June 16, 2026 - 9:27pm — Lillian
I first came across this game in 2012 and somehow remembered it again in 2026. Maybe it's nostalgia, or maybe it's just that feeling of wishing we could go back to the good old days, you know? I was delighted to find out that the game is still alive and somehow still being maintained.
I was wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same network issues and has found ways to adapt. According to the settings, there are usually 20–40 players connected, but as soon as my deer wakes up in the forest, I only see sleeping, sitting, or standing deer that show no signs of activity. Is this just an issue on my end, or do you have to deal with it too?
I also noticed that some deer seem to have the same name as mine. It's pretty confusing. Does this happen to everyone?
Also, what's the best time to log in if I want to see more active deer? Please don't forget to include your time zone.
And finally, who wants to be my deer buddy? Maybe we could arrange a specific time to meet up, test the game's features, and do some magic together.
Welcome back to the Forest
Were you by any chance the deer scooting around at the Red Hill?
Here is a very useful page with all the essentials. Can hopefully help with your issues. And no, every deer has their own individual picto. You might experience connection issues.
The most active time is probably EU evening/night.
If you're still on pc, I'll
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Hello and welcome back to the
I am considered to be one of the elders here in our beloved Forest World. Since 2010, I have been playing this game for the past 16 years. There were several things that happened many years ago.
The developers released 3 new Forest Magic sets back in 2014 and introduced the 5th generation wispy-like pictograms in April of 2017. I witnessed those events that happened during The Endless Forest's Golden Age of the 2010s.
Throughout those years, both M&A have tried their best in creating a newer world of this game by using a better engine called Unreal.
Many of us who love playing this game are trying our best to keep this Forest Realm alive. The future of this game remains uncertain.
The old server that runs the current version of TEF is still in use today, but sometimes, the server can crash on occasional times if there is too much deer interactions all occurring at once.
Or it can't handle the maximum capacity of many players. (probably up to 120) This is probably one of the main reasons that you're experiencing network issues, mainly that it "Dumps" the network connection to the main server.
Many of our fellow deer players are inactive through the means by sleeping, or by pausing on the F10 key.
It's not an issue to your end, that is because many of our players in the game are AFK (Away From the Keyboard) meaning that they're busy with other important jobs in their lives. I, too dealt with this to be away from this beloved game.
When you're logged in the game, you can see all of the different deer pictograms surrounding the borders of your screen. Sometimes you might have noticed a defaulted naked deer appearing with your deer's pictogram hovering above.
That's a technical glitch that happens frequently. It is a player who is idle or unregistered (meaning that they have no pictogram) but they can see the other players online from their perspective.
This happens to everyone when they see their pictograms hovering above a defaulted player's head. I have seen this glitch all the time.
The best time to log in to this game would probably be in the afternoon or evening. Many of our Forest Friends live in Europe or Asia, so they would be active during their hours after work.
There is a Forest Map where you can use to find many deer on the game. It lists all of the active players running in TEF and counts the number of them as well. It refreshes every 1 minute.
There are several Forest Friends, like me, that live in the United States.
My time zone is Eastern Daylight Time. I am active on the weekends, evening to midnight. Sometimes, I'll be gone AFK to do other important obligations in real life.
Knowing that you're a returning old-timer, I, too feel that way that we could go back to the good old days as well. I really miss my beloved old friends, knowing that they have moved on toward their obligations in our real world.
I run 3 deer, one of which is my famed successor, Widmung. His goal is to help brand new players who are desperate in need for Forest Magic costumes. He's the Forest Guide.
If you need any help with your deer character appearance, please let us know. I have friends who can help you.
I'm looking forward to meeting your deer character sometime between the evening or at nighttime. My favorite spot is in the sunlit mushroom circle.
You are more than welcome to interact with my characters! Someday, we can throw a Forest Magic party!
Thank you for sending this message to us! We are grateful to have you back in our beloved Forest!
I hope to see you soon!
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