How to Upload a Minecraft World to Your Server

Learn how to upload an existing Minecraft Java world to your GuavaHost server and set it as the active world.

3 min read · Updated Oct 1, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team

You can upload a single-player world, custom map, or world from another server and continue playing it on your GuavaHost Minecraft server.

Before You Begin

Before uploading your world:

• Make sure it is compatible with your server's Minecraft version.
• Stop the server completely.
• Create a server backup.
• Compress the world folder into a .zip file.

Important: The folder containing level.dat is the actual world folder.

A normal world folder should contain files and folders such as:

level.dat
region
playerdata
data
datapacks

Step 1: Upload the World

1. Sign in at customer.guavahost.com, open My servers and click Manage on your server.
2. Open the Files tab. You start in the main server folder.
3. Click Upload files and pick the world's .zip file, or drag it into the file list.
4. Press Unpack next to the uploaded archive and confirm. The contents are placed in the folder you are in.

After extracting it, you should see a new world folder in the main directory.

For example:

MySurvivalWorld

The browser upload takes files up to 100 MB. For a bigger world, put the .zip somewhere with a direct download link and use Download from a link on the Files tab, or follow our SFTP guide.

Step 2: Check the Folder Structure

Open the extracted world folder.

The level.dat file should be directly inside it.

Correct:

MySurvivalWorld/level.dat

Incorrect:

MySurvivalWorld/MySurvivalWorld/level.dat

If the world is inside an extra folder, fix it on the Files tab. Open the inner folder (the one holding level.dat), tick everything in it, press Move in the bar that appears, choose the folder one level up and press Move here. Then delete the empty inner folder. You can also re-zip the world on your computer so level.dat sits directly inside the world folder, and upload it again.

Step 3: Set the Active World

1. In the server menu, under Minecraft tools, click Server properties.
2. Find World folder in the World section. It holds the level-name setting, which is world by default.
3. Replace world with the exact name of the uploaded folder, for example MySurvivalWorld.
4. Click Save changes.

You can also edit the file directly: open server.properties on the Files tab, change the line to level-name=MySurvivalWorld, and press Save.

Important: Folder names are case-sensitive. MyWorld and myworld may be treated as different folders.

Step 4: Start the Server

Start the server with the Start button at the top of the page and watch the Console.

Once it finishes loading, join and confirm that:

• The correct world has loaded
• Your buildings are present
• Player inventories are correct
• The Nether and End are available

If the world previously used mods, install the same mod loader and mods before loading it.

Troubleshooting

The Server Created a New World

Check that:

• level-name exactly matches the uploaded folder name
• level.dat is directly inside the world folder
• The world folder is in the main server directory
• The server was stopped while the files were changed

My Inventory Is Missing

Make sure the uploaded world contains:

playerdata

Player data may also appear missing if the server changed between online and offline mode.

The Server Crashes While Loading

The world may require:

• A newer Minecraft version
• A specific mod loader
• Matching mods or datapacks
• More available memory

Check the first error shown in the console or latest log.

Modded Blocks Are Missing

Stop the server immediately and install the correct mod loader and matching mods.

Continuing to run the world without its required mods may permanently remove modded content.

Related Guides

• Backups: creating, restoring and scheduling
• Uploading files with SFTP
• How to change your Minecraft Java server version

• minecraft
• java
• world
• upload
• level-name

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