How to Restore a Backup on Your Valheim Server

Did a mod break your world, did a friend grief your base, or did you simply load in to find hours of progress gone? Valheim servers can be rolled back to an earlier version of your world, and there are two ways to do it on MintServers: restoring a backup from your game panel, or switching to one of Valheim's own automatic backups. This guide covers both, plus how to restore a character.

💡 Which Method Do I Need?

Method 1: Panel backup. Rolls back your whole server (world, mods, and settings) to a backup you created. Use this if you already made one.
Method 2: Valheim's automatic backup. Rolls back only your world, using the rolling backups Valheim creates by itself. No panel backup needed.
Method 3: Character backup. Restores a player's character from their own PC. Characters are not stored on the server.

⚠️ Important Warning: Always stop your server before restoring anything. Restoring replaces your current world with the older version, so anything built after that backup was taken will be gone.

Method 1: Restore a Backup From the Panel

This is the easiest option if you have a backup you created on the Backups tab.

Log into your MintServers panel and click the Stop button to shut down your server.
On the left-hand sidebar, click on the Backups tab.
Find the backup you want to go back to, click the ⋯ button next to it, and click Restore.
A prompt will warn you that this replaces your current files. Confirm to continue.
Once the restore finishes, go back to the Console tab and click Start.

💡 Pro Tip: Backups created on the panel are only kept for 7 days, and a restore replaces all of your current server files. If you have changed settings or mods since the backup was made, those changes will be rolled back too. Want a fresh backup every day? See our guide on setting up automated backups.

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Method 2: Roll Back to Valheim's Automatic World Backup

Valheim quietly keeps its own rolling backups of your world in the same folder as the world itself, with no setup needed. By default it keeps four, taken several hours apart, so this method is best for undoing the last day or so. For anything older, you will need a panel backup from Method 1.

💡 Pro Tip: Before swapping anything, download a copy of your current world to your computer as a safety net. For large worlds, connecting with SFTP is much more reliable than the browser. See our SFTP guide.

Step 1: Find Your Backups

Log into your MintServers panel and click the Stop button to shut down your server.
Navigate to the Files tab on the left-hand sidebar.
Click through the folders below until you reach worlds_local. Your world and its automatic backups all live here.

    📁 server (your main server directory)
            📁 .config
                    📁 unity3d
                            📁 IronGate
                                    📁 Valheim
                                            📁 worlds_local
                                                    📁 YourWorld (your current world, Valheim 1.0 folder)

                                                    📁 YourWorld_backup_auto-20260912-173107 (automatic backup, Valheim 1.0 folder)

                                                    📄 YourWorld_backup_auto-20260908155340.db (automatic backup, older format)

                                                    📄 YourWorld_backup_auto-20260908155340.fwl (automatic backup, older format)

The part of each backup's name after backup_auto- is the date and time it was taken (year, month, day, then the time). That time comes from the server's clock, so it may not match your own time zone. Pick the newest backup from before things went wrong.

💡 Converted From an Older Save? If your world was converted to the Valheim 1.0 format, you may also see files ending in .db.old and .fwl.old, and a _backup_ copy with no auto in its name. Those were saved on the day the world converted, so they are not recent backups. Leave them alone unless you really want the world as it was that day.

Step 2: Swap In the Backup

The steps depend on how your world is stored. Pick the one that matches what you saw in worlds_local.

📁 Format A: Valheim 1.0 (a folder)

Rename your current world folder by adding _old to the end, for example YourWorld becomes YourWorld_old. This keeps it as a safety net instead of deleting it.
Rename the backup folder you picked to exactly your world's name, for example YourWorld_backup_auto-20260912-173107 becomes YourWorld.
Leave every file inside the folder as it is. Do not rename or move anything inside it.

📄 Format B: Legacy (two loose files)

Rename your current YourWorld.db and YourWorld.fwl files to YourWorld_old.db and YourWorld_old.fwl. This keeps them as a safety net instead of deleting them.
Find the backup pair you picked, for example YourWorld_backup_auto-20260908155340.db and YourWorld_backup_auto-20260908155340.fwl.
Rename that pair to YourWorld.db and YourWorld.fwl. Both files must come from the same backup, so double check the timestamps match.

Step 3: Start and Check

Go to the Game Settings tab and make sure the World Name matches your world's name exactly. This is case-sensitive.
Return to the Console tab and click Start.
Join your server and check that your world is back the way you expected.

Once you are happy with the restored world, you can delete the _old folder or files to free up space. If it is not the version you wanted, stop the server and repeat Step 2 with a different backup.

Method 3: Restore a Character Backup

Valheim stores each player's character on their own PC, not on the server. That means panel backups and world backups never include inventories or skill levels. If a character was lost or you want an earlier version of it, each player can restore it from the game itself. This is also handy if you have lost a tombstone.

Open Valheim.
From the main menu, click Manage Saves.
Select Characters.
Select your character and choose a backup, then click Restore Backup.

🛠️ Troubleshooting Restores

I joined a brand new, empty world: The server could not find your world under the name it was told to load. Check that the World Name in Game Settings matches your folder or file name exactly, including capital letters. For Format A, also make sure the folder holds every file from the backup. For Format B, make sure the .db and .fwl came from the same backup.
My world rolled back further than I expected: Automatic backups are taken hours apart, so the closest one to the problem may be older than you hoped. Stop the server and try a newer backup if one exists.
I don't see a panel backup from last week: Panel backups are deleted after 7 days. Anything older can no longer be restored.
I'm not sure which backup to pick: Open a support ticket with your world name and roughly when it was last working correctly, and our team can help narrow it down.

Once your world is back, it is a good idea to create a fresh panel backup so you always have a clean restore point. If you get stuck at any step or a restore does not seem to take, no worries! Just open a support ticket and our team will gladly jump in and get your world back safely.