To access everything on the island in Sons of the Forest, you’ll need to find keycards. When exploring the vast island, you’re bound to discover strange underground bunkers. The doors are locked with keycards, and these rare items can only be acquired after collecting the Shovel. Learn more about collecting the Shovel in the progression guides linked below.
There are three keycards — the Maintenance Keycard, the Guest Keycard, and the VIP Keycard. There may be multiple ways to get each of these keycard types, but this is where we found each one. The VIP Keycard is seemingly the most powerful, able to unlock almost every door on the island. You’ll need this type of keycard to access the endgame area — it isn’t the last item you need, but once you have the VIP Keycard, no door will keep you out. With one notable exception.
Learn how to unlock everything in Sons of the Forest with these keycard locations.
More Sons of the Forest guides:
How To Escape The Island | Ending Guide | How To Get The Shovel & Unlock Hidden Underground Locations | How To Unlock The Mysterious Door | How To Find A 3D Printer | How To Get The Pistol | Where To Find The Best Weapon | Silencer Location | How To Make Bone Armor & Farm Bones | Flashlight Locations | How To Catch Animals | Can Opener Location | How To Craft Healing Mix
Keycard Locations | Progression Guide
Keycards are required to access different areas of the underground complex. There are three levels of keycard. Keycards can ONLY be acquired AFTER collecting the Shovel Key Item.
Keycards are used on blue keycard readers next to locked door in the underground complex. You won’t know which keycard is required for what doors, but you’ll automatically use the correct keycard if the item is in your inventory. There are multiple instances of the same keycard, but we’ll only list the locations we’ve confirmed ourselves.
- Maintenance Keycard: Located in Maintenance Hatch A. This hatch is buried underground and requires the Shovel to access. The hatch is located up the island from the beach cave with the Rebreather.
- Dig up the hatch, then access an apartment inside. The keycard is located in the housing unit. This keycard can be used to unlock most Maintenance doors in the underground.
- Guest Keycard: Located at the 3D Printer Bunker in the center of the island. This is the only green GPS marker location you can visit at the start of the game — it is a cave entrance (marked with a green dot, not a cave symbol) and leads into a portion of the underground complex.
- Use the Maintenance Keycard on the door down the hall from the 3D Printer Safe Room. It leads into an opulent gym and pool area that is infested with mutants.
- Follow the path upstairs to a lounge / restaurant. In this area, you’ll find the Guest Keycard on one of the booths.
- VIP Keycard: Located in the Food & Dining Hatch. There are two green GPS markers on the island that can be accessed without digging with the Shovel. One of these green spots is a cave that leads to a hatch — down below, you’ll enter a food storage room with a locked door.
- Using the Maintenance Keycard, you’ll gain access to a large and flooded Hydroponics farm. Reach the end of the farm to find a dining room and a Security Room. The VIP Keycard is located in the Security Room.
The VIP Keycard is the most powerful keycard on the island and allows you to access the exterior bunker door found on the opposite side of the island from your starting location — there’s a green marker near the beach and helicopter pads. This leads to the underground mansion-like area, with a hidden path to the heart of the island. Once you have the VIP Keycard, you’ll be able to access all sections of the underground compound and collect the last items you need to complete the story.
