How to download your Minecraft world

You can download your server's world at any time to keep a copy, play it in single-player or move it to another server. The easiest way is to compress the world folder in Files and download the zip.

Which folders do I need?

The world folder has the name set in level-name (in Properties), which is world by default.

• Vanilla, Fabric, Forge, NeoForge, and Paper on 26.1 or newer: everything is inside the one world folder.

• Paper or Purpur on 1.21.11 or older, and Spigot: also download world_nether and world_the_end. They hold the Nether and the End.

• Vanilla Bedrock: the world is in worlds/<world name>.

Method 1: Compress and download in Files

1. Click Stop, or run save-all in the Console first if you cannot stop the server. Stopping gives the cleanest copy.

2. Open Files and tick the world folder(s).

3. Choose the option to archive / compress them. A new .tar.gz or .zip file appears in the folder.

4. Click the archive and download it.

5. Delete the archive from the server afterwards so it does not use your disk space.

Method 2: Download a backup

Create a backup in Backups and download it. A backup contains the whole server (world, plugins and configs), so it is larger, but it is the best way to keep a complete copy. See How to create and restore backups.

Method 3: SFTP

For very big worlds, connect with FileZilla or WinSCP and drag the world folder to your computer. See How to connect with SFTP.

Play the world in single-player

1. Extract the archive on your computer. (Windows can open .zip; use 7-Zip for .tar.gz.)

2. Copy the world folder into your saves folder (Windows: %appdata%\.minecraft\saves). You can rename it to anything.

3. If you are on Paper 1.21.11 or older, single-player needs the Nether and End inside the world folder: copy world_nether/DIM-1 into world, and world_the_end/DIM1 into world.

4. Open Minecraft with the same or newer version as the server. Modded worlds need the same mods installed.

For Bedrock, zip the contents of worlds/<world name> (so level.dat is at the top of the zip), rename the file to .mcworld and open it to import it into Minecraft.

Frequently asked questions