Your Project Zomboid world seems to have vanished

Project ZomboidUpdated Oct 18, 20263 min read

If your Project Zomboid server starts with a fresh world, the server is almost always loading a different Server Name. The old world is not deleted: it is in .cache/Saves/Multiplayer/ under Files. Set Server Name back and restart.

Check the name first

Open Settings, then Game Settings and read Server Name.
Open Files, then .cache, Saves, Multiplayer. Look at the folder names. One of them is your world.
If the name in Server Name is not the name of your world folder, set it to that name, with the same capitals, and restart.
Check that the Console prints server name is "<your name>": How to check which world your Project Zomboid server loaded.

Other reasons

Cause	How to tell	What to do
Server Name was changed	Your old folder is still in `Multiplayer`	Set the old name back
The World Wipe task or schedule ran	`Multiplayer` and `.cache/db` are empty or hold only a new world. A wipe run from Quick Tasks shows in the Activity log as "Manually executed the World wipe schedule"	Restore a backup: How to restore your Project Zomboid world from a backup
You switched Instances	Instances shows another instance as active	Switch back: How to use instances to switch between worlds on one server
You uploaded a world with another name	The world folder name differs from Server Name	Your uploaded Project Zomboid world did not load
A build change	The world was made on another build	How to choose Build 41 or Build 42 for your Project Zomboid server

If the world really is gone

Open Backups and restore the newest backup: How to back up and restore your Project Zomboid world. If you have no backup, open a ticket and tell us the server name and what you changed. See what happened in How to see what happened on your server.

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