Server Admin
How to Move a World to a Server
Already built a world somewhere else? You do not rebuild it, you drop the folder into the server and tell it the name. Two moves: copy the world folder in, set level-name in server.propertiesrestart.
The two moves that matter
- 1Stop the server firstRun stop in the console (or hit Stop in your panel). Copying a world while the server is writing to it corrupts region files.
- 2Locate the world folderYour world is one folder containing level.dat plus region/, data/, and playerdata/. From singleplayer it lives in .minecraft/saves/YourWorld.
- 3Copy it into the server directoryPlace the whole folder next to your server jar, e.g. cp -r ~/MyWorld server/world_atlas. Keep the folder intact, do not zip its contents loose.
- 4Set level-nameOpen server.properties and change level-name=world_atlas to match the folder name exactly. Case matters on Linux.
- 5Start and verifyRun start. The log should read Preparing level "world_atlas" and Done. Join and confirm you spawn in the right place.
What you need
World folder (level.dat + region/)
server.properties (level-name)
Same / newer MC version
Console or file access
Quick answers
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Where is server.properties?
In the same directory as the server jar. It is generated on first launch, if it is missing, start the server once, then stop it.
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Do I copy the folder or its contents?
Copy the whole folder. level-name points at a directory name, and the server expects level.dat to sit directly inside that folder.
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My world has a Nether and End. Do those move too?
On vanilla, the Nether (DIM-1) and End (DIM1) live inside the world folder, so they come along. On Spigot/Paper they are separate world_nether and world_the_end folders, copy all three and they auto-link by name.
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The server made an empty world instead of loading mine.
level-name does not match the folder name, or the folder was placed in the wrong directory. Stop the server, delete the empty folder it created, fix level-name, and restart.
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Will player inventories and homes carry over?
Inventories live in playerdata/ inside the world, so they transfer. Plugin homes and economy are stored by plugins separately and do not move with the world folder.
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Is the version important?
Yes. Load the world on the same or a newer Minecraft version. Opening a newer world on an older server will fail to load.
Blocks and items in this guide
DiamondDiamond is named in the guide above. Look them up in the item database.
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