Import an existing world

If you already have a world — from another host, from a local install, or from a friend — you can bring it onto your TrueTick server instead of starting fresh. The import control lives on the server's Settings tab, under Version & world. It's a full replace, not a merge, so read through before you upload.

Step 1: Stop the server

The import control is disabled while the server is running — you'll see "Stop the server to import a world." next to it. Stop the server using the controls at the top of the server page, then come back to Settings → Version & world.

Step 2: Pack the world as .zip or .tar.gz

The uploader accepts .zip, .tar.gz, .tgz, or uncompressed .tar archives — nothing else. Pack your world folder (and anything else you want to bring over) into one of those formats before you start the upload.

Pack the world folder itself, at the top of the archive. A Minecraft server loads one folder — the one named by the level-name setting, world by default — and an archive is extracted exactly as it was packed. So a .zip whose top level is The Harpy Express/ (with level.dat inside) arrives as a folder of that name. When your archive brings exactly one world, the import points level-name at it for you and tells you so. When it brings several, the import can't guess: the server keeps booting whatever it booted before, and you choose in the Worlds tab. Both cases are spelled out in the message you get when the upload finishes.

There's a size limit: 512 MB per archive. That's the same cap the control plane enforces on its side, so an archive that's rejected in the browser would be rejected on upload anyway. If your world is close to or over that, trim what you don't need (old region files for areas nobody visits, leftover crash-report or log folders) before compressing — or skip the archive and upload the files over SFTP instead (Settings → SFTP access), which isn't bound by this 512 MB cap. SFTP adds files beside what's already on the server rather than replacing /data, so remove anything you don't want to keep.

Step 3: Open Settings → Version & world and pick the archive

On the server page, open Settings → Version & world. Under the World heading you'll find the import control — use its file picker to select your packed archive. Nothing is uploaded yet at this point — picking a file just queues it.

Step 4: Confirm the replacement

Starting the import brings up a confirmation dialog, because this step replaces all of /data, not just the world folder:

• The world, configs, plugins, and mods on the server are replaced with the archive's contents.
• The current files are saved first as a Before world import backup on the Backups tab, kept for 72 hours — restoring it brings back all of the server's files as they were right before the import. The active world is a setting, not a file: if the import made its world the active one, Set active on your old world in the Worlds tab after restoring. To keep the backup longer than 72 hours, download it.

That backup has to fit in the server's backup space: if it wouldn't, the import is refused with the numbers before anything is uploaded. If taking it fails, the import doesn't go ahead and the current files stay as they are.

Once you confirm, the archive uploads and is unpacked and checked beside the current files — a broken or oversized archive is refused at this point, with the current files untouched. Then the platform takes the Before world import backup, and only after it has the archive's contents take their place. On a large server that backup takes a few minutes: the panel then says the import started, and the server can be started once it finishes — the Audit tab shows how it ended (world.import when it's done). If the server is started while the archive uploads or while that backup is being taken — a player joining wakes a sleeping server — the import doesn't go ahead: stop the server and import again. On a server people join often, turn off Settings → Wake on join until the import finishes, then turn it back on.

Step 5: Start the server

The import itself doesn't start anything — use the Start control at the top of the server page. The message you get when the upload finishes tells you which world the server will load:

• "active world set to …" — the archive brought one world under a name of its own, and the import pointed the server at it. Start, and that's what loads.
• "World imported — start the server to load it." — the archive's world folder already matched what the server boots. Nothing to choose.
• "Imported N worlds …" — several worlds arrived; the server still boots the one it booted before. Open the Worlds tab, Set active on the one you want, then start.
• "no world folder turned up at the top level" — the archive extracted, but nothing at its top level looks like a world. Open the Files tab to see what actually arrived; a world nested one folder deep is a common cause.
• "Import started …" — the backup of the current files was still being taken when the panel stopped waiting. Wait until the import finishes (the Audit tab shows it), then start; the Worlds tab shows which world the server will load.

Troubleshooting

Import button won't do anything / stays disabled. The server has to be stopped first — this isn't optional. Stop it from the top of the server page, then retry.

The server generated a fresh empty world instead of loading mine. The server boots the folder named by level-name, and your world folder has a different name — so Minecraft found nothing to load and made a new one beside it. Open the Worlds tab: your world is listed there by its folder name. Set active on it, then start. (Imports since 2026-08 do this for you when the archive brings exactly one world; an archive with several still needs the choice.)

"Pick a .zip or .tar.gz archive first" means no file was selected, or the file picker was cleared — pick the archive again before confirming.

"Archive is over the 512 MB limit — upload the files over SFTP instead (Settings → SFTP access)" means the archive is too big for this upload. Either strip unnecessary data (unused region files, logs, crash reports) and re-pack, or do what the message says: upload the files over SFTP, which isn't bound by the 512 MB cap.

"Import failed" after uploading. This can mean the connection dropped mid-upload or the control plane rejected the archive — check your connection and try again. If it keeps failing, contact support with the error text shown on the page.

I imported the wrong thing. Within 72 hours, restore the Before world import backup from Server → Backups & data → Backups — it brings back all of the server's files as they were right before the import. If the import had switched the active world, Set active on your old world in the Worlds tab too: which world is active is a setting, and a restore doesn't change it. See the backups article for how restore works.