Minecraft is a game that many people enjoy. It’s a great way to spend some time with friends and family, and it can also be used as a learning tool. However, if something goes wrong with your computer, you may not be able to continue playing the game. In this article, we will discuss how to backup, restore, and sync your Minecraft saves on all your computers.
- Backup Your Minecraft Saves The first step is to backup your saves. This will help you if something goes wrong with your computer and you cannot continue playing the game. To do this, open up File Explorer and type in “minecraft” into the address bar. Then click on the “Backup” button at the top of the file browser. Once the backup has been created, open it up and copy everything over to another location on your computer.
- Restore Your Minecraft Saves The next step is to restore your saves. This will help you if something goes wrong with your computer and you are unable to continue playing the game. To do this, open up File Explorer and type in “minecraft” into the address bar. Then click on the “Restore” button at the top of the file browser. Once the restore has been created, open it up and copy everything over to another location on your computer.
- Sync Your Minecraft Saves With Other Computers The last step is to sync your saves with other computers. This will help you if something goes wrong with one of your computers and you are unable to continue playing the game or if you want to keep track of changes made in different versions of Minecraft across different computers (for example, if you are working on a project that uses both versions of Minecraft). To do this, open up File Explorer and type in “minecraft” into the address bar. Then click on the “Sync” button at the top of the file browser window (if there is one).
Minecraft creations can be huge and intricate, so you may want to back up your saved games, just in case. With a Dropbox account, however, you can take it one step further and access your save files from any computer.
Where Are the Save Files?
As we mentioned in our How To Get Started With Minecraft article, the game is in the form of an executable Jar file. It creates a directory on your computer for your saved worlds and settings, but it differs depending on what OS you’re running.
On Windows:
Take note that the AppData directory is hidden, so be sure to show hidden files from within Folder Options.
On Mac OS:
On Linux:
Take note that the .minecraft directory is hidden in your home folder, so if you’re using Nautilus, hit CTRL+H to show hidden files.
Inside, you’ll find some files and folders, but the only really important one is the “saves” folder. Inside, you’ll find your different Minecraft worlds.
The “saves” folder is what you want to back up. If you’re running a server, whatever directory the server’s executable file is in should have a folder with the world’s name. The default is just “world,” but you probably want to back up the entire server folder, so you save all of the settings as well. If you’re running a Bukkit server, this goes for double since all of your plugins will also have their own settings.
Dropbox Synching
Wouldn’t it be great if you could just keep your save files in one place, but have it be accessible by Minecraft on all of your computers? Using Dropbox, this is pretty easy to do.
First of all, make sure you have a backup of your save file somewhere else, in case you mess up. Next, move the “saves” folder from its original location to your Dropbox folder:
To recap, you should NOT have a “saves” folder in your Minecraft settings folder. You should have one somewhere in Dropbox and saved somewhere else as a backup.
Now comes the tricky part: you have to create “symbolic links” to that folder on your computer, using the command-line. It’s not very difficult, regardless of what system you’re on.
On Windows:
Go to Start > Accessories and right-clock on “Command Prompt.” Choose “Run as Administrator…”
Navigate to your Minecraft directory with the following command:
The quotes will let the command execute properly even if there’s a space in there somewhere.
Next, make a symbolic link to your Dropbox saves folder with the following command:
Remember to enter the proper path in place of “path\to\Dropbox”. You’ll see a message pop up if you did it correctly.
On Mac OS:
Open up Terminal and enter the following command:
Remember to fill in your username in place of “username” and enter the proper path in place of “path/to/Dropbox”.
On Linux:
Open up a terminal and enter the following command:
Remember to fill in your username in place of “username” and enter the proper path in place of “path/to/Dropbox”.
That’s it! Now, instead of having to manually copy/paste the saves folder on your computers, they’re configured to automatically use the “saves” folder in your Dropbox. We’re big Dropbox fans here at How-To Geek, but you could use another service if you like as well, such as Ubuntu One if you’re using Linux. Be sure to backup this folder to somewhere safe every so often!
If you’re new to Minecraft and want a run-down of what it’s about, check out How To Get Started With Minecraft, a Game Geeks Love, and if you’re looking for multiplayer, check out How To Start Your Own Minecraft Server. Now go forth, fellow crafters, and build without fear!
