Setting up a Dedicated server with a Steam hosted save

[past heath]

Hello, I am trying to setup a dedicated server while using an older steam save that i started the other day with a friend. I have 1. renamed all relevant files to servertest 2. ran and setup the server correctly with port forwarding. 3 edited all databases that i could find so that the corresponding data was associated with servertest name and not old server name.

whenever i boot the server and join, the world is the exact same as the old save, but I am forced to make a new character and cannot play as my existing character
is there any way to fix this?

I know that the world is the same because I have found loot, corpses, open doors and windows, exactly from our steam hosted game.

[tall sphinx]

I recommend this guide, it explains what you need to do to get your characters to load:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2714877237