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How to move your Aternos world to your own server

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Aternos is a free way to start a Minecraft server with friends. Free servers have limits, though. For example, Aternos stops a server when nobody is online, so someone has to start it again before the others can join. If your group plays every day, you might want a server that's always yours. This guide shows how to take your world with you without losing your builds.

Start a Minecraft server

Step 1: Download your world from Aternos

  1. Log in to Aternos and stop your server.
  2. Open Worlds (aternos.org/worlds), select your world and click Download. You get a .zip of the world.
  3. Keep that zip somewhere safe. It's your copy of everything you built.

If your server used plugins, also note which plugins you had installed, because you'll add them again on the new server (free ones from Hangar install in one click from the panel).

Step 2: Start a server on Packyard

  1. Go to Start a Minecraft server. Paper (vanilla with plugin support) at 3 GB is preselected, which suits a few friends.
  2. Pay, and your server is set up automatically. Your welcome email has your panel login and your permanent address: yourserver.play.packyard.ca.

Running a modded world (Fabric, NeoForge or Forge)? Pick that loader on the order page instead, then choose the same Minecraft version your world uses.

Step 3: Upload the world

  1. In the panel, stop the server and make a backup (Backups → New backup).
  2. Open Files → Upload and upload your zip. Right-click it → Unarchive.
  3. Rename or delete the old world folder, then rename your uploaded folder to world. If your download has world_nether and world_the_end folders, upload those too.
  4. Start the server and join.

Big world? The web file manager takes small files. For a large world, upload the folder over SFTP instead (FileZilla or WinSCP, with the SFTP details from your panel), then carry on from the rename step.

Step 4: Send your friends the new address

Your address is yourserver.play.packyard.ca, with no port number. It stays the same, even when we move your server to new hardware (here's how permanent addresses work).

Price

$1.50 per GB of RAM per month, $5 minimum (up to 3 GB). See what's included in our cheap Minecraft server hosting. A 3 GB server is $5 a month. USD, plus applicable taxes. First-payment refund if something on our side doesn't work. Available in the US and Canada (outside Quebec).

FAQ

Will my builds and inventories come over?

Yes. They're stored in the world folder, so the whole world moves with the zip. Make a backup on the new server first so you can undo the upload.

Does my server stop when nobody is online?

No. Your server keeps running until you stop it, and your full RAM is reserved for you while it runs.

Can Bedrock players join?

No. Packyard is Java Edition only.

Do I need to port forward or share my IP?

No. Friends join with yourserver.play.packyard.ca.

Start a Minecraft server

Also see: Adding mods on Aternos, Is Aternos safe?, Move your Realms world, How to make a Minecraft server, Modpack RAM guide, Minecraft hosting. Back to Packyard home.

Aternos is a trademark of its owner. Packyard is not affiliated with Aternos. Packyard is not an official Minecraft product and is not affiliated with Mojang.