Welcome to our comprehensive guide on saving your progress in Stardew Valley! As many fans know, Stardew Valley’s unique save mechanism – where your game only saves when your character goes to bed – adds a twist to traditional game-saving methods. But it can also create confusion and frustration if not properly understood.
After working hard on your Stardew Valley virtual farm, to lose all that progress would be devastating. In this guide, we’ll delve into the specifics of saving in Stardew Valley, explaining when and how your game saves, what can disrupt the saving process, and what you can do to ensure your hard work on the farm is always properly stored. Let’s dive in and secure your farming future!
Does Stardew Valley Save On Its Own?
Stardew Valley saves on a basis centered around in-game days, a save done automatically each night when passing out due to exhaustion, collapsing after 2am, or going to bed. The saving function is the same across all platforms (PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android).
After showing your earnings for that day, the calendar will flip to the following day. Stardew Valley will then save your progress.
Note! Should you exit the game without sleeping or ending the day otherwise, everything you have done since the last time your farmer woke up will have been deleted and forgotten.
How to Manually Save in Stardew Valley Step by Step
Step 1: Find your bed in-game anytime.
There is no need to wait for the night. Typically, your bed is found inside your farmhouse to the right of the screen.
Step 2: Get into bed and press yes when prompted to end the day.
Step 3: Click ‘OK’ on your daily earnings.
Step 4: You’ve saved your game progress!
Can You Manually Save Without Ending the Day and Sleeping?
You cannot save without sleeping in the default unmodded game of Stardew Valley. It is required to end the day in order to save your progress and not lose your work.
However, there are workarounds to this, as there are mods that allow for saving mid-day. These mods may not work correctly if not downloaded right, and it will involve learning how to mod and downloading various tools.
For all Stardew Valley mods, the best place to look will always be Nexus. It is very helpful and beginner-friendly and will guide you to get the tools you need in order to properly mod your game.
There are a few viable saving mods out on the website right now, the best of which is the “Save Anywhere Redux“, using code made by users Aredjay, RealSweetPanda, and Omegasis. This mod (updated on 25 May 2023) is the fixed version of Omegasis’ original save anywhere mod with the needed bug fixes to make for the best gameplay.
Do You Need to Sleep in Stardew Valley?
Yes, you have to sleep in Stardew Valley. Sleep serves two main purposes in the game:
- Progressing to the Next Day: Stardew Valley uses a daily cycle, with each day offering a fixed amount of time for activities such as farming, mining, fishing, and socializing. When you go to bed, the game advances to the next day.
- Regaining Energy: Your character has a limited amount of energy each day, displayed in an energy bar on the bottom right of the screen. This energy is depleted by activities such as chopping wood, watering crops, or mining. When you run out of energy, your character becomes sluggish, and you risk passing out, which can have negative effects such as losing items and money. Sleeping replenishes your energy for the next day.
Remember, the game only saves when you sleep, pass out after 2am or collapse due to exhaustion. Therefore, it’s important to ensure you’re finished with all your desired tasks for the day before choosing to sleep because you can’t undo any actions from that day once you go to bed.
Read more: Stardew Valley Purple Star Quality and How To Achieve It
How Do I Load My Stardew Valley Game?
Loading your saved game is relatively easy, though it can be easily quickly mistaken for the “NEW” or “CO-OP” options. It is typically the second button from the left side of the screen, named ‘LOAD’.
From here, you should be able to load your saved game and resume your progress. Here you can also see your amount of in-game money earned, farm name, and time spent.
Why Won’t Stardew Valley Save?
There could be several reasons why Stardew Valley isn’t saving properly:
- Game Crashes: If the game is crashing before it can save, this could prevent progress from being recorded. Make sure your game and system are updated to the latest version, which may include patches for stability issues.
- Corrupted Files: Your save file could be corrupted. If this is the case, you may be able to restore it from a backup if one is available.
- Insufficient Storage Space: If your device doesn’t have enough storage space, the game may not be able to create a save file.
- Game Bugs: There might be a bug in the game causing save issues. If you think this is the case, report it on the forum. They might already have a fix for the problem.
- Power Loss or Sudden Shutdown: If your system experiences a power loss or a sudden shutdown, the game may not have had a chance to save your progress.
- Exiting Game Before Saving: Remember that Stardew Valley only saves at the end of each day when your character goes to bed. Exiting the game before saving your progress for the current day will not be saved.
If you continue to have trouble, try searching for or posting about your issue on the Stardew Valley forums, where the community and the game’s developers are quite active. You may find others with the same issue, or get advice directly from the people who know the game best.
Read more: 20 Best Stardew Farm Layouts for Aesthetics, Function and Profits