How to change your Minecraft server type without losing the world

The Server type list offers six types. Which tab you get in the panel depends on the type:

On a server ordered with the Crossplay or Bedrock edition, the list only shows Paper and Purpur. Bedrock players join through Geyser, which runs on those two types; see Java and Bedrock crossplay.

To decide between types, read Paper, Purpur or Spigot for plugin servers and Fabric, Forge or NeoForge for mod loaders.

• Back up first. The panel makes a backup itself and does not switch until that backup has finished. For a copy on your own computer, download it from the Backups tab afterwards, as in back up and restore your server.
• Tell your players. The server stops during the switch and everyone online is disconnected. Maintenance mode keeps them out while you set up the new type.
• List what your plugins do. Ranks, land claims, homes, shops and economy stop on Vanilla and on a mod loader. Decide which mods take over those jobs before you switch.
• Check the Minecraft version. If the Minecraft version field says latest, read the version part below first.
• Going to a modpack? The modpack installer is in the Mods tab, which only exists on Fabric, Forge and NeoForge. Switch to the loader of the pack first, then follow install a modpack; the installer sets the exact loader and Minecraft version the pack needs.

1. Open your server in the control panel and go to the Settings tab.
2. In the Server software card, open the Server type list. Your current type is marked (Current).
3. Pick the new type. A box opens with a line about that type, a warning when plugins or mods stop loading, and two lists: Stays as it is and Changes.
4. Read both lists, then click the button for the new type, such as Switch to Fabric.
5. Confirm in the window Switch to Fabric? with the button of the same name.
6. Keep the page open while the button shows each step. When the message says the new type is being installed, wait until the install is done and press Start.

People you gave access to can switch the type when they have the Settings permission. Give someone access to your server explains the permissions.

The button runs four steps in a fixed order. Nothing about the type changes before the last one.

When the last step is done, a message says the new type is being installed and that nothing was deleted. The install takes a few minutes. Until it is finished, the Overview shows This server is still installing, and the Console shows when the install is done.

Start the server after that. The first start on a new type takes longer than usual, because the new software sets up its own files. Read the Console for errors before players join.

A switch replaces the server software. The disk stays as it is. These come through every switch:

• The world, with every player's inventory and position.
• server.properties and the settings you made in the panel.
• The play address, the port and your backups.
• Every file on the disk, including plugins and mods the new type cannot load.

Everything a plugin did stops with it: permissions, homes, shops, protection and economy. Its data stays in the plugin's own folder, so it all works again when you switch back to Paper or Purpur.

Moving between mod loaders? In Files, move the old jars from mods to a folder such as mods-fabric. The new loader then starts with an empty mods folder, and the old set is ready if you switch back.

Start the server on the new type and look around before you let players in. Two things can affect the world itself.

Blocks and items from mods that no longer load

Minecraft cannot keep blocks, items and creatures it does not know. When the mod that added them is no longer loaded, chunks that are loaded and saved can lose that content for good, including modded items in chests and inventories. If modded builds matter, keep players off the server and go back as described under undo below.

The Nether and the End after leaving Paper or Purpur

Paper and Purpur can keep the Nether and the End in folders of their own next to the world folder: world_nether and world_the_end. Vanilla, Fabric, Forge and NeoForge look for them inside world, and generate a new Nether and End when a player goes there and finds none.

Walk through a Nether portal you built before the switch. If the Nether has none of your builds, stop the server before anyone builds there and contact support, every day from 07:00 to 23:00 Central European Time. The old dimensions are still on the disk.

The Minecraft version field keeps its value when the type changes. With an exact version, such as 1.21.1, the new type is installed on that version. With latest, each type gets its own newest version:

Right after a Minecraft update these can differ, because Paper and Purpur follow a new version later than Vanilla and Fabric. A world that has been played on a newer version should not be opened on an older one; change your Minecraft server version explains why.

1. Type version in the Console to see which Minecraft version the server runs now.
2. If the field says latest, type that exact version in Minecraft version and click Change version.
3. Switch the server type.
4. After the first start, check the first lines of the Console. They name the version the new type runs.

Java follows the Minecraft version on every type, so you do not have to set it yourself. Which Java version your server needs has the table.

LuckPerms runs as a plugin on Paper and Purpur and as a mod on Fabric, Forge and NeoForge, but each install keeps its own data. Export the groups and users before the switch and import them on the new type:

1. On Paper or Purpur, type lp export permissions in the Console. The export file lands in plugins/LuckPerms.
2. Switch the server type and install LuckPerms for the new loader, as in install mods on a Minecraft server.
3. Start the server once, so LuckPerms creates its folder config/luckperms.
4. In Files, download the export file from plugins/LuckPerms and upload it to config/luckperms.
5. Type lp import followed by the name of that file in the Console.

Homes, claims, shops and balances belong to their plugin and cannot be imported into a mod. Mods for those jobs are listed in Fabric, Forge or NeoForge. Permissions with LuckPerms covers groups and commands.

If the server does not start on the new type, Minecraft server won't start goes through the usual causes.

• Switch back. Pick the old type in the same list and go through the same steps. The plugin or mod files were never removed, so they load again. This is enough when nobody played on the new type.
• Switch back and restore. When players played on the new type or modded blocks went missing, switch back first. Then restore the backup named Before switch to with the type you left for, from the Backups tab. The server returns to the moment before the first switch; anything built after it is gone.

Switch the type back before you restore. A restore puts back files, while the server type is a setting of the panel.