Backups: how they work and how to restore one

Every server is backed up automatically to storage outside the node it runs on. The Backups tab is where you see, take, browse and restore them.

What happens on its own

Backups run on a schedule you can set in the Backups tab (the time selector); the world and every file in the server folder are included. Free backups are kept for three days; the backups add-on keeps them longer and backs up more often. A backup taken before an action that could go wrong is always worth it.

Restore

Stop the server.
Backups, pick the snapshot, Restore Backup. The server folder is replaced by the snapshot; the panel shows progress.
Start.

To take just one file or folder out of a snapshot, open it with Files and download what you need instead of restoring everything.

Clone

Clone Server from Backup creates a second server from a snapshot: a test copy before a big update, or a fresh start with the same world. The clone takes its own share of the RAM pool while it runs.

Before an upgrade or a pack update

Take a backup first. A world opened by a newer Minecraft version cannot go back, and modpack updates sometimes remove mods whose blocks then vanish. Restoring is one click; regenerating is not.

Good to know

Delete Snapshot frees the storage; a snapshot is never deleted by a server delete until its retention ends.
Backups are per server; a server that is deleted takes a final backup you can restore for a while.