An instance is a whole saved setup of your server: its server type, Minecraft version, world, plugins or mods and settings. With Instances in the left menu you can keep, for example, a Paper survival world and a modpack on the same server, and switch between them. Only one runs at a time, and the one you leave is kept exactly as it is.
When instances help
- Two ways to play. A survival world with plugins on Paper, and a modded world on Forge or NeoForge.
- Try an update safely. Copy your setup, update the copy to a new Minecraft version, and keep the original to go back to. A world opened in a newer version cannot go back, so this is the safe way to test one.
- A season or an event. Start a fresh setup for an event, and keep the main world untouched.
To keep several worlds with the same server type and plugins, you do not need instances: the Worlds tab switches worlds within one setup. See How to switch to another world on your Minecraft server.
Try a new version on a copy
- Open your server in the panel and click Instances in the left menu.
- On the Active instance card, click Make a copy. Name it in Name of the copy and click Make the copy. The server keeps running while the copy is made.
- In Your instances, click Switch & play on the copy. The window Your server will go offline says the server stops and its files move. Click Switch.
- On the copy, change the version: How to update your Minecraft server.
- Join and test. Not happy? Click Go back to and the original's name. Happy? Keep playing on the copy.
The full steps for copies: How to make a copy of your server and try a change on it first.
Add a second setup
- On Instances, click Create new.
- Choose the server software, for example a modpack or Fabric, then the version, and give the setup a name.
- The new instance is built when you switch to it: click Switch & play on it, then Switch.
When you switch
- The server stops, its files move, and it comes back on the other setup. It usually takes a minute or two, longer with a large world.
- The window says
A backup of this server is taken before anything moves., or tells you when no backup can be taken because your slots are full. - Players join with the same address. Players with mods in their game need the mods of the setup that runs.
How many you can have
The Your instances card shows your slots, for example 1 of 2 slots. Each instance and each copy uses one. To free one, use Delete this instance on an instance you no longer need. See How to use instances to switch between worlds on one server.
Good to know
- Backups of the whole server include the instances you are not using, so each one makes those backups bigger. The backup form lets you back up one instance at a time.
