You can’t craft a chainsaw in The Forest. It’s a fixed pickup item found deep inside a specific cave, so you’ll need to explore underground to get it. The chainsaw is one of the game’s unique tools with a set spawn location, and reaching it requires some preparation.
Where to Find the Chainsaw
The chainsaw is located in Cave 3, sometimes called the Wet Cave. The cave entrance sits in the southern portion of the map. Once inside, you’ll navigate through a series of tunnels and open caverns filled with cannibals and mutants before reaching the chainsaw on the ground near some other supplies.
You’ll also find fuel cans near the chainsaw’s location inside Cave 3, which is convenient since the chainsaw runs on fuel. Grab those immediately so you can start using it right away.
Gear You Should Bring
Cave 3 is one of the more dangerous caves in the game, so going in unprepared is a quick way to die. At minimum, bring a good weapon (the modern axe or katana work well), plenty of healing items like medicine or snacks, and a couple of light sources. The lighter works in a pinch, but crafted torches or the flashlight make combat much easier in tight spaces.
The climbing axe, found in Cave 9, isn’t strictly required for Cave 3, but having it opens up movement options throughout the cave system. If you’re early in your playthrough and haven’t explored many caves yet, consider picking up the climbing axe first. A rebreather can also help if you want to access underwater shortcuts, though it’s not mandatory for reaching the chainsaw.
How the Chainsaw Performs
The chainsaw excels at cutting down trees. It tears through them faster than any axe in the game, making it the best tool for gathering logs and clearing land for your base. If you’re deep into a building project, the chainsaw will save you a huge amount of time.
As a weapon, it’s more situational. The chainsaw has high attack speed (rated 10 out of 10) but low damage (rated 2 out of 10), and it can’t block at all. What it does well is stun-lock regular cannibals, hitting them so rapidly they struggle to fight back. This works best on normal difficulty. On harder modes, the stun-lock strategy becomes less reliable, and the low damage per hit really shows. The developers also specifically reduced chainsaw damage against larger mutants and the end boss in a patch, so don’t rely on it for those fights.
The chainsaw is loud. Using it near your base or in the open will attract cannibals from a wide area. Keep that in mind before revving it up to clear a forest.
Managing Fuel
The chainsaw burns through fuel cans, and managing your supply is the biggest downside of relying on it. There are 22 fuel cans scattered across the game world, found in both surface cannibal villages and inside caves. Surface locations include the Center Village, Main Village, Waterfall Village, Beach Hut Village, and Snow Camp. Underground, you’ll find cans in Caves 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Here’s the critical detail: fuel cans found on the surface do not respawn. Most fuel cans inside caves do respawn in both single-player and multiplayer, though the developers patched out respawning for some cave locations. This means caves are your long-term fuel source. If you burn through surface fuel early, you’ll need to make regular cave runs to keep the chainsaw operational. Use it strategically rather than for every single tree, and you won’t run dry.
The Chainsaw in Sons of the Forest
If you’re playing the sequel, Sons of the Forest, the chainsaw works differently. It’s not found in a cave but inside the Entertainment Bunker, a locked underground facility. You need the Maintenance A Keycard (associated with a character named Carl Planter) before you can access the area. Once inside, you’ll pass through several rooms until you reach an abandoned gym, where the chainsaw is stuck in a body slumped on a yellow beanbag. The keycard requirement means you’ll need to progress through a specific sequence of bunker exploration before the chainsaw becomes available.