Uploading Custom Worlds via SFTP

Uploading Your World

If you have an existing Minecraft world from single-player or another server, you can upload it to your Witchly.host server using SFTP. This guide walks you through the process using FileZilla.

Prerequisites

• FileZilla installed on your computer (see our SFTP guide for setup instructions)
• Your SFTP connection details from the panel
• Your world folder ready for upload

Step 1: Locate Your World Folder

Your Minecraft world is stored in a folder. The location depends on where it came from:

• Single-player world: On Windows, check %appdata%\.minecraft\saves\. On macOS, check ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/saves/. The folder name matches your world name.
• From another server: Download the world folder from your previous host. It typically contains files like level.dat, region/, playerdata/, and other directories.

Step 2: Connect via SFTP

1. Open FileZilla and connect to your server using the SFTP credentials from your panel (Settings > SFTP Details)
2. The host is your server address, the username is your panel username, and the port is 2022
3. Once connected, you will see your server’s file system on the right side

Step 3: Upload the World

1. Stop your server from the panel before making file changes
2. In FileZilla, navigate to your server’s root directory on the right panel
3. If there is an existing world folder (usually named world), you can rename it to world-backup to keep it as a backup
4. Drag your world folder from the left panel (your computer) to the right panel (your server)
5. Wait for the upload to complete — large worlds with many chunks can take several minutes

Step 4: Configure the Server

After uploading, you need to tell the server to use your world:

1. In the panel file manager (or via SFTP), open server.properties
2. Find the line level-name=world
3. Change world to match the exact name of your uploaded world folder
4. Save the file

Step 5: Start and Verify

Start your server from the panel and watch the console. You should see it loading your world. Join the server and verify that your builds, items, and terrain are all intact.

Troubleshooting

• World not loading: Double-check that level-name in server.properties matches your folder name exactly (case-sensitive)
• Missing chunks or terrain: Ensure the entire region/ folder was uploaded completely. Check FileZilla’s transfer log for failed transfers.
• Slow upload: Large worlds (10GB+) are best uploaded as a .zip file, then extracted using the panel’s file manager unzip feature
• Nether and End: If your world includes Nether or End dimensions, make sure the DIM-1 and DIM1 folders (or world_nether/world_the_end directories) are uploaded as well