How to Upload Your Own World to Your Minecraft Server

How to Upload Your Own World to Your Minecraft Server

Want to move a singleplayer world or a downloaded map onto your server? There are two ways depending on size: the panel file manager for quick uploads, or FTP for large worlds. Either way, you then point the server at the world with level-name. Tip: back up first, see backing up your Minecraft world.

Before You Start

• Stop the server. Uploading to a running server can corrupt the world or get overwritten on the next save.
• Find your world folder. Singleplayer worlds live in %appdata%\.minecraft\saves\<WorldName> on Windows. A downloaded map is the folder you get after unzipping.
• The folder must contain level.dat directly, alongside region, playerdata, and so on. If unzipping gave you a folder inside a folder, use the inner one.
• Match versions. Open the world on a server running the same Minecraft version or newer. Loading an old world on a much newer or older version can break it.

Method 1: Upload via the Panel File Manager (quick, smaller worlds)

1. Stop the server in the DoomHosting Panel.
2. Open the Files tab.
3. Recommended: zip your world folder on your PC first, upload the single .zip, then use the file manager's Unarchive/Decompress option. Uploading one zip is far more reliable than hundreds of region files.
4. You should end up with a world folder (for example MyWorld) in the server root, sitting next to server.properties.

Method 2: Upload via FTP (best for large worlds)

1. Stop the server.
2. Get your FTP details from the panel (host, port, username, password) and connect with a client like FileZilla.
3. Drag your entire world folder into the server root, the folder that contains server.properties.
4. Large worlds can take a while. FTP resumes transfers and handles thousands of files better than the browser uploader.

Point the Server at Your World (level-name)

The server only loads the folder named in level-name. After uploading:

1. Open server.properties.
2. Set level-name= to your uploaded folder name, exactly (it is case-sensitive). For a folder called MyWorld: level-name=MyWorld.
3. Save and start the server.

Alternatively, rename your uploaded folder to match the existing level-name (the default is world).

Verify It Loaded

• Join the server. You should spawn in your world, not a fresh one.
• In the panel console at startup, the log shows it preparing the level by your folder name.
• A brand-new flat or random world usually means level-name does not match the folder, or the folder is nested one level too deep.

Common Issues and Solutions

• The server generated a new world instead: level-name does not match the uploaded folder name (check spelling and case), or you uploaded while the server was running and it overwrote your files.
• Folder inside a folder: the real world is at MyWorld/MyWorld/level.dat. Move the inner folder up so level.dat sits directly inside the folder named in level-name.
• Upload is slow or fails partway: zip the world and upload one file (Method 1), or use FTP (Method 2). The browser uploader struggles with many small region files.
• World loads but looks corrupted or throws errors: version mismatch. Run the server on the same version the world was created or last opened in.
• The Nether or the End is missing: make sure you uploaded the DIM-1 and DIM1 folders. They live inside the world folder.

Tips

• Always back up the current server world before replacing it. See backing up your Minecraft world.
• Keep a local copy of your world until you have confirmed it loads correctly.
• Switching between several worlds is just a matter of changing level-name and restarting. See how to start fresh if you want a clean world instead.

Need a hand moving your world over? Contact our support team and we will help.