Armor | Cultist Cave skeleton | Never breaks; 30% damage resistance vs cannibals and mutants, 70% vs Demons; replaces worn armor and destroys damaged pieces |
| Tech Armor | Craft: Tech Mesh (250 printer resin) + wire, duct tape, circuit board, battery | Second-best armor; the Entertainment Bunker printer room has the parts |
| Creepy Armor | Skin creepy mutants (not mutant babies) | Durability 80; the best armor cannibals can wear |
One fix to know about: a February 26, 2024 hotfix fixed the Ancient Armor pickup failing if you had already collected a certain artifact piece. If your old save hit that bug, it should be gone now. The wiki also says that once you upgrade the armor at a Solafite Upgrader, it works as the key to the endgame gate.
Other useful item locations
| Item | Landmark |
|---|---|
| Modern Axe | Chest of a dead man at an abandoned camp on the north side, close to Maintenance Bunker A |
| Machete | Stuck in a bedroll at a two-black-tent camp on the northern coast |
| Pistol | The survival raft from the opening cutscene (watch for the shark) |
| Pickaxe | Solafite Cave, south-east of the golf course (added in Patch 12) |
Did any patch move these items?
We checked every announcement in Endnight’s Steam news feed. Several Early Access patches changed the caves, so early-2023 guides can describe outdated routes:
| Date | Update | What changed for item hunting |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 29, 2023 | Patch 12 | New cave with the pickaxe; solafite mining |
| Oct 19, 2023 | Patch 13 | Cave D (gold armor/rifle cave) reworked; Cave B (rope gun cave) extended |
| Nov 9, 2023 | Patch 14 | New small cave; the three ice caves extended |
| Feb 22, 2024 | 1.0 | Gold Armor renamed Ancient Armor; 14 new mini caves and cellars; a new cave after the ending; extra steps to open the hell cave door; rope gun range readout |
| Jan 15, 2025 | Rafts update | Rafts and new holders; sharper keycard textures; a rope gun aiming fix. No item moves |
| Oct 3, 2025 | Unity security update | A 1-2 MB engine file swap only |
As of November 1, 2026, the game is still PC-only on Steam. When we checked that morning (UTC), it was $8.39 there (72% off $29.99), and about 17,900 people were playing.
More survival guides: our Enshrouded best builds for 1.0, the Palworld breeding combos guide, the Valheim console commands list and the Rust force wipe schedule.
FAQ
Where is the shovel in Sons of the Forest?
At the end of the Shovel Cave, west of the snowy central mountain. Three impaled operatives mark the entrance. The shovel is on the lap of a dead maintenance worker past two underwater sections.
How do you get out of the shovel cave?
Head back toward the entrance. A wall collapses and reveals a Sluggy. Use the grenades left nearby to blow it up, then take the new tunnel out.
Is Sons of the Forest on PS5 or Xbox?
No. As of November 1, 2026, Endnight has not announced a console version. It’s on PC through Steam.
Sources: Endnight 1.0 patch notes and earlier Steam notes; Sons of the Forest Wiki (Fandom) cave, bunker and item pages; PC Gamer shovel, rope gun and keycard guides (2023); GamesRadar+ item locations and keycards (updated Feb 21, 2024); PCGamesN shovel location (updated Feb 21, 2024). Checked November 1, 2026 UTC.
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Featured image: AI-generated illustration
