How to Back Up and Restore a Game Server (Saves, Configs and Mods)
To back up a game server, stop it (or pause saving), copy the world or save folder together with the config and mod folders to somewhere that isn't the server itself, and name the copy with the date and game version. To restore, stop the server, put the files back in the same paths, and start it again.
The details that cause real data loss are small ones: copying while the game is mid-write, forgetting the config or mod files, restoring a world from a newer game version onto an older one, and never testing a backup until the day you need it. This guide covers each.
- Back up before every game update, mod change, config change and wipe, plus on a regular schedule.
- Copy the whole server folder if in doubt. At minimum: the world/save data, config files, admin and ban lists, and the mod or plugin folders with their configs.
- Copy while the server is stopped, or use the game's own save-pause commands. A copy taken mid-save can be corrupt.
- A backup that has never been restored is a guess. Test one on a separate server or a spare copy.
- Keep at least one copy off the server. ChicagoServers includes free server backups, and it is still worth downloading the ones you can't afford to lose.
On this page
When to take a backup
The scheduled backup covers accidents. The manual one before a risky change is what saves you from your own decisions. Take one:
- Before a game or server version update. Many games upgrade save data in place and can't go back. The PaperMC team's notes for Minecraft 26.1 call backups "absolutely mandatory" and warn that a world upgraded to 26.1 can't be downgraded.
- Before adding, removing or updating mods and plugins. A bad or outdated mod can stop a world from loading or damage what's in it, and the 7 Days to Die community wiki tells admins to update mods before loading a modded save.
- Before editing configs or changing world settings, so you can diff or roll back.
- Before a wipe or a map reset, if players might ever want the old map.
- On a schedule. Daily is a common baseline for active servers; weekly may be enough for a small private server that's online a few evenings a week.
What files to include
Four kinds of data matter: the world or save itself, the server config, the admin/permission/ban lists, and the mods or plugins with their own configs. Paths vary by game and version, so look in your server's files (over SFTP or your host's file manager) rather than trusting a generic list. These are common examples:
| Game | Back up | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Minecraft (Java) | The world folder named by level-name in server.properties (default world), server.properties, whitelist.json, ops.json, and your plugins or mods folders including their configs | From 26.1 on, Paper keeps the Overworld, Nether and End under world/dimensions/minecraft/. Older versions used separate folders for each dimension, so back up the whole server directory and you can't miss one. |
| Valheim | The world data in the saves folder (worlds_local on current builds; older builds used .db and .fwl files), plus adminlist.txt, bannedlist.txt and permittedlist.txt | Iron Gate's server guide lists the default save paths and the -savedir option. Player characters are stored on each player's own PC, not on the server. |
| Rust | The whole server/<identity>/ folder, including its cfg subfolder, plus the oxide or carbon folders if you run plugins | Map files (.map, .sav) and blueprint/player data (.db) all live in the identity folder. |
| 7 Days to Die | The whole Saves folder, your edited serverconfig.xml and the Mods folder | The community wiki recommends backing up the entire Saves folder before every update and recording which game version each world was created in. |
How to take a consistent backup
Games write to save files while they run. Copy a file mid-write and you can end up with a backup that looks complete but won't load. There are two safe approaches.
1. Stop the server first. Stop it from the control panel, copy the files, then start it again. It is the only method that works for every game, and for a world with a handful of players, a minute of downtime is usually acceptable.
2. Pause saving, if the game supports it. Minecraft Java Edition has console commands for this: save-off stops the server writing world files, and save-all flush writes everything pending to disk immediately. Copy the files, then re-enable saving. You can send these from the server's console, where the game supports console or RCON access.
save-off
save-all flush
# ...copy the world and config files now...
save-onBedrock Edition has its own equivalent, save hold, save query and save resume, but it is more fiddly. For Bedrock and most other games, stopping the server is simpler and safer.
Whichever route you use, keep at least one copy somewhere off the server. Add manual copies on top before risky changes.
How to back up manually with the file manager or SFTP
- Stop the server
Open your server in the control panel and stop it, so nothing is writing to the save files.
- Connect over SFTP
Use the SFTP connection details shown in your control panel in FileZilla or WinSCP, and set the protocol to SFTP (not plain FTP). If your host offers a browser file manager, it works too and is fine for small folders.
- Download the right folders
Copy the world/save folder, config files, admin and ban lists, and mod or plugin folders into a new folder on your PC named like
2026-11-01_game-1.2.3_before-update. If you can archive the folder on the server first, one big file transfers much faster than thousands of small ones. - Check the copy
Compare the folder size and file count with the original. A world that's 800 MB on the server and 40 MB on your PC didn't finish downloading.
- Start the server again
Start it from the panel and watch the console to confirm it loads the world normally.
How to restore a backup
- Stop the server and keep the current files
Don't delete the broken data yet. Rename the current save folder (for example to
world_broken) or download it, so you can still recover parts of it if the backup turns out to be older than you thought. - Match the game version
A save written by a newer version generally won't load on an older server. Restore onto the same or a newer version, and the same mod versions, than the backup was taken on.
- Upload the files to the same paths
Put the world and config files back where they came from. Make sure the world name in your config matches the folder:
level-namein Minecraft'sserver.properties, the-worldlaunch option in Valheim, or the identity folder name in Rust. - Start and verify
Watch the console for errors, join the server, and check something you know changed recently, such as a base or inventory. Only delete the old broken data once you're sure.
Test your backups and decide how long to keep them
Do a restore test once, now, while nothing is wrong: upload a backup to a spare server instance (or a temporary copy of the server) and confirm the world loads and the mods and permissions are there. If you ever change game versions, repeat it.
A simple retention routine that works for most community servers:
- Keep the last 7 daily backups.
- Keep one weekly backup for the last 4 to 8 weeks.
- Keep a labelled backup from before every major game update or modpack change until you're sure the update is stable.
- Keep at least one copy away from the server, such as your own PC or cloud storage. The usual 3-2-1 idea is three copies, on two kinds of storage, with one off-site.
Disk space is cheap compared to a lost world, but backups do add up. Prune the daily ones automatically and keep the labelled milestones by hand.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I back up my game server?
Daily for an active server, weekly for a small private one, and always manually before updates, mod changes, config edits and wipes. The more your players would hate to lose a day of progress, the more often you should back up.
Can I back up a game server while it is running?
Only safely if the game lets you pause saving, as Minecraft Java does with save-off and save-all flush. Otherwise stop the server first, because files copied mid-write can be corrupt.
Why won't my restored world load?
The most common causes are a version mismatch (the backup is from a newer game version than the server), a world name that doesn't match the config, missing mod or plugin files, or a backup taken while the server was mid-save.
Do I need to back up mods and plugins too?
Yes, or at least a list of exact mod versions and their config files. A world can fail to load or lose modded blocks and items if the mods that created it are missing or have different versions.