Backing up a save | Project Zomboid | Page 1

calm moat Oct 22, 2025, 12:14 AM

#

so bad thing happened and now i need to load a backup for my project zomboid multiplayer server (I'm the one hosting, no service), and nothing I'm finding online is working. just trying to fix things before i break it irreversibly

clear palm Oct 22, 2025, 10:09 AM

#

How did you create the backup and how did you try recovering it based on the guides you found?

#

Since it should be as simple as taking the folder you backed up and copying it to the original folder, by default it is in the User/Zomboid/Saves/Multiplayer

calm moat Oct 22, 2025, 10:11 AM

#

it was the automatic backup that happens i was trying to restore, i didn’t do anything beforehand to mess with files

clear palm Oct 22, 2025, 10:11 AM

#

What were your server settings named?

#

Was it the default "servertest" or did you change the name?

calm moat Oct 22, 2025, 10:11 AM

#

i changed it

#

just wanna say that that i ended up being able to fix the files to get the server how it was before i started messing with them (although to after when the bad happened) but i still wanna know how to do it

clear palm Oct 22, 2025, 10:18 AM

#

What is the server name? There is a bug in the current game version that breaks backups if you add a space or special characters to your server name

calm moat Oct 22, 2025, 10:19 AM

#

it has many spaces in game, but in the files they turned to underscores

#

i did do the backup right ≈2 years ago and that server had spaces too, all of mine do

clear palm Oct 22, 2025, 10:21 AM

#

Okay, can you share the backup file to confirm that?

calm moat Oct 22, 2025, 10:21 AM

#

okay, confirm what?

#

📎 backup_1.zip

#

this is the file I was trying to revert to

clear palm Oct 22, 2025, 10:36 AM

#

calm moat this is the file I was trying to revert to

Yeah no this server is broken due to the spaces

#

Or at least the backup is

#

You can see the backup lacks the "Saves" folder, which contains the whole server data

#

This happens due to the spaces

calm moat Oct 22, 2025, 10:37 AM

#

sads

#

so no more spaces in server names?

clear palm Oct 22, 2025, 10:37 AM

#

I can only suggest either using server settings without spaces or special characters or you can do manual backups

#

Meaning you would compress the server save folder when you want

calm moat Oct 22, 2025, 10:38 AM

#

okay

#

so if i take the spaces out of the server name, will it start backing up correctly afterwards?

clear palm Oct 22, 2025, 10:47 AM

#

Yes but you will break all characters if you change it

#

Meannig you would need to start a new server

#

Or migrate everything to the new one

calm moat Oct 22, 2025, 10:48 AM

#

does the rename button really do that?

#

i’ll make a copy of the server file before i mess with anything again later (as last time i had to restore it from the recycling bin)

clear palm Oct 22, 2025, 12:01 PM

#

calm moat does the rename button really do that?

Renaming just renames the settings, but if you started a server with them it wont rename the server

#Backing up a save