A backup is a complete snapshot of your server - world, plugins, settings, everything. Creepers, failed experiments and bad plugin updates stop being scary when restoring takes one click.
Manual snapshots
- 1Open the Backups tab and click "Create backup".
- 2The snapshot is taken in the background - the status flips to ready after a few seconds (bigger worlds take longer).
- 3Download any ready backup as a .tar.gz archive if you want an extra copy on your own machine.
Automatic backups
- 1In the Backups tab, set "Automatic backups" to every 6 hours, daily, every 3 days or weekly.
- 2Choose how many to keep (3-20). Older snapshots are pruned automatically so backups never eat your storage.
Restoring
Stop the server first - restoring while it runs would corrupt the files it holds open, so the Restore button stays disabled until the server is offline. Restoring replaces the current files with the snapshot; the swap is done safely so a failed restore never destroys your current world. Start the server again and you are back exactly where the snapshot was taken.
Tip: take a manual backup right before changing the Minecraft version or experimenting with new plugins.