How to Create and Restore a Local Backup of Your Nitrado Game Server

Your own game server gives you full control over your world, but your progress still needs to be backed up in case something goes wrong. System updates, game patches, and experimental settings can corrupt save files without warning. Keeping local backups on your computer protects the hundreds of hours you’ve spent building, taming, and gathering, even if something goes wrong with the server.

In this Nitrado guide, you will learn how to extract your world save files directly from your server to a local directory and restore them whenever needed. If you have never established an active connection to your server using file management software, take a moment to review our guide on using your Nitrado server FTP before proceeding.

Creating a Local Server Backup

To protect your world, copy the files from the server to your personal machine. A third-party program can transfer the data quickly while preserving pack files and player profiles.

Finding Your FTP Connection Details

Before you download any files, you need to find your FTP credentials that are needed to safely connect to your server.

1. Open your server’s web interface and navigate to your Dashboard.
2. Scroll down a bit to find your FTP Credentials.
   
3. Keep this page open so you can easily copy & paste them later into your FTP client.

Downloading Server Files

With your credentials ready, open your preferred client such as FileZilla or WinSCP to start copying files locally. We’ll use FileZilla in this example:

1. Enter your server credentials into the top connection bar of your chosen client and click Quickconnect.
   
2. Locate the central files window and navigate to your specific game save directory (for example, /saved/ or /saves/).
3. Create a dedicated folder on your local computer to hold the server files.
4. Highlight the server save files, right-click, and select Download to save the copy directly to your PC.

Pro Tip: Always group your local backup folders by exact game, dates, and times (e.g., ARKSA_Save_Backup_2026_08_20). This prevents accidental overwriting of older save points and makes pinpointing a clean restore point much easier.

Restoring a Local Server Backup

To roll back your server save, replace the active server files with your local backup copies. Make sure to stop your server before making any changes in order to prevent data corruption during the file transfer.

Clearing Remote Save Files

Active server edits can break save files during transfer, so the server must be completely offline before changing anything.

1. Log into your server’s Dashboard and click Stop Server at the top right.
2. Open your client, log in, and navigate to the directory holding your server save files.
3. Select the outdated server save folder, right-click, and choose Delete (or rename it to something like [savename]_old) to prevent file conflict errors during upload.

Uploading Your Saved Data

Once the remote target location is clear, transfer your local backup into the directory.

1. Open your local backup folder inside the left side of your FTP client.
2. Select all corresponding save files and drag them directly into the remote server window on the right side. Wait for the transfer log to confirm every single file moved completely.
   
3. Return to your web interface and click Start Server to boot into your restored world.

Take Full Control of Your Server Save Data

Managing your server files locally gives you absolute freedom to experiment with new mods, test game updates, or rebuild entire worlds without risking your hard-earned progress. Regular local backups keep your game server running smoothly and ensure your community never loses a single milestone. Grab your FTP credentials, secure your world files, and enjoy total peace of mind on your Nitrado server!