Back up and restore your server

The Backups tab lists every backup taken for this server, newest first, with Back up now above the list; each row also gets Download and Restore. Automatic backups land here too, alongside anything you trigger yourself.

What a backup contains

A backup is an archive of the server's entire /data directory — the world, server.properties and other config files, and installed plugins/mods — not just the world folder. It does not include a managed MySQL database created on the Database tab: that database lives outside /data, in a separate service, so neither a backup nor a restore here touches it. If the server is running when the snapshot is taken, the platform pauses and flushes world saves over RCON first so the archive isn't taken mid-write; if that quiesce step isn't possible (RCON unreachable, or the server isn't running), the snapshot is taken anyway rather than skipped.

Automatic backups

Backups run automatically once a day for every server, whether it's running or sleeping — a server mid-install or mid node-move is skipped for that pass, but otherwise nothing needs to be running for its scheduled backup to happen. Only the 7 most recent backups are kept; older ones are pruned automatically as new ones are taken. If you need a different cadence or a backup tied to a specific time, use a backup-kind entry on the Schedules tab instead — that's a separate, user-configured mechanism from this daily pass.

Taking a manual backup

Click Back up now. This works regardless of whether the server is running or sleeping. The button shows "Backing up…" while the request is open; if the snapshot outlives that request, the panel says "Snapshot started. Large worlds take a few minutes — it will appear in this list when it finishes." and keeps it running in the background. You don't need to keep the page open for it to complete.

Downloading a backup

Each backup row has a Download button that streams the archive straight from the server. This is available for any backup in the list regardless of the server's current state.

Restoring a backup

Restore replaces the server's entire /data directory with the contents of the selected backup — everything currently there (world, configs, plugins/mods) is overwritten with what the archive contains, and there is no separate copy of the current state made along the way. If you might want the current state back afterward, take (or download) a backup of it first.

The server must be stopped to restore, and this is enforced by two different checks, not one: the Restore button itself is disabled while the state is exactly running, or while another action on this tab (a backup, a different restore, a delete) is still in flight; the server separately refuses the request whenever the state is running, starting, or stopping, with "stop the server before restoring". That gap matters — during starting or stopping, if nothing else on the tab is busy, the button is enabled but the request is refused anyway; only a fully stopped server actually restores. Restoring is confirmed by typing restore into the confirmation dialog — a plain click isn't enough, since this step can't be undone.

A restore can outlive its request the same way a manual backup can (see above) — the panel then says "Restore started. Large worlds take a few minutes — the server will be usable again once it finishes." While a restore is in progress, the server can't be started (including by wake-on-join) until it completes.

Deleting a backup

Each row's trash-can button deletes that backup permanently after a click-through confirmation. This doesn't affect any other backup in the list.

Troubleshooting

Restore button is greyed out. Either the server is running, or another action on this tab (a backup, a different restore, a delete) is still in flight — the tab shares one busy state across Back up now, Restore, and Delete, so any of them disables the others until that request settles. That can take up to about 100 seconds if the operation hands off to the background (the same point where the panel switches to the "a few minutes" message quoted above) — not a brief wait. See "Restoring a backup" above for the running-state half of this.

"stop the server before restoring". The button greys out for a strictly running server, or while another action on this tab is in flight — neither of those covers starting or stopping, so the server itself also refuses those two on top, and you can hit this message with the button fully enabled while it's mid-start or mid-stop. Wait for it to reach a fully stopped state and try again.

"a backup or restore is already running for this server". Only one backup/restore operation can run at a time per server. Wait for the current one to finish (check the message next to Back up now) before starting another.

Panel still shows a snapshot or restore as going, even after switching to another section and back. Expected for a large world — see "Taking a manual backup" and "Restoring a backup" above for the exact message the panel shows in that case. It stays on screen because the panel keeps every section mounted in the background, so switching away and back doesn't clear it (closing the browser would — there's nothing to see stale after that). Reload the page to refetch the real state; a completed backup appears in the list, and a completed restore makes the server startable again.

No backups in the list yet. Either none has run yet (a new server's first automatic backup can be up to a day away) or every attempt so far has failed — click Back up now to take one immediately rather than waiting.