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Learn how to manage, convert, and back up Minecraft worlds across platforms to keep your progress safe and seamless → Learn more
10 November 20267 min read0 Views0 helpful
Introduction
At its core, Minecraft stores game saves as worlds, with each world being its own separate save. In this guide, we’ll show you how to manage worlds on your Minecraft game server, including converting worlds between platforms, regenerating worlds, backing up your local and server worlds, and uploading worlds to your server.
Comparing platform differences
One key difference between Vanilla servers and server platforms is that Vanilla servers combine the regular world, the Nether, and the End into a single save.
In contrast, alternative server platforms such as Spigot, PaperMC, and Bukkit store each dimension as a separate world save. The table below shows how an example world named zapdocs is handled by each server type.
World dimension
Vanilla server (combined)
Server platforms (separate)
Normal/Overworld
zapdocs
zapdocs
Nether
zapdocs
zapdocs_nether
The End
zapdocs
zapdocs_the_end
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
You need FTP access to your Minecraft game server.
Vanilla servers combine the Overworld, Nether, and End into a single save. Platforms like Spigot, PaperMC, and Bukkit store each dimension as a separate world save (for example, zapdocs, zapdocs_nether, and zapdocs_the_end).
Connect to your game server via FTP and drag and drop the world save into the root directory of the server platform you’re using. Then set the level-name parameter in server.properties to the uploaded world’s folder name (in the Configuration tab or via FTP). For platforms like PaperMC, use the main folder name, not the _nether or _the_end folders. If the world is from a Vanilla server, or vice versa, you’ll need to convert it first.
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Minecraft
Before you start
To manage your worlds, you first need to access your Minecraft game server via FTP. If you’re not familiar with FTP yet, please see our Access via FTP guide.
Converting worlds
When switching between a Vanilla server and a server platform, you may want to keep your world save. Because of the differences described above, you’ll need to adjust the folder structure to either extract or combine the separate Nether and End worlds.
Info
This is only necessary if you’re switching between Vanilla and a server platform and want to keep and move an existing world. If you’re only switching between Vanilla servers or between different server platforms, you don’t need to convert anything.
Info
Make sure to shut down the server before starting to avoid conflicts or rollbacks.
To convert a world from the Vanilla format to the server platform format, you need to extract certain folders to create separate worlds for each dimension. Typically, you’ll move all the worlds to a new server running a server platform such as Spigot, PaperMC, or Bukkit.
Access your server via FTP and navigate to ../vanilla/[deine_welt] to find the world save you want to convert. Look for the DIM1 and DIM-1 folders.
The DIM1 folder contains the End data, while DIM-1 contains the Nether data.
You need to move each folder into its own new world folder, as follows:
For the Nether, create a new folder [deine_welt]_nether in the root directory. Move the DIM-1 folder into this new, separate world folder.
For the End, create a new folder [deine_welt]_the_end in the root directory. Move the DIM1 folder into this new, separate world folder.
Info
You may need to overwrite the DIM folders. This is normal, as server platforms generate all dimensions by default.
In this example, the world is named world, so the new folders world_nether and world_the_end were created in the root directory, and the corresponding DIM folders were moved into them.
The three separate worlds are now ready to use on server platforms.
To convert a world from a server platform to the Vanilla format, the process is practically identical, but in reverse. You need to extract the data from the separate Nether and End worlds and combine it into a single world format. Typically, you’ll move the combined world to a new server running a Vanilla server.
Access your server via FTP and open the root directory. Find the three separate world folders, which should be named [deine_welt], [deine_welt]_nether, and [deine_welt]_the_end, with [deine_welt] replaced by your world’s name.
Open the [deine_welt]_nether folder and move the DIM-1 folder into the main [deine_welt] folder. In this example, the world is named world, as before.
Repeat the same steps for the [deine_welt]_the_end folder and move DIM1 into the main [deine_welt] folder.
The combined world is now ready to use on a Vanilla server.
Generating worlds
Generating worlds is easy: You can either create a completely new world or regenerate the current one from scratch. Minecraft uses a seed system, where every world has a unique seed. You can use the seed to regenerate an exact copy of the original world.
To generate a new world, shut down the server and connect via FTP. Also open the server.properties configuration file, either in your server’s Configuration tab (raw text view) or via FTP.
To generate a new world, you can either:
Delete the world via FTP if it has the same name as the level-name parameter in the config.
Change the level-name parameter in the config to a different name and save it.
If you want to keep the old save, we recommend option 2. This keeps the old world on the server, but makes it “inactive.”
Restart the server. It will detect that the world specified by level-name is missing and generate a new world with a new seed.
To regenerate the current world, you’ll need to note down the seed. You can do this in the web interface’s Console or directly in the game (you’ll need OP permissions).
Run the /seed command in the console or in the game to get the current world’s seed. Make a note of it.
You’ll need the seed to update the level-seed parameter in the server.properties file. You can do this in the Configuration tab (raw text view) or via FTP.
Info
Shut down the server first so the file can be saved correctly.
Change the level-seed parameter to the seed you noted down and save the file. Then connect to your server via FTP.
To regenerate the world, you can either:
Delete the world via FTP if it has the same name as the level-name parameter.
Change the level-name parameter in the config to a different name and save it.
If you want to keep the old save, we recommend option 2. This keeps the old world on the server, but makes it “inactive.”
Restart the server. It will detect that the world specified by level-name is missing and regenerate the current world using the seed from the level-seed parameter.
Backing up world saves
Local saves
Local world saves are the ones you created in single-player mode. You can find them in your Windows AppData folder, at the following path:
Code
../AppData/Roaming/.minecraft/saves
Tip
You can open this path easily by pressing STRG + R at the same time and entering the following path in the Run dialog: %appdata%/.minecraft/saves/. Click OK to go straight to the folder.
You’ll find all your local world saves in this folder.
Accessing saves via FTP
Backing up your server world is easy. Once you’ve connected to your game server via FTP, simply open the root directory of the server platform you’re using. The world saves are stored there, and the default world name is world.
Automatic backups
We automatically back up your game server every day. With ZapX Pass, you can also create, restore, and download your own backups at any time in your game server’s Backups tab. With ZapX Pass Pro, you can even schedule backups automatically. For more information about backups, see our dedicated Backups guide.
Uploading a world save
As with backing up, uploading your world save is simple. Connect to your game server via FTP and open the root directory of the server platform you’re using.
Info
Vanilla and server platform worlds
Keep in mind that Vanilla servers and server platforms store worlds a little differently.
If you’re moving a save from Vanilla to a server platform such as PaperMC, or vice versa, see the Converting worlds section of this guide.
Just drag and drop your world save into the root directory via FTP to upload it to your server.
Tip
It may be helpful to copy the name of the uploaded game save folder, as you’ll need it to activate the world in the next step.
Activating a world save
To use a specific world, you need to edit the server.properties configuration file, specifically the level-name parameter.
You can do this either in your server’s Configuration tab (raw text view) or via FTP.
Find the level-name parameter in the file and change it to match the folder name of your world save. If you’re using a server platform, use the main folder name, not the _nether or _the_end folders.
Conclusion
You now know how to manage your Minecraft worlds with confidence—from converting between Vanilla and server platforms, generating new worlds, and regenerating old worlds using seeds to making reliable backups, uploading your own worlds, and activating them on your server. With this knowledge, you can manage your worlds easily and keep your adventures safe and organized.
If you have any questions or run into any issues, our support team is here to help every day! 🙂
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