World Backup

Youer's world-backup feature can automatically back up your world saves on a schedule, preventing accidental loss.

Quick Start

Find the world-backup settings in youer-config/youer.yml and set them like this to enable scheduled backups:

yaml

Restart the server after editing, or try a manual backup once with this command:

bash

After the backup completes, a message appears in the console and a backup file is generated in the server root directory.

Where Backups Are Stored

All backup files are stored in the YouerBackups/ folder in the server root directory:

bash

File Naming Rule

bash

World name — the overworld is world; other worlds use their own names
Timestamp — the time the backup was created, to the second

If Zstd compression is enabled, the suffix is .tar.zst.

How to Configure

All settings are in youer.yml, with four options in total:

Config	Default	Description
`backup_world.enable`	`false`	Whether to enable auto-backup. Set to `true` to start scheduled backups.
`backup_world.interval`	`3600`	Auto-backup interval (seconds). 3600s = 1 hour. Set `1800` for every half hour.
`backup_world.max_backups`	`5`	Max number of backup files to keep. Excess oldest ones are auto-deleted. Set to `0` for unlimited (never delete).
`backup_world.use_zstd`	`false`	Whether to use Zstd compression. `false` uses ZIP, `true` uses tar.zst (higher ratio, but not openable on a normal PC).

How to Back Up Manually

bash

This command starts a backup immediately; the process runs in the background and does not affect normal server operation. A chat message notifies you when it finishes.

Console can also trigger a manual backup with this command.

Compression Format Notes

ZIP (default)

bash

The advantage is anyone can open it — right-click to extract. Suitable for most servers.

Zstd

bash

Higher compression ratio, smaller backup files, less disk usage. But normal PCs can't open it; you need 7-Zip, WinRAR, or a dedicated tool to extract.

How to choose:

Plenty of disk space → use ZIP, simpler
Tight disk space / large backups → use Zstd

What Gets Backed Up

Overworld — always backed up
Plugin-created worlds (Bukkit worlds) — auto-detected and backed up separately, one file per world
Not backed up — the session.lock file is skipped; it does not affect world-data recovery

Worlds added by mods are not backed up separately; their data lives inside the overworld folder.

Auto-Cleaning Old Backups

When you enable backup_world.max_backups, the backup routine automatically manages the number of backup files:

After a backup completes, it checks the YouerBackups/ folder
If a world's backup files exceed the set count, the oldest ones are deleted
Only files with the same world prefix are cleaned; other files are never accidentally deleted

For example, with backup_world.max_backups: 5, world-xxx.zip keeps at most 5 files and skyblock-xxx.zip also keeps at most 5, independently.

FAQ

Will backups lag the server?

No. Backups run on a background thread and don't affect players' normal gameplay.

Can a backup file be used to start a new server?

Yes. Extract the backup ZIP into the new server directory, overwriting the original world folder.

Why is the backup file so much smaller than the world folder?

Normal. ZIP/Zstd compression greatly reduces file size, especially for terrain data with high repetition, which compresses very well.

Can I manually delete unwanted backup files?

Yes. Just go to the YouerBackups/ folder and delete the files you don't want; the backup routine won't manage them anymore.

How do I restore a Zstd backup to the server?

First extract the .tar.zst. On Linux use zstd -d world.tar.zst && tar xf world.tar; on Windows use 7-Zip or PeaZip to open the .tar.zst file.