Import a world with Multiverse-Core

Multiverse-Core can import a world folder you already have, such as a map you downloaded or a world from another server, and run it beside your main world. That differs from the World Import tab, which replaces your main world. This guide is for adding a second world. To replace the main one, use the World Import tab.

Checked against Multiverse-Core 5.8.1, listed for Minecraft up to 26.3, October 2026.

Before you start

1. Install Multiverse-Core. Set up Multiverse-Core on your Minecraft server covers it.
2. Create a backup in the Backups tab. How to create and restore backups shows how.
3. Match the Minecraft version. Multiverse's documentation says the world must have been generated on the same Minecraft version as your server. Check yours in the JAR Manager tab, under More. Change Minecraft server version or loader covers switching.
4. Know the environment. You must give Multiverse the correct environment, normal, nether or the_end, and the correct generator if the world used a custom one. Getting this wrong can damage the world.

Upload the world

1. Zip the world folder on your computer.
2. In the File Manager, click Upload (its tooltip reads Upload files) and choose the zip. The browser uploads files up to 100 MB. For larger ones use SFTP, as Connect to your server over SFTP explains.
3. Choose Extract here from the zip's row actions.

Avoid spaces in the folder name, because Multiverse world names should not contain them.

Place the folder

Where it goes depends on the Minecraft version, according to Multiverse's documentation:

• Paper before 26.1. Worlds are folders in the server's root directory, beside world. Leave the extracted folder there. The folder name is the world name.
• Paper 26.1 and newer. Worlds live under <level-name>/dimensions/<namespace>/<key>/. A plain name is still accepted as a key under the minecraft namespace, so a world called skyblock should sit in world/dimensions/minecraft/skyblock/ when level-name is world. Move the world's contents there. Find level-name as World folder in the Config Editor tab.

Import it

Type the command in the Console tab, or in game with a leading slash:

mv import my_world normal
mv import my_hell nether
mv import moon normal --generator BukkitFullOfMoon

On Paper before 26.1, the first word after import is the world name, which must match the folder. On Paper 26.1 and newer, Multiverse's documentation says to pass the namespaced key, such as minecraft:the_nether, instead of a folder name. A plain name is still accepted as a key under the minecraft namespace. In both cases the second word is the environment. Use --generator to name the generator the world used before, and --biome for the biome provider it used.

Then run mv list to confirm the world is there. In game, /mv tp my_world takes you to it, and /mv setspawn sets where players appear.

After the import

• Importing adds the world to Multiverse's worlds.yml.
• Removing it later with mv remove my_world drops it from Multiverse but keeps the folder. mv delete removes the folder too.
• Change the world's rules with mv modify, as the setup guide shows.

If it does not work

• The command reports an error. Read the Console. Check that the name matches the folder on your server, or on Paper 26.1 and newer that the key matches where you placed the world.
• The world loads in the wrong shape. The environment or generator was wrong. Remove the world from Multiverse, restore your backup if files changed, and import again with the right values.
• The world was made on a newer Minecraft. Do not import it on an older server, because loading a world in an older version can cause corruption, data loss or a crash. Switch the server to the matching version in JAR Manager first.