how to bring back kerbals from the dead

[Jack5.exe]

I've been waiting for a while for my kerbals to come back from a recent failure... I never got them back. How can I get them back via .CFG files

[Vexillar]

The cheat for this is to edit the save file.

1. First, exit from the game.
2. Next, find the save file (for example /saves/Sandbox/persistent.sfs).
3. Make a copy of it in case your triping is as bad as mein.
4. Edit it in notepad (or your favourite text file editor on your OS).
5. Look for the section headed ROSTER, then find your kerbal, like this:

 ROSTER
    {
        ...
        KERBAL
        {
            name = Fred Kerman
            ...
            state = Dead

6. Change the state from "Dead" to "Available".
7. Close/Save the file.

Note: On older versions of KSP (back before 1.0.5, forget exactly when), the states were represented by numbers: 0 meant Available and 3 meant Dead.

 

Hope this helps.  And don't forget to backup that save file!

[Snark]

Moving to Technical Support.

As for solving the problem:  what @Vexillar said above.  Great advice, particularly the bit about making a backup copy of the .sfs file.

...and remember... sometimes dead is better! 

[Fraston]

Doesn’t that cause a harmful Kraken though?

 

[Mike Mars]

2 hours ago, Fraston said:

Doesn’t that cause a harmful Kraken though?

 

No, I've done this on several occasions.

[Fraston]

Okay....

[Mark Kerbin]

Saving Kerbals via config editing is perfectly safe. First answer to the topic was fine.