This guide is for anyone who runs a server on Nitrado and wants to move it to PlayNHost with the world, settings and mods intact. It shows how to get your files out of Nitrado and how to put them into PlayNHost. The steps for Nitrado follow its own guides, so if its web interface looks a little different when you read this, trust what you see on screen.

The general steps are in How to move your existing server to PlayNHost. This page covers the part that is specific to Nitrado.

Keep your Nitrado server running until the new one works. Downloading only copies files and changes nothing on your old server.

Before you start

Order a PlayNHost server for the same game, and for the same version if the game has versions. For Minecraft, pick the same edition (Java or Bedrock) when you order. After you order, the setup screen asks for the server software and version, so choose the same ones as your old server. You can change them later with Edit Server Type (see How to change your server type or game version), but that reinstalls the server and deletes its files by default. For Minecraft that means the same server software (for example Vanilla, Paper, Forge or Fabric) and the same game version.
Write down your game version and the mods or plugins you use.
Check that you can reach your files. Look for the FTP Credentials described below. If your Nitrado server has none, you will need to ask Nitrado support for a copy of your save.

Get your files out of Nitrado

Stop your server first, in the Nitrado web interface, so the save files are not changing while you copy them.

Step 1: find your FTP Credentials

Open the web interface of your Nitrado server.
Select Dashboard in the menu on the left.
Scroll to the bottom of the page. The FTP Credentials show the Hostname, Port, Username and Password.

If you do not see FTP Credentials for your server, ask Nitrado support for a copy of your save files, and tell them the name of your game.

Step 2: connect and download

Open an FTP program. Nitrado names FileZilla, WinSCP and Cyberduck.
Enter the hostname, port, username and password. In FileZilla, type them into the Quickconnect bar and press Quickconnect. In WinSCP, enter them in the window that opens and press Login.
Before you download, set the transfer type to binary, so that save files are not damaged. In FileZilla, go to Edit, then Settings, then Transfers, then File Types, and set the default transfer type to Binary.
Look at the server files in the right-hand side. Go to the folder that holds your game's saves. Each game differs, so look at the guide for your game in this knowledge base, or ask Nitrado support.
Make a new folder on your computer for the files. Select the save files or folders on the server, right-click and choose Download.

If you only need a few files, the File Browser under Tools in the web interface can also download single files with its Download icon. For whole folders, the FTP program is easier.

Minecraft on Nitrado

Nitrado's Minecraft guide says to log in over FTP and open the main directory. The directory name depends on the server type. Its examples are minecraft, minecraftotherpacks and minecraftbukkit. For Bedrock, Nitrado documents the path minecraftbedrock/worlds. You should see your world folders and your other files there, and you can download any of them. For a copy of the whole server, download the world folders, server.properties, the mods or plugins folder and the settings files next to them.

Nitrado's interface also has backup tools under Tools, such as a restore option and a World Manager. Look at what your panel shows. These are meant for restoring on Nitrado. To bring a world to a new host, copy the files with FTP.

Bring it into PlayNHost

In the panel, open your new server, click Stop and wait for Offline.
Clear the default world first. Your new server may already have a default world (on Minecraft Java a world folder, on Bedrock a world inside worlds, and other games keep theirs elsewhere, so see the game's guide). Back it up if you want to keep it, then delete it. Everything in it is lost: its builds, its player data and its Nether and End. The Backups page holds 3 slots by default, so delete an old backup first if the list is full. See How to create, download and restore backups. If you upload over the default world without deleting it, files with the same name are overwritten and the others stay, so the two worlds are mixed and the result may not load.
Upload your files. To use the browser, put your world in a ZIP on your computer, click Upload in the Files tab, then tick the ZIP and click Unzip. Folders cannot be dragged into Upload. For a folder, a large world or a whole server folder, use SFTP. See How to connect to your server files with SFTP.
Put the files where the game expects them.
- Minecraft Java: the world folder goes in the main folder, next to server.properties. Mods go in mods, plugins in plugins. After unzipping, check that the world folder is not inside an extra folder of the same name.
- Minecraft Bedrock: the world folder goes inside the worlds folder.
- Folders ending in _nether and _the_end only work if your PlayNHost server is also Paper, Spigot or Purpur. On other types, copy the DIM-1 folder from the _nether folder and the DIM1 folder from the _the_end folder into your main world folder first.
- Other games: use the game's guide in this knowledge base, listed below.
Tell the server which world to load. For Minecraft:
- Minecraft Java: open Settings, then Server Properties (Java) in the list on the left, and set World name to the folder name of your world. You can also open server.properties in Files and set level-name.
- Minecraft Bedrock: open Settings, then Game Settings, and type the folder name from worlds into Choose World. Do not edit level-name in the file, because it is reset on every start.
Other games may need the world's name set too.
Match your other options in Settings to the old server. See How to change your server settings.
Click Start, watch the Console for errors, then join to check the world and the mods.

For mods, see How to add mods, plugins and modpacks to your server. To change server type or version, see How to change your server type or game version. That reinstalls the server and deletes its files by default, so back up first.

Or ask us to move it

Open a ticket in the category Worlds & backups (or Something else). The message is limited to 300 characters, so keep it short: your game, your new server's name, the host you are leaving (Nitrado) and the download link to a ZIP of the files from the steps above. Put the details, such as the version and the mod list, in a text file inside the ZIP. Tell us in the ticket what you are moving and we will reply with the next step.

To make the link, upload your ZIP to a file-sharing or cloud-drive service, set the share to anyone with the link with no password, and paste the link in the ticket. Delete the link once we confirm we have the files. Never put a password in a ticket. See How to open a support ticket.

Other games

Nitrado hosts many games, and each keeps its world in a different folder. Check the guide for your game here before you upload, for example Terraria, Valheim, ARK: Survival Evolved, Rust or Palworld. Nitrado also publishes guides for individual games, and the one for your game may name the folder that holds the save. If your game is not listed, ask Nitrado support which folder holds the save, and tell us in your ticket.

After the move

Test with a few players before you cancel anything on Nitrado.
Take a backup of the new server once it works.
Tell your players the new address. The address changes when you change host. See How to join your server.

How to move your game server from Nitrado to PlayNHost

Before you start