Taking and restoring backups

What a backup slot is

Each plan includes a fixed number of backup slots (3 to 5 depending on size). A backup is a compressed copy of your server’s files, taken while the server keeps running. When all slots are used, delete an old backup before taking a new one; the panel will not silently overwrite anything.

Backups live on this same machine, on the second NVMe drive. They protect you from mistakes, bad plugin updates, and most software failures. They do not protect you from the machine itself, so keep your own copies of anything you cannot afford to lose.

When to take one

• Before updating Minecraft or changing server software.
• Before installing or removing plugins and mods.
• Before running world-editing commands or resetting a dimension.
• On a schedule. A nightly backup during quiet hours costs nothing and saves days.

Taking a backup

1. Open your server in the panel and go to Backups.
2. Choose Create backup. Give it a name that says why, such as “before 26.2 update”.
3. Optionally list files to ignore, one per line, if you want to skip large caches. Leave it empty to back up everything.
4. Wait for the status to show completed. Large worlds can take a few minutes; the server keeps running meanwhile.

Scheduling backups

Under Schedules, create a schedule with a cron expression such as 0 4 * * * for 4 a.m. daily, and add a Create backup task to it. When slots are full the scheduled backup fails rather than deleting older ones, so pair it with a habit of clearing old backups, or use the “delete oldest when full” option if your panel version offers it.

Restoring

1. Stop the server. Restoring onto a running server can corrupt the world.
2. In Backups, open the backup’s menu and choose Restore.
3. Decide whether to delete all current files first. Usually yes for a clean rollback; no if you only want files from the backup added over the current ones.
4. Start the server and check the console for errors.

Restoring replaces files. If you might want the current state later, take a backup of it first.

Downloading and keeping copies

Every backup can be downloaded as an archive. Do this for milestones and before major changes. A copy on your own computer or in cloud storage means that even a total failure on our side would not cost you the world.

Download what you want to keep before a cancellation takes effect. When it does, the server stops and you can no longer open it in the panel. We hold the files for 7 days after that and can send you a copy if you ask inside that window, but the self-service route closes the moment the server stops.