Upload your singleplayer Minecraft world

The World Import tab unpacks a zipped save, installs it as your server's world folder and renames the old one instead of deleting it. You need a stopped server and the save folder from your computer, which stays unchanged.

Before you start

1. Take a backup. Open the Backups tab, click Create backup and wait for it to finish. How to create and restore backups covers restoring it.
2. Check it's a Java Edition save. The import doesn't check the edition or convert Bedrock worlds, so a Bedrock save installs but won't load.
3. Match the Minecraft version. In the JAR Manager tab (under More in the panel menu), pick the version you last played the world on, and its loader if it's modded. Change Minecraft server version or loader walks through it.

Where are Minecraft worlds saved?

In Minecraft, open Singleplayer, select the world, click Edit, then Open World Folder. That works in modpack launchers too. The default folders are:

Zip the world folder

The import looks for level.dat at the top of the zip or one folder down. Zip the world folder itself, so the zip looks like this:

My World.zip
  My World/
    level.dat
    region/

Zipping the whole saves folder doesn't work, because level.dat ends up two folders down. Put one world in each zip.

• Windows 11: right-click the world folder, choose Compress to, then the ZIP option. On Windows 10, it's Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder.
• macOS: Control-click the world folder and choose Compress.
• Linux: from inside saves, run the command below.

zip -r "My World.zip" "My World"

Upload and import the world

1. On the Console tab, click Stop and wait until the status shows Offline. The import doesn't stop the server for you.

2. Open World Import, under Content in the panel menu.

3. Drag your zip onto Drop your world .zip here, or click it to browse. When the upload finishes, the zip appears under Potential saves on your server, already selected. A zip already on the server shows in the same list.

   

4. Click Import selected world. In the Replace the current world? box, skip Back up now if you backed up already, or wait for Backup complete if you use it.

5. Click Import world. When it's done, a World imported box lists each step.

6. Click Start on the Console tab. When the console shows Done (…s)!, join and check your builds.

Upload a large world over SFTP

Use SFTP if the tab shows That save is followed by a size, or a browser upload fails with a size limit error. SFTP has no upload size cap, only your disk space.

1. Click Find your SFTP login, or open the SFTP connection card in the Settings tab. Connect over SFTP with FileZilla or WinSCP sets up a client.
2. Upload the zip to the folder you land in, next to server.properties. The import only looks there.
3. Stop the server (step 1 above), then click Rescan in World Import (or reload the page if there's no Rescan button yet), select the zip and carry on from step 4.

What the import changes

• Your current world is renamed, not deleted. The world folder becomes something like world.pre-import-2026-09-16T05-12-33-123Z (the date and time in UTC). It still uses disk space, so delete it in the File Manager once you're happy (How to manage your server files).
• Your save becomes world, and server.properties gets level-name=world. If your server used a different world name, that folder stays on disk but no longer loads.
• The zip leaves the server's top folder after the import, so upload it again to reimport. If level.dat sat at the top of the zip, the zip ends up inside world; delete it there.
• Only world is replaced. Paper and Purpur keep the Nether and End in world_nether and world_the_end, which the import leaves as they were. To use your save's own, delete both before you start the server: Paper and Purpur move a vanilla save's Nether and End into those folders when they're missing.

If the world doesn't load

Match what you see (to undo the import, see the FAQ):

• Couldn't find a world (no level.dat) inside that zip - The level.dat file is more than one folder down, or the zip isn't a world. Zip the world folder itself and upload it again.
• That's not a .zip - The tab only takes .zip files. Zip the world folder as shown above.
• Your old world loads, or old builds show up in the new one - The server was probably still running during the import, which doesn't stop it for you. Stop the server, then upload and import the zip again. The mixed world becomes another world.pre-import- folder you can delete.
• Your new overworld, but the old Nether or End - Paper and Purpur keep those in separate folders; see What the import changes above.
• No key dimensions in MapLike in the console - See No key dimensions in MapLike: fix level.dat.
• DETECTED OLD PLAYER DIRECTORY in the console - See Failed to initialize server: old player data.
• Missing modded blocks, or a crash naming a mod - The server needs the same mods as the save. See Install Fabric and Forge mods on your server or Install a Minecraft modpack on your server.

If none of these match, ask for help with the first error lines from the Console, the save's version and loader, and the zip's size.