How Do You Save Your Game in Fallout 76?
Unlike previous Fallout games, Fallout 76 does not allow manual saving – instead, it auto-saves your progress when certain conditions are met.
How Does Auto-Save Work?
There are three key triggers that will auto-save your progress in Fallout 76:
- Fast traveling to new locations
- Completing quests and events
- Quitting the game to the main menu
So if you want to ensure your advancement is saved, make sure to frequently fast travel, finish quests before logging off, and let the game sit for 10-15 seconds before exiting to give the auto-save time to register.
Here are some auto-save tips:
| Auto-Save Tips | |
|---|---|
| Fast travel often | Teleporting between locations triggers a save |
| Finish objectives first | Complete a quest or event before exiting to save |
| Let it register | Give 10-15 seconds before quitting to let the save finalize |
| Have patience if killed | Dying means losing junk, but progress loads from last save |
Why Can‘t You Manually Save?
According to project lead Jeff Gardiner, the lack of manual saving is due to Fallout 76 being an always online, multiplayer experience – since the world is constantly changing, offline saves that stored character data locally wouldn‘t sync properly with online profiles.
So instead of traditional hard saves, Bethesda implemented a server-side auto-save system that uploads your progress in real-time. This allows seamless cross-play and character access across servers and sessions without risk of save conflicts.
How Often Does Fallout 76 Auto-Save?
So how frequently does Fallout 76 actually save? While Bethesda hasn‘t provided exact details, based on player testing and feedback, saves seem to trigger about every 10-20 minutes on average, provided you:
- Fast travel
- Complete quest objectives
- Enter new zone cells
Actively playing events, daily ops, and other content can make saves even more frequent.
However, it is still a good idea manually trigger additional saves yourself by teleporting or reloading the main menu every 15 minutes or so during long play sessions for added safety.
Tips for Remembering to Save
I like to fast travel to Vault 76 or my C.A.M.P. every 30 minutes or hour while gaming to make sure my advancement is backed up just in case of crashes or disconnects.
Setting a timer on your phone can help remind you to periodically teleport to base camps and trigger saves too.
Quickly joining and backing out of Daily Ops is another fast way to force a save that I often employ as well between story missions.
What Happens When You Die in Fallout 76?
When your character perishes, you‘ll drop any junk you were carrying into a lootable paper bag.
However, your progress, quest items, CAMP building, and anything stored in your stash will be retained through death thanks to Fallout 76‘s auto-save system.
The key is avoiding crashes or exiting the game before the last 10-15 second save window, otherwise you can lose advancement since the save wouldn‘t fully commit before closing.
Does Auto-Save Impact Performance?
Some players have reported occasional frame rate dips or lag spikes when saves trigger. However based on my testing across three platforms, I haven‘t experienced major performance hits from the auto-saves themselves.
If anything, since Fallout 76 doesn‘t have to maintain separate offline save files, it likely has a minimal impact compared to manual saving which requires writing local data to disk.
For those just starting, here are some extra gameplay tips:
Stash junk often – Since you drop junk on death, frequently stashing it in your supply boxes helps minimize losses. I like to stash anytime I pass my CAMP.
Pick up all ammo types – Ammo has no weight, so collect it even for guns you don‘t use to trade with other players or stockpile for future weapons. I typically drop unused ammo at train stations for others.
Join public events – Completing public events rewards caps, XP, rare plans, and can progress the auto-save. Teaming up with others makes them easier too!
Use weapon workbenches – Dismantling unwanted guns and armor at workbenches allows you to learn mods to improve gear. And scrapping junk bulks and stores as lighter scrap.
Hopefully this guide has given you a better understanding of how saving works in Fallout 76 and some early game advice! Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments.
