Server Backups and Restores Guide

Backups are the ultimate insurance against accidental world griefing, corrupted chunk data, or faulty plugin updates.

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Method A: Dashboard Automated Backups

1. Navigate to your server overview in the FreeMcHosting dashboard.
2. Click Backups in the server menu.
3. Click Create Backup.
4. Enter a name (e.g. Pre-Update-Backup-1.20) and select whether to ignore unneeded directories (like cache/ or .log files).
5. Click Start Backup. The panel will archive your files into a compressed backup file.

Downloading Backups to Your Local Computer

Never keep all your backups solely on the server host:

1. Locate your backup in the Backups tab.
2. Click the three dots icon on the right side.
3. Select Download to save the archive directly to your PC.

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Method B: Manual World Archive via File Manager

If you only want to save your world data:

1. In the dashboard console, type save-all and then stop the server.
2. Open Files.
3. Select the world, world_nether, and world_the_end folders.
4. Click Archive to create archive.tar.gz or .zip.
5. Download the file to your computer.

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Restoring a Backup

Restoring via Dashboard:

1. Stop your server.
2. Go to Backups.
3. Find your desired backup and click the options menu.
4. Select Restore.
5. Wait for the restoration process to unpack all files.
6. Start your server.

Restoring Manually via File Manager:

1. Stop the server.
2. Delete the damaged world folder.
3. Upload your saved backup .zip or .tar.gz file.
4. Select the file, click Unarchive, and verify the extracted folder is named world.
5. Start your server.