Back up and restore your game server

A backup is the difference between "oops" and "all those hours are gone". This guide shows how to make a backup of your game server, how to put one back, and how to let the panel make one for you every night.

What a backup contains

A backup is a copy of all the files of your server at that moment: worlds and saves, settings, mods and plugins. Backups are kept on separate storage, not on the machine your server runs on.

Create a backup

1. Sign in to the panel, open Game Servers and click your server.
2. Click Backups at the top of the server page.
3. Click Create backup.
4. Give it a name if you like, for example "before the update". If you leave the name empty, the panel picks one.
5. Optional: under Ignore patterns you can leave files out, one pattern per line. For example logs/ skips the logs folder.
6. Click Create. The status shows creating and changes to ready when the backup is done.

The server can keep running while a backup is made. On a Minecraft server it is a good habit to type save-all in the console first, so the newest changes are written to disk.

How many backups you can keep

You can keep up to 3 backups per server. The top of the page shows where you are, for example "2 / 3 backups".

• When you already have 3, a new backup replaces your oldest one. The dialog tells you so before you confirm.
• The same happens for backups made by a schedule.
• Want to keep one no matter what? Open the menu at the end of its row and click Lock. A locked backup is never replaced and cannot be deleted until you unlock it. Locked backups still count toward the 3. With three locked backups no new one can be made, so do not lock all of them.

Restore a backup

Restoring puts your server back exactly as it was when the backup was made.

1. On the Backups page, open the menu at the end of the row and click Restore.
2. Read the warning. Everything currently on the server is wiped and replaced with the backup, and the server restarts during the restore.
3. Tick I understand current files will be replaced. and click Restore backup.

Not sure the old backup is the one you want? Make a backup of the current state first, so you can always go back.

Download a backup

Open the menu at the end of the row and click Download. Keeping a copy on your own computer is a good idea for worlds you really care about.

Backups are deleted together with the server. If you cancel a server, download what you want to keep first.

Let the panel back up every night

1. On your server page, click Schedules and then Create schedule.
2. Give it a name, for example "Nightly backup".
3. Click the preset Daily at 00:00. Times are in UTC. For another time, change the Hour field, for example 3 for 03:00 UTC.
4. Make sure Active is switched on and click Create. With Only when online switched on, the schedule is skipped while the server is stopped.
5. Click the new schedule to open it and click Add task.
6. Under Action, choose Create backup and click Add.

From now on the panel makes a backup every night and replaces the oldest unlocked one, so you always have the last three nights.

When to make a backup by hand

• Before you change the game version or reinstall the server.
• Before you add or update mods and plugins.
• Before you use Switch game, because that wipes all files.
• Before you upload a new world over the old one.

Need to move files to or from your computer? See Upload files to your game server with SFTP.