How to create and restore backups

A backup is a copy of every file on your server at one moment: the world or save, configs, mods, plugins and the server software. Take one before a risky change, and if that change goes wrong, restoring the backup puts the files back as they were.

When to take a backup

Take one before any change that's hard to undo:

• Updating the game or the server software, such as the Minecraft version in the JAR Manager
• Installing mods, plugins or a modpack
• Editing config files by hand
• Giving someone new access to the server
• Switching to another game: click Back up first and wait for "Pre-switch backup" to show Complete before you switch

Create a backup

1. Open your server in the dashboard and go to the Backups tab.
2. Click Create backup.
3. In the Backup name (optional) box, type a name you'll recognise later, such as "Before 1.21 update".
4. Click Create backup in the form.
5. Wait for the new backup to change from In progress to Complete. Bigger servers take longer.

Only one backup runs at a time, so Create backup stays greyed out until the current one finishes.

How many backups does my plan include?

Every plan includes at least two backups, and the server's owner can add extra backup slots on the same tab. The top of the Backups tab shows how many backups you have, how many your plan allows and how many slots are left. Outside Minecraft, each plan card on the game pages lists its backup slots too. Scheduled backups use the same slots as manual ones.

What happens when the slots are full

The owner-only Backup settings card on the Backups tab has an Overwrite oldest when full switch, on by default. With it on, you can keep creating backups at your limit: once the new backup finishes, the panel deletes the oldest unprotected backup to make room, clearing failed backups first. If the tab is open, a message names the backup it replaced. If every backup is protected there's nothing to replace, so remove protection from one or delete one first.

With the switch off, a full tab blocks new backups until you delete one.

Protect a backup

1. On the backup's row, click Protect. A green Protected badge appears.
2. To remove it, click Unprotect, then Remove protection.

The panel never deletes a protected backup to make room. Its Restore and Delete buttons are hidden too, so nobody can use them by accident. To restore a protected backup, unprotect it first.

Download a backup

Click Download on a completed backup to save it to your computer as a .tar.gz archive. Download one before switching games or cancelling your plan, so you hold a copy of your own.

Copy backups to your own cloud storage

The server owner can send backups to a storage bucket they control:

1. In Backup settings, next to Off-site copies, click Set up.
2. Pick Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, Amazon S3 or Custom S3-compatible, fill in the bucket details and click Save destination.
3. On any completed backup, click Off-site. "Copied off-site" confirms the upload.

Each click copies one backup. Scheduled backups aren't sent off-site automatically.

Schedule automatic backups

Automatic backups are tasks on the Schedules tab that use the Create a backup action. The Automatic backups card on the Backups tab lists them with their next run. If it says "Nothing runs on a timer yet", no backup is scheduled.

To add one:

1. On the Automatic backups card, click Schedule a weekly backup. The New scheduled task window opens on step 1 of 3, with Create a backup already picked.
2. Click Next. Under When should it run?, change the day and time if you want to (it starts at Sunday, 4:00 AM), then click Next again.
3. Keep the name "Weekly backup" or type your own, then click Create job.

To change the task later, click Manage schedules on the same card.

Restore a backup

1. On the Backups tab, find the backup and click Restore. If the row shows Protected, click Unprotect first.
2. Read the Restore backup? prompt and click Restore.
3. Stay on the Backups tab until the row has gone through Stopping, Restoring and Starting. Leaving early can cancel the restore or leave the server off. The panel stops the server for you, forcing it off if it's still running after a minute. Go by the row, not the pop-up message: the restore has finished when the row no longer shows Starting.
4. The panel starts the server again and shows Restore complete. Join and check the server is how you expect.

The automatic start comes from Start server after a restore in Backup settings, on by default. If that switch is off, press Start on the Console tab. If you left the Backups tab while the row showed Stopping, the restore didn't run: go back and click Restore again. If you left during Restoring, the files came back but the server stays off until you press Start.

Minecraft worlds can't move to an older game version, so a backup from before an upgrade is your way back. Read Change Minecraft server version or loader before you switch versions.

If a backup or restore goes wrong

• Create backup is greyed out - another backup is still running, or the slots are full with Overwrite oldest when full off.
• A backup shows Failed - delete it and create a new one.
• A row has no Restore button - the backup is protected or hasn't finished.
• The problem is back after a restore - the backup may already contain it. Restore an older one, and in the File Manager remove any mod or plugin added after that backup was taken. For Minecraft world errors, see No key dimensions in MapLike: fix level.dat.