Back up and restore a Minecraft server world

One version note, kept consistent with the upload guide: Minecraft 26.1 restructured where dimension and player data sit inside a world folder, so folder names are written for Java Edition 26.1 and newer, with the older names given wherever they differ.

What to copy#

The Minecraft Wiki's server maintenance tutorial gives two options. For a full backup: "To make a backup, create a copy of your entire server directory, and put it in another drive or storage." For a world only: "If you only need to create a world backup, you can create a copy of the server's world directory." (Minecraft Wiki - Tutorial: Server maintenance). Which one you need depends on what you would be unable to rebuild. The world cannot be downloaded again; the server jar can. Our backup checklist lists the configuration and plugin or mod data worth keeping next to the world.

The server's world directory is the one named by level-name in server.properties, world by default (see the server.properties reference). The question that varies by software is where the Nether and the End sit:

• Vanilla. They sit inside the world folder: under dimensions/minecraft/the_nether and dimensions/minecraft/the_end on 26.1 and newer, and under DIM-1 and DIM1 on older versions, as the upload guide sets out. Copying the one folder takes all three dimensions with it.
• Paper. PaperMC's migration guide says that, for older versions, "Paper stores worlds slightly differently than Vanilla": its table puts the Nether at /world_nether/DIM-1 and the End at /world_the_end/DIM1, beside world rather than inside it. The same page's text for current versions says "Paper shares a similar world structure to Vanilla" (PaperMC - Vanilla migration guide). Because the layout depends on the version, do not assume it: look in your server directory and copy every world folder you find there, not just world.
• Forge. Our Forge modpack guide covers the level-name folder and copying it before every pack update. This page makes no further claim about where a modpack keeps extra dimensions or mod data, because we have no source for it. If you run mods that store data outside the world folder, back up the whole server directory instead.

Method 1: stop the server, then copy#

This is the method this page recommends. The wiki's maintenance tutorial says "Stopping the server with /stop also saves the world." So the order is: run /stop from the console, wait for the server process to end, and only then copy.

1. Run /stop and wait until the server has stopped.
2. Copy the world folder or folders (or the whole server directory) to another drive or another machine, not into the server's own folders.
3. Name the copy with the date. The wiki tutorial suggests the same habit: "Keep a track of your server backup with a date or a timestamp on the name of your backup server directory."
4. Start the server again.

Method 2: an optional precaution for copying while it runs#

If stopping the server is not an option, the wiki documents three commands that can be combined. This is a sequence built from their descriptions, not a procedure the wiki or PaperMC publishes as a whole, and we have not tested it on any server software. Treat it as a precaution, not a replacement for Method 1. The descriptions:

• /save-off: "Disables the server writing to the level files (except player, advancement, stat files), in order to copy them for backup." The page adds "All level changes are temporarily queued." and "This option is reset each time the server restarts." (Minecraft Wiki - save-off).
• /save-all flush: "All the players and chunks are saved to the data storage device immediately, freezing the server for a short time." (Minecraft Wiki - save-all).
• /save-on: "Enables the server writing to the level files." (Minecraft Wiki - save-on).

In that order, the sequence is /save-off, then /save-all flush, then copy the files, then /save-on. Read the descriptions for what they leave out. The player, advancement and stat files are the stated exception to /save-off, so this sequence does not give you one frozen moment for those files. The description says level changes are temporarily queued, so run /save-on as soon as the copy is done rather than leaving saving off. /save-all flush freezes the server "for a short time", which is worth knowing before you run it with players online. The wiki does not describe what a copy taken this way contains if the copy is interrupted, and we do not claim to know. Check each command's output in your own console, since we have not confirmed that every server software accepts all three.

Restore: the steps#

These are practical steps, not sourced facts. We have written them to avoid the common ways a restore goes wrong.

1. Run /stop and wait for the server to end. Do not swap world files under a running server.
2. Rename the current world folder (and on Paper, its Nether and End siblings) rather than deleting it, for example by adding the date to its name. If the restore is wrong, you can go back.
3. Copy the backup folders into the server directory and give them the names the server expects: the main folder must match level-name. Restore every folder from the same backup together, so the Overworld, Nether and End all come from one day.
4. Start the server and read the console. If the server generates a new world instead of loading yours, the folder is not where level-name points or does not hold level.dat directly inside it; the upload guide's section on the two mistakes that leave you with a new world applies to restores too.
5. Join and look at spawn and the builds you care about before you tell anyone the world is back.

Restore onto a server on the same Minecraft version as the backup, or newer. The upload guide's section on never loading a world in an older version quotes the wiki's warning on downgrading.

Check that the backup opens#

Our backup checklist makes the point that a file you have not opened is not a backup. Once in a while, load a copy on a spare server or locally and look at the parts that cannot be regenerated. The Terraria backup guide shows the same stop, copy, restore routine for a game where a world is a pair of files.

Where to read next#

The upload guide covers getting a world onto a server and the Vanilla and Paper folder layouts, the Paper versus Vanilla comparison covers the software, the Forge guide covers modpack servers, the backup checklist covers every game, and moving a server to a new host covers the day everything moves. Hosting notes for the game are on the Minecraft availability page.