Your Team Fortress 2 server has no world to save. What you cannot easily get back is your settings and add-ons, so back them up before you change settings, install add-ons or update.
Before you start: stop the server so the backup holds complete files. See How to start, stop, restart and force-stop your server.
Where your files are stored
Team Fortress 2 has no persistent world or save files, because every match runs on a map and resets when the map changes. What you keep on the server is in Files: your settings in tf/cfg (server.cfg goes there), the map rotation file tf/cfg/mapcycle.txt (create it if it is missing), custom maps as .bsp files in tf/maps, and plugins in tf/addons if you use SourceMod.
Make a backup
- Open your server in the panel and click Backups in the left menu.
- Click Start backup with Files selected. The backup copies the whole server folder, so your settings and add-ons are included.
- To keep a copy outside PlayNHost, open the ... menu of the backup and choose Download.
The server folder also holds the game's own files, which can be large, so check the size on the Backups page. If it does not fit your backup space, ask support what to leave out. Do not guess an ignore pattern, because a wrong one can leave your settings out of the backup. See How to create, download and restore backups for scheduling, locking and limits.
What to make sure is included
Back up the tf/cfg folder (server.cfg and any other config files you added), including mapcycle.txt, any custom maps in tf/maps, and tf/addons if you use SourceMod (plugins and their configs live there).
Restore a backup
A restore replaces the current files with the backup, and anything changed since is lost. Take a fresh backup of the current state first if you may want it back.
Choose Restore to server from the backup's ... menu, confirm, and start the server when it finishes.
