Move a Minecraft server to GuavaHost

A step by step plan for bringing an existing Minecraft server across: match the version and server type, copy the world folders, move plugins and mods with their configs, then switch your players once it is proven.

6 min read · Updated Oct 21, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team

Most failed moves are not failed transfers. The files land fine, but the new server runs a different version or server type than the world expects, so it crashes on boot or generates a fresh empty world. Do these steps in order and that does not happen.

Step 1: Write down what the old server actually is

On the old host, open the console or the latest log and read the first lines after a start. They name the software and version, for example Starting minecraft server version 1.21.1.

Note three things:

• The server software: Vanilla, Paper, Purpur, Spigot, Fabric, Forge or NeoForge.
• The Minecraft version, down to the patch (1.20.1 and 1.20.4 are not interchangeable for mods).
• Whether it runs plugins (a plugins folder) or mods (a mods folder). Those are different systems and do not mix.

Step 2: Set up the GuavaHost server to match

Build the matching server before the files arrive.

1. Sign in at customer.guavahost.com, open My servers and click Manage on your new server.
2. In the server menu, under Minecraft tools, open Version.
3. Stop the server with Stop at the top of the page, then pick the same server software and the same Minecraft version you wrote down.

How to change your Minecraft Java server version walks through that page in detail.

Do not go up a version at the same time. Move first, confirm it works, then upgrade as a separate change, so you know which step broke something.

Step 3: Take a copy of the old server, then stop it

Stop the old server first. A world being written to while you copy it gives you a half saved copy, and the chunk corruption from that shows up weeks later when someone walks into it. With it stopped, download:

• The world folders: world, plus world_nether and world_the_end if they exist. On Forge or Fabric, extra dimensions often sit inside world/dimensions.
• server.properties, ops.json, whitelist.json, banned-players.json and banned-ips.json.
• The whole plugins folder, or the whole mods folder plus config.
• A recent logs file, as a reference for a healthy boot.

What to back up before you move a server has the full per game list, including the files people forget. If the world is large, zip it on the old host first: one big file transfers far more reliably than thousands of small ones.

Step 4: Upload to GuavaHost

Your GuavaHost server must be stopped for this too. For anything over a few hundred megabytes use SFTP (a secure file transfer protocol, the standard way to move server files). Your address, port and username are under Connection details on the Settings tab, with Set SFTP password. Uploading files with SFTP covers the FileZilla setup.

Upload into the same layout the old server had. The world folder sits at the top level, next to server.properties, not nested inside another folder: that one mistake is why a server boots into a brand new world with none of your builds. If you uploaded a zip, open the right folder on the Files tab and click Unpack.

Step 5: Plugins and mods, with their configs

Copy the config folders, not just the jars. A plugin without its config starts from defaults, so your ranks, shops and protections come back blank even though the plugin is installed.

• Plugins: each keeps its settings in plugins/<PluginName>/. Copy those folders with the jars.
• Mods: most read the config folder at the top level. Copy the whole folder.
• Permissions: on a local file or SQLite, LuckPerms keeps its data in plugins/LuckPerms/. On MySQL it is in the database, not a file, so export it before the old host goes.

Leave the old server jar behind. GuavaHost installs a clean jar for the software and version you chose, and dropping an old one on top reliably breaks the boot.

Step 6: Re-check server.properties

An old server.properties carries settings that were right there and are wrong here. Open it on the Files tab and check these lines before the first start:

server-port=25565
server-ip=
level-name=world
online-mode=true
view-distance=10

• server-port must match the port at the top of your server page, or the server starts and nobody can reach it.
• server-ip should be empty. An old host's IP pinned here stops the server binding at all.
• level-name must match your uploaded world folder exactly, capitals included.
• view-distance is the biggest performance lever you brought with you. If the old box was bigger, bring it down.

Edit server.properties goes line by line.

Step 7: First start, with the console open

Click Start and watch the Console tab. You want the world loading by name, your plugins or mods listing as enabled, and a Done line with a load time. The usual first boot problems:

• A fresh, empty world: level-name does not match your folder, or the folder is nested a level too deep.
• A crash about world version or a missing registry: the version or software does not match what the world was saved on.
• Plugins disabling themselves: they were built for a different version. Get the matching build.
• An out of memory crash: the pack needs more RAM than your plan has.

Why your Minecraft server crashes and how to fix it turns a wall of log into one cause.

Step 8: Prove it, then switch your players

Join it yourself before you tell anyone. Walk to spawn, check a build you know well, check your own rank, and test one plugin players use. Then take a backup from the Backups page and update the address wherever you shared it: Discord, server lists, bookmarks. On a custom domain, repoint it with Update your domain and SRV record after moving.

Do not cancel the old server the moment the new one boots. Keep it a few days, stopped but intact, in case a world region is missing or a plugin database did not come across. Cancel it once a week has passed with real players and no surprises.

If this is more than you want to take on, our team is online 24/7 and can do the copy for you: see Have the GuavaHost team move your server for you.

Common questions

Will my players lose their inventories and homes?

Not if you bring the right files. Inventories and ender chests live inside the world folder in playerdata, and plugin features like homes live in that plugin's folder under plugins. Copy both and everything players own comes with them.

Can I move a modpack server the same way?

Yes, with one change: keep the pack version identical on both sides and copy the mods and config folders together, since a mismatch between them causes most modpack boot failures. If the pack is an install option on the Version page, install it there and then overwrite the config and world.

How long will my server be offline during the move?

Mostly as long as the world takes to transfer, which depends on its size and your upload speed. A small survival world is minutes, a years old world with a big map can be an hour, so start at a quiet time.

Do I have to use the same server software, or can I switch to Paper?

Vanilla to Paper, Spigot or Purpur is usually fine: they read the same world format and Paper runs Spigot plugins. Switching between a plugin server and a mod server is a rebuild rather than a move, so migrate on matching software first.

Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.

• migration
• minecraft
• java
• world
• plugins

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