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Uploading a Minecraft world from singleplayer or another host

Move a singleplayer world or a world from another host onto your server: zip it, upload it, unpack it and point level-name at it. Bedrock worlds too.

Last updated November 6, 2026

Want to keep playing a world you already have? You can bring a singleplayer world from your own computer, or a world downloaded from another host, onto your ServerPrism Minecraft server. This guide covers Java Edition first, with a short section for Bedrock at the end.

Coming from Minecraft Realms? Follow Migrating your world from Minecraft Realms instead. If your old host gives you SFTP or FTP access, Moving your server from another host can copy everything across for you.

Step 1: Find and zip your world

Singleplayer (Java): in Minecraft, open Singleplayer, select the world, click Edit, then Open World Folder. On Windows the worlds live in %appdata%\.minecraft\saves.

Another host: download the world folder from their file manager, usually as a .zip.

The folder you want is the one that contains level.dat. Zip that folder. A single .zip uploads much faster than thousands of small files.

Step 2: Match the Minecraft version

Your server must run the same Minecraft version as the world, or newer. A world can be upgraded, but an older server can't open a newer world.

To change the version, open Change Runtime (under Service in the sidebar), keep the same type, pick the version and switch. If you switch before uploading, you don't need to keep any files. See Switching game, server type or version.

Step 3: Stop the server and make room

  1. Click Stop at the top of your server page and wait until the server is offline.
  2. Open Files. Your current world is the folder named in server.properties under level-name (it is world unless you changed it).
  3. Right-click that folder, choose Rename, and call it something like world-old. Keep it until you're happy with the new world, then delete it.

Step 4: Upload the zip

Up to 1 GB: in Files, open Actions, choose Upload File… and pick your zip. You can also drag the file onto the file list. The Upload Queue shows the progress. Wait until it says done before you do anything else.

Bigger than 1 GB: each file uploaded in the browser can be at most 1 GB, so use SFTP for anything larger. It is just as easy with a free program like FileZilla. See Uploading and managing files with Files and SFTP.

Step 5: Unpack and name the folder

  1. Right-click the zip and choose Decompress. Big archives can take several minutes, so wait for the "extracted" message before starting the server.
  2. Check what came out. If you see a folder that has level.dat inside it, that is your world. If the zip made a folder inside a folder, open it and move the inner folder up with Move to….
  3. Rename the world folder to world. Or leave its name and change level-name= in server.properties to match it exactly.
  4. If the world folder contains a session.lock file, delete it.
  5. Delete the zip to free up disk space.

Nether and End on Paper

Minecraft 26.x keeps the Nether and End inside the world folder, so there is nothing extra to do.

On Paper 1.21 and older, the Nether and End live in separate world_nether and world_the_end folders. If those folders are left over from the fresh install, rename them too (for example world_nether-old). Paper then takes the Nether and End from your uploaded world the first time it starts. Let it run if the console shows a notice that it is converting the world.

Step 6: Start and check

Click Start and watch the Console. When you see a line like Done (12.345s)! For help, type "help", the world is loaded and players can join.

Common issues

What you see What to do
A brand new world instead of yours The folder name doesn't match level-name, or the world is one folder too deep. Check that level.dat sits directly inside the folder named in level-name.
The world is from a newer version Your server runs an older Minecraft version than the world. Pick the world's version or newer in Change Runtime.
The upload shows "failed" The file is bigger than 1 GB or your connection dropped. Use SFTP for big files.
Not enough disk space Delete the zip and the old world after unpacking. Need more room? Open a support ticket and we'll look at it with you.
Players start with empty inventories Player data is matched to accounts, so keep online-mode=true. A singleplayer world stores the host player's data in level.dat, so the host may start fresh on a server.
The server stops with a datapack error A datapack in world/datapacks doesn't support this Minecraft version. See Installing datapacks.

Bedrock worlds

On a Bedrock server, worlds live in the worlds folder, and level-name in server.properties picks which one loads.

  1. Export the world from Minecraft as a .mcworld file. It is a zip file with a different ending, so rename it to end in .zip.
  2. Stop the server. In Files, open the worlds folder, click Actions, then New Folder, and give it a short name without special characters.
  3. Open that folder, upload the zip into it and Decompress it there. level.dat and the db folder should end up directly inside your new folder.
  4. Set level-name= in server.properties to the folder name, then start the server.

If anything doesn't load the way you expected, open a support ticket with your server name and where the world came from. We're happy to take a look.