Setup · 8 min read

How to upload a world to a Minecraft server

Move a single-player or old-host world to a Minecraft Java server: zip the right folder, match the version, set level-name. Covers the 26.1 folder change.

Last checked 11 November 2026

Short answer

Find the world folder (the one with level.dat in it), stop the server, and put the folder where the server's level-name setting points, which is a folder called world unless you changed it. Check first that the world isn't from a newer Minecraft version than the server: worlds only move forward. Then start the server. Since Minecraft 26.1 the Nether and the End live inside the world folder, so most older guides get the Paper step wrong.

Before you start

The server's version and software. Mojang's own server, Paper, Fabric, NeoForge or Forge, and which Minecraft version. A hosting panel shows both.
The world's version. The version you last played it in. A server can upgrade an older world but can't safely open a newer one.
A copy you keep. Zip the world and keep that file. Upgrading a world is one-way: Paper's 26.1 notes say “After upgrading your world to 26.1, you cannot downgrade back to a lower version!”, and every Minecraft upgrade works that way.

1. Find the world folder

The quickest way: in Minecraft, open Singleplayer, select the world, press Edit, then Open World Folder. Otherwise, it's in the saves folder:

Where Minecraft Java keeps single-player worlds
Where you played it	The world folder
Windows	The world folder`%APPDATA%\.minecraft\saves\<world name>`
Mac	The world folder`~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/saves/<world name>`
Linux	The world folder`~/.minecraft/saves/<world name>`
CurseForge, Modrinth or Prism launcher	The world folderThe instance's own folder (each launcher has an Open folder button), then `saves`
Another server or host	The world folderThe folder named by its `level-name`, usually `world`. On Paper or Spigot before 26.1, also `world_nether` and `world_the_end` beside it

On Windows, paste %APPDATA%\.minecraft\saves into File Explorer's address bar. On a Mac, the Library folder is hidden: in Finder, choose Go, then Go to Folder, and paste the path.

2. Know what's inside it

Minecraft 26.1 changed how a world is stored. Mojang's 26.1 notes say “All default dimensions are now stored in the dimensions subfolder”, and player files moved too. Guides written for 1.21 and earlier describe the old layout.

A Minecraft Java world folder in 26.1 and later compared with 1.21 and earlier
What	26.1 and later	1.21 and earlier
World settings	26.1 and later`level.dat`	1.21 and earlier`level.dat`
The Overworld	26.1 and later`dimensions/minecraft/overworld/region`	1.21 and earlier`region`
The Nether	26.1 and later`dimensions/minecraft/the_nether`	1.21 and earlier`DIM-1` (on Paper or Spigot: a separate `world_nether` folder)
The End	26.1 and later`dimensions/minecraft/the_end`	1.21 and earlier`DIM1` (on Paper or Spigot: a separate `world_the_end` folder)
Players	26.1 and later`players/data`	1.21 and earlier`playerdata`
Data packs	26.1 and later`datapacks`	1.21 and earlier`datapacks`

Either way, the folder you want is the one with level.dat directly inside it. Since 26.1 that one folder holds the whole world, Nether and End included, on Paper as well as on Mojang's own server.

3. Check the versions

Older world, newer server: fine. The server upgrades the world the first time it loads it, which makes that start longer. A world from before 26.1 is moved into the new layout at the same time.
Newer world, older server: don't. Minecraft itself warns that loading a world in an older version “could cause corruption”. Update the server to the world's version instead.
Safest of all: open the world once in single-player on the server's version, where Minecraft offers Upgrade and Play for a world that needs it, check it looks right, then upload that.

4. Pack it

Stop playing the world first (quit to the title screen), so nothing is half-written. Then zip the world folder itself, not the saves folder and not the files inside it:

Windows: right-click the folder and look for Compress to on Windows 11, or Send to, then Compressed (zipped) folder, on Windows 10.
Mac: right-click it and choose Compress.
From a Paper or Spigot server before 26.1: zip world, world_nether and world_the_end together, or the Nether and the End stay behind.

If you're moving it over SFTP rather than uploading a .zip, you don't need to zip it: you'll copy the folder as it is.

5. Put it on the server

On any server where you can reach the files, the steps are the same:

Stop the server. A running server writes its own world back to disk as it stops, over the top of yours.
Download the server's current world folder first, if there's anything in it you want to keep.
Delete or rename the old world folder, and upload yours in its place, unzipped. Check that level.dat sits directly inside the folder, not one folder further down.
Name the folder to match level-name in server.properties, or change level-name to match the folder:
```
level-name=world
```
Start the server and join.

