--- title: "Corrupted world or chunks: how to recover your Minecraft world" url: https://help.endercloud.in/docs/corrupted-world-or-chunks category: "Minecraft Hosting › Troubleshooting & Performance" type: Troubleshooting tags: ["backups", "crash", "troubleshooting", "world"] keywords: "corrupted world, corrupted chunks, chunk corruption, couldn't load chunk, failed to read chunk, chunk file at is in the wrong location, region file corrupt, level.dat corrupt, level.dat_old, world reset itself, builds missing, chunk regenerated, missing chunks, world not loading, mca selector, mcaselector delete chunks, delete chunks, region fixer, world kharab ho gaya, world corrupted, fix corrupted world, recover world, restore world" difficulty: intermediate time: "15 minutes" updated: 2026-11-14 source: Endercloud Knowledge Base (official) --- # Corrupted world or chunks: how to recover your Minecraft world > Restoring a backup is the safest fix for a corrupted world. If you have none, level.dat_old and region editors like MCA Selector can save most of it. A corrupted world shows up as errors like `Couldn't load chunk` or `Failed to read chunk` in the console, missing or reset areas, builds that have turned into fresh terrain, or a world that won't load at all. The safest fix is to **restore a backup**. If you don't have one, you can often save most of the world with the steps below. ## Why it happens - The server was stopped suddenly while saving (crash, out of memory, forced stop). - The **disk was full**, so files were only partly written. - A mod or plugin wrote bad data, or a content mod was removed. - A world was uploaded incompletely, or opened on an older Minecraft version than it was saved with. When Minecraft can't read a chunk, it may generate a fresh one in its place. That is why corrupted areas can suddenly look like brand-new land. ## Fix 1: Restore a backup (best) 1. **Stop** the server. 2. Make a backup of the current, broken state too, just in case. 3. Open **Backups**, choose the newest backup from before the problem, and restore it. 4. Start the server and check the area. Guide: [How to create and restore backups](/docs/how-to-create-and-restore-backups). ## Fix 2: World won't load at all (level.dat) The main world file `level.dat` holds the seed, spawn and settings. Minecraft keeps the previous copy as `level.dat_old`. 1. Stop the server. In **Files**, open your world folder (usually `world`). 2. Rename `level.dat` to `level.dat_broken`. 3. Make a copy of `level.dat_old` and name it `level.dat`. 4. Start the server. ## Fix 3: Repair or remove broken chunks There is no setting in Paper or Purpur that repairs corrupted chunks, so this is done with a region editor on your computer: 1. Stop the server and download the world folder (see [How to download your world](/docs/how-to-download-your-minecraft-world)). 2. Note the chunk or block coordinates from the console errors. 3. Open a copy of the world in **MCA Selector**. Find the bad chunks and delete them, so Minecraft generates them again, or copy those chunks from an older backup of the same world. 4. Upload the fixed world (see [How to upload your own world](/docs/how-to-upload-your-own-world)) and start the server. Older tools such as Region Fixer may not support the newest Minecraft versions. Check that a tool supports your version before using it, and always work on a copy. ### Delete chunks without downloading the world The Game Panel also offers an **MCASelector – Delete Chunks** server type under **Settings → Change Egg**. It lets you remove chunks on the server itself, which saves downloading and uploading a big world. Use it with care: 1. **Stop** the server and create a backup in **Backups**. Download it if the world matters to you. 2. Note which server type you use now (for example Paper) and the version shown in the **Versions** tab. 3. Go to **Settings → Change Egg**, choose **MCASelector – Delete Chunks** and click **Apply**. Do not choose any option that wipes your files. 4. Check the **Startup** tab for the options this egg offers, set which chunks to delete, then start it and follow the output in **Console**. 5. When it has finished, go back to **Settings → Change Egg** and switch back to your original server type. If the server then won't start, reinstall the same software and version from the **Versions** tab without wiping files. If you are unsure about any option, open a ticket before you run it. A wrong selection can delete far more of the world than you meant. > **Important:** > Deleted chunks come back as fresh terrain. Anything built there is lost unless you copy it from a backup. ## How to prevent it - Use **Stop** (or the `stop` command) so the server saves properly. Avoid forcing it off. - Keep an eye on the Disk usage in the panel header and leave free space. - Set up automatic backups with **Schedules** (see [automatic restarts and backups](/docs/how-to-schedule-automatic-restarts-and-backups)) and download important ones. - Leave `sync-chunk-writes=true` in server.properties. It protects against data loss after a crash. - Don't run a world on an older Minecraft version than it was last opened with. > **Note:** > Backups are made by you, manually or on a schedule. We don't keep separate copies of your world, so keep important backups downloaded on your own device. ## Frequently asked questions **Q: Only one area is broken. Do I have to restore the whole world?** No. With MCA Selector you can copy just those chunks from a backup into your current world, so newer builds elsewhere are kept. **Q: The server crashes on a specific entity, not a chunk** That is a ticking crash. See [Exception in server tick loop](/docs/exception-in-server-tick-loop). Still stuck? [Open a ticket](https://billing.endercloud.in/tickets/create) with the console errors and we will help you plan the recovery.