Upload a Minecraft worldMove a singleplayer or existing world to the server

Published on October 20, 2026

Find the world folder on your PC

In the Java Edition, singleplayer worlds live in the folder .minecraft/saves/. Each subfolder is a world (the folder name corresponds to the world name). You need this complete folder - among other things, it contains level.dat and the region files in region/.

On Windows, you reach the folder quickly via %appdata%\.minecraft\saves.

Upload the world

1. Stop the server - in the panel, so that no files are locked.
2. Connect via SFTP (with the credentials from the panel) or open WebFTP in your browser.
3. Upload your complete world folder into the server's main directory, for example as world.
4. Open server.properties and set level-name=world (or the name of your uploaded folder).
5. Start the server - your world is loaded.

Tip: with very large worlds, pack the folder into a ZIP beforehand, upload it and unpack it in the file manager - that is much faster than thousands of individual files.

Bedrock and modpack worlds

In the Bedrock Edition, worlds live in worlds/ and are uploaded the same way. With modpacks, the server must use the same mods and the same version as your original world, otherwise blocks and items are missing. So first set up the matching modpack and then upload the world into the corresponding folder.

The folder name must be right

The most common mistake when uploading is not a transfer error but a naming problem. Minecraft loads exactly the folder that is set as level-name in server.properties. If your uploaded folder is named differently, the server creates a new, empty world instead - and it looks as if the upload had failed.

Two routes lead to the goal: either rename the uploaded folder to match the entry, or enter your folder's name in level-name. The second route is better if you want to keep the old world - then both sit side by side and you switch via one entry. More on that in Multiple worlds.

Think of all three dimensions: besides the overworld, world_nether and world_the_end also belong to the world. If you only upload the main folder, you get your builds back in the overworld, but a freshly generated Nether.

Version and extensions must match

A world bears the traces of the version in which it was last opened. This results in two fixed rules:

• Upwards usually works. An older world can be opened on a newer server. Minecraft converts it on the first start.
• Downwards does not. A world that has once been opened in a newer version no longer works on an older server - permanently. This is why a backup belongs before every version change, see Change the version.

With modpacks, the mod list comes on top. If a mod that brought blocks into the world is missing, those blocks disappear - in the worst case together with the buildings that stood on them. So always set up the extensions first and upload the world afterwards, not the other way round.

Check after uploading

Before you open the server to your group, a quick tour is worth it. Is the base complete? Are the chests filled? Does the Nether portal work? And is the spawn point right - it is occasionally reset and can be set again with /setworldspawn.

One point regularly surprises people: player data does not move along automatically. Inventory and experience live in the playerdata subfolder inside the world. If it is included, everyone finds their belongings again - if it is missing, everyone starts from zero even though the builds are standing.

Keep the original world on your computer until everything has been checked. Backups remain your job anyway - they are self-service with us throughout, via WebFTP or SFTP, see Create backups.

Frequently asked questions