The server.properties generator checks the rest of the file if you're changing it anyway.

6. Moving between Paper, Spigot and Mojang's server

Paper and Spigot stored the Nether and the End differently from Mojang's server until 26.1, so a world moving between them may need one more step. Fabric, NeoForge and Forge store worlds the way Mojang's server does.

What to do when moving a Minecraft world between server types
From	To	What to do
Single-player, Mojang's server, Fabric, NeoForge or Forge	ToPaper 26.1 or later	What to doNothing extra. Paper's docs say the way worlds are stored is changed automatically. The first start prints “World storage migration is required during startup” and waits 30 seconds before it carries on
Paper before 26.1 (world, world_nether, world_the_end)	ToPaper 26.1 or later	What to doBring all three folders. On first start Paper moves the Nether and the End into world/dimensions and deletes the old folders
Paper 26.1 or later	ToMojang's server, Fabric, NeoForge or Forge	What to doStop the server, then move five files (game_rules.dat, scheduled_events.dat, wandering_trader.dat, weather.dat and world_gen_settings.dat) from world/dimensions/minecraft/overworld/data/minecraft/ to world/data/minecraft/. These are Paper's own steps
Paper or Spigot before 26.1	ToMojang's server, Fabric, NeoForge or Forge	What to doBefore the first start, copy the DIM-1 folder from inside world_nether into world, and the DIM1 folder from inside world_the_end into world. Without it, the Nether and the End look reset
Spigot or CraftBukkit	ToPaper 26.1 or later	What to doPaper's docs say a direct move is impossible since 26.1. Convert the world to Mojang's layout first (the row above), then bring it over

Paper's instructions for the fourth row date from before 26.1, and Paper marks them out of date, so keep your copy until the Nether and the End have loaded.

7. What comes with the world, and what doesn't

Comes with it: the terrain, builds, chests, the Nether and the End (since 26.1), data packs in datapacks, and each player's inventory and position in players/data.
Doesn't: plugins and mods, which belong to the server, not the world. Install the same ones on the server yourself. server.properties, the whitelist, operators and bans live beside the world folder, not in it.
Your single-player inventory. Since 26.1, the single-player player is saved like any other player, in players/data, so it follows your account onto a server. In older worlds it was kept inside level.dat instead, which is one more reason to open an old world once in single-player on 26.1 or later before you upload it.

8. Bedrock worlds

A Bedrock world (a .mcworld file, or a folder with a db folder inside) won't load on a Java server, and a Java world won't load on Bedrock. Converting between them needs a third-party tool; keep a copy of the original first.

If it doesn't load

Problems after uploading a Minecraft world, and their usual causes
What you see	Usual cause
A brand-new world instead of yours	Usual causeThe folder's name doesn't match level-name, level.dat is one folder too deep, or the .zip was uploaded but never unpacked
The Nether or the End looks reset	Usual causeA Paper world moved to another server type, or the other way round, without the step in section 6
Your old world came back after a restart	Usual causeThe server was running while you copied, and wrote its own world back as it stopped
Players spawn with empty inventories	Usual causeThey're on different accounts from the ones that played it, or it's an older world's single-player inventory (section 7)
The first start takes much longer	Usual causeNormal for an older world: the server upgrades it, and Paper waits 30 seconds before converting
The server won't start, or the world looks damaged	Usual causeThe world is from a newer version than the server. Put your copy back and update the server

If friends can't join once the world is up, that's a different problem: can't connect to your Minecraft server goes through it.

On our servers

We rent Minecraft Java servers on Paper or Fabric, and modded ones on NeoForge or Forge. A world goes in one of two ways, both from the Files & SFTP tab:

Bring in a world. Choose your .zip (or .tar, .tar.gz or .tgz). We read it, show you the world we found and what it replaces, and only then put it in place. It goes wherever the server's level-name points, so there's nothing to rename. The server stops while it goes in, then starts again if it was running. The old world is kept on the server for 7 days, with an Undo button that puts it back.
SFTP. The same tab shows the address, port and username for any SFTP app, and creates the password. Then follow section 5.

On a Fabric, NeoForge or Forge server, do the section 6 step first if the world came from Paper or Spigot before 26.1, then zip only the world folder. Keep your own copy: download your files from the panel's Files page, as one .zip or over SFTP.

Starting from scratch instead? How to host a Minecraft server covers the whole setup.

Game facts checked against Minecraft Java Edition 26.3 and Paper 26.3.