How to Upload an Existing Terraria World to Your Server

Step 1: find your world files

A world appears as a .wld file named after the world, usually with a .wld.bak next to it. The .bak is the previous save and is what you reach for if the main file is damaged. Characters are separate .plr files in the neighbouring Players folder and do not need to be uploaded.

Steam Cloud. If cloud saves are enabled, a copy also exists under Steam's userdata folder, in userdata\YOUR_STEAM_ID\105600\remote (the worlds subfolder holds the world files). If the two copies differ, use the one with the newer modified time. Close Terraria before copying so you do not catch a world mid-save.

Step 2: upload the file to the server

1. Stop the server.
2. Open the server's worlds folder. On Linux that is ~/.local/share/Terraria/Worlds unless worldpath= in serverconfig.txt sets another folder; on Windows it is whatever worldpath or your world= path says.
3. Upload the .wld using SFTP or your host's file manager. For tModLoader worlds, upload the matching .twld file as well.
4. Do not open or edit the file. If you rename it, remember the new name for the next step; a simple name with letters, numbers and underscores avoids path headaches.

Hosting with ChicagoServers? The Terraria server hosting page lists what is included, such as free server backups and SFTP file access.

Step 3: tell the server to load it

Set world= to the uploaded file's path. If your host's panel exposes a world name field instead, enter the file name without .wld.

world=/home/terraria/.local/share/Terraria/Worlds/MyWorld.wld
# leave autocreate commented out so a typo never generates a new world
#autocreate=2

• Leave autocreate off while loading an existing world. With it on, a path typo makes the server generate a fresh world instead of failing loudly.
• Ignore difficulty=, seed= and worldname=. They only apply to newly created worlds, so your world keeps the mode it was made in.
• Case matters on Linux. MyWorld.wld and myworld.wld are different files.
• Give world= a full path rather than a bare file name, so there is no doubt which folder the server reads.

Step 4: start the server and confirm the right world loaded

Start the server and watch the console for errors. Join, and check a chest or base you know exists. If you see a fresh world with the right name but none of your builds, the server created a new file rather than loading yours; recheck the path and name, and look in the worlds folder for an extra file.

Stopping the server with exit saves the world. exit-nosave does not, so avoid it on a server with progress you want to keep.

Version compatibility

The server and every client must run the same Terraria version. Terraria's developers warned when 1.4 changed the world and player file formats that files loaded into the newer version could no longer be used in older ones unless you kept backups, and the same caution applies to any version update. In practice:

• A world made on an older version will usually load on a newer server, but once it has been saved there you generally cannot go back.
• A world saved by a newer game version generally will not open on an older server. If a server hangs on loading right after you uploaded a world, check the versions first.
• This guide was checked against Desktop 1.4.5 (released January 2026). Check the Terraria Wiki or Steam page for any newer patch.

Worlds from the Steam Workshop and other sources

Terraria 1.4 added Steam Workshop worlds. When you import one, the game writes new .wld and .wld.bak files into your Worlds folder, and their names do not match the Workshop title. Sort the folder by date modified to find the two new files, then upload the .wld like any other world. Worlds shared as downloads from other players work the same way: they are just .wld files, so drop them in the folder, check they load in your own game first, and then upload.

It is worth loading any world you did not make in singleplayer once before putting it on a server. That confirms the file is intact and shows its difficulty, which then applies on the server too. If it turns out to be a Journey world, remember that only Journey characters can join it.

Backups and recovering a damaged world

• Take a backup copy of the .wld before replacing any world on the server; free server backups on your host make this easy.
• If the main .wld will not load, try the .wld.bak next to it. The TEdit documentation notes .bak files are usually the best recovery option.
• If neither loads, the world editor TEdit can sometimes open a damaged file and recover most of the build, but anything cut off mid-save, such as chest contents, may be empty.
• Journey worlds (see the difficulty guide) can only be played with Journey characters, so check this before you tell friends the world is ready.

Frequently asked questions