How to Back Up a Terraria Server

To backup Terraria server worlds safely, type save in the console so the world is written to disk, then copy the world's .wld file (plus the .twld on tModLoader) somewhere else. On TheGameHosting you do it in one click from the Backups tab, and you can also download the file to your PC as a second copy.

This guide lists which files matter, how to make a backup by hand and from the panel, how to schedule them, and how to restore a world when something goes wrong.

What a Terraria server backup must include

Everything that makes your world yours sits in a few files. The Terraria Wiki says a world is a single file with the .wld extension; servers keep them in the folder set by worldpath= or world= in serverconfig.txt.

Player characters in vanilla Terraria are stored on each player's own device, not on the server. A server backup protects the world; each player looks after their own character file.

How to backup Terraria server files step by step

Whatever tool you use, save first. A copy taken while the server holds unsaved changes in memory can miss the last minutes of play.

1. Open your server in the TheGameHosting panel and go to Console.
2. Type save. The Terraria Wiki lists it as the command that saves the game world. Wait for the console to finish saving.
3. Go to Backups and click to create a backup. Give it a clear name, such as before-moon-lord or 2026-11-11.
4. For an extra copy outside the server, open Files, find your Worlds folder, and download the .wld (and .twld) to your PC. Over SFTP you can copy the whole folder at once.
5. Keep the downloaded files in a folder with the date in its name, and never edit your only copy.

save

If you want a completely still copy, for example before moving the world to another server, use exit instead. It saves and shuts down, so nothing changes while you copy. The command exit-nosave does the opposite: it closes without saving, so do not use it before a backup.

When to make a backup

Terraria worlds rarely break on their own, but a few moments carry real risk. Back up before:

• Updating the server to a new Terraria version, or updating tModLoader and its mods.
• Adding or removing mods: a world that used a mod can behave oddly once that mod is gone.
• Big events, such as the first Wall of Flesh kill, which turns the world into hardmode for good.
• Letting new players in, or giving someone admin rights on TShock.
• A world reset. Our guide on how to reset a Terraria server world starts with a backup for this reason.

Automatic backups with Schedules

Manual backups are only as good as your memory. In the TheGameHosting panel, the Schedules tab runs tasks on a timer. A useful setup:

1. Open Schedules and create a new schedule, for example every day at 5:00 when nobody plays.
2. Add a first task that sends the command save to the server.
3. Add a second task, a little later, that creates a backup.
4. Save the schedule and check Backups the next day to see that it ran.

The Backups tab shows how many backups your server can keep, so delete old ones you no longer need, and keep the important ones (before hardmode, before an update) as downloads on your PC as well. If you are not sure how many slots you have, ask us in the chat.

How to restore a Terraria world

There are three ways back, from the quickest to the most manual:

1. From the panel: stop the server, open Backups, pick the backup and restore it. This rolls the whole server back to that moment, config included.
2. From a downloaded file: stop the server with exit, upload your .wld (and .twld) to the Worlds folder in Files, replacing the current one, and start the server.
3. From the .bak file: if the world will not load, stop the server, rename the broken WorldName.wld to keep it, then rename WorldName.wld.bak to WorldName.wld and start the server. The .bak is the save before the last one, so you may lose a little progress.

Moving a world to or from your PC

A backup is also how you move a world. On Windows, the Terraria Wiki puts worlds in %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Terraria\Worlds; on Linux in ~/.local/share/Terraria/Worlds/; and on macOS in ~/Library/Application Support/Terraria/Worlds. If you use Steam Cloud for that world, the file is in Steam's userdata folder instead. Copy the .wld from there to the server, point world= at it and start. The setup itself is in how to host a Terraria server, and modded worlds need the matching mods, covered in how to make a tModLoader server.

Keep your world safe and online

A world on your PC depends on your disk and your power. On a Terraria server from TheGameHosting it runs 24/7 on NVMe storage, with one-click Backups, timed tasks in Schedules, the Files editor and SFTP for your own copies. Players join with the IP and port from the panel, no port forwarding needed, and DDoS protection is included. Support is there 24/7 by chat and tickets if a restore does not go as planned.

Terraria needs little memory, so the 2 GB plan at $1.90 per month is enough for most groups, with unlimited slots. See the plans and pricing and use the code FULL2026 for 15% off for life.

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