Can you easily wipe a map?

Web-UI
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Another question I have, sorry to spam the forum. Is there an easy way to wipe a server and restarting it without going through the hassle of setting up a new server config and whatnot? I just want to blast the map, and start over, but keep the same config/profile/etc. Is that possible? Thanks!

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I can’t think of any real nice way to obliviate the map, but leave anything else. I mean, one way in which I believe you can do this is simply deleting the /world directory where all the stuff resides. All your config should be maintained, even all your users to the best of my knowledge.

As you can suspect, there’s a wariness I have in recommending anybody just go and hit delete to lots of files, so you may consider these steps:

  1. make a backup and archive
  2. delete the chunk files manually using sftp or the command line, e.g., /world
  3. change the seed in server.properties and restart the server
  4. restore from backup in the event of something awful happening

edit: I guess this is being done with a brand new server, so backups are really not necessary

Please continue to make new posts each time you have a separate issue. I’m not (and nobody else is) concerned about post counts showing up on the main page, but having one post per issue keeps it clean and makes it easier to reference for future visitors and make sense of later!

1 Like
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Thanks for the reply hexparrot, perhaps an easier way to understand the issue is:

Let’s say you start a server, survival, but the map chose a really bad spawn point, like in the middle of a tiny island with nothing else near you. So you want to wipe it and start over.

Right now, my only method is to stop the server, delete it, create a new one with the same profile, set up all the configuration (memory, motd, etc). And then boot it back up.

This isn’t the end of the world, it only takes a few minutes to do, but after a while, it can be difficult to remember everything that you have to do to get it running again. I had wondered if there was an easy way to do that, without re-creating the server, but it sounds like probably not, so I will keep doing it the “hard way”. Thanks!

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He just said you just need to make a backup and archive, then delete the world folder (e.g. /world)

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The_Doctors_Life, I misunderstood, I thought the backup was just to back it up to an earlier time. Which in the case of not liking the seed, or forgetting to make an immediate backup, doesn’t help. But will deleting the world folder cause it to reseed with a different seed, or just back to the original. I guess either would work depending on the situation, but what I’m really looking to do is start over with a new world each time (ADHD and all that).

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Thinking more on it, you probably could do this:

  1. Create a server in the web-ui, named something generic like “template”
  2. Change the settings to something you like, universally
  3. Make an archive
  4. Create a server from that backup called something you will actually use, like “myserver”
  5. [optional] put in a seed for “myserver”
  6. Start the server

If you find you don’t like the seed, delete “myserver” entirely and repeat from step #4.

Explanation: Up until you start the server, the seed value in server.properties is empty, which means it will be randomized. By making an archive before you ever start the server, you are making a server template you can create over and over and over, without ever having to redo some of your work, e.g., OPs or other configuration.

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Lastly, you could also do this, a backup approach.

  1. Create a server in the web-ui, name it whatever you like
  2. Change the settings for all things not seed-related, e.g., ops, difficulty, etc.
  3. Make a backup (“restore point”)
  4. [optional] put in a seed for “myserver”
  5. Start the server

If you don’t like the seed, stop the server and backtrack to the only existing restore point. Put in a new seed or just hit ‘start’ for a new one.

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Those are some awesome ideas hexparrot, I will look into that. Now my servers are running so it might be a while, but I appreciate the thoughts and time!

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I know this may be simplistic, but a way to do it without losing your data, or doing a backup is to rename the ‘world’ folder. This is assuming you want to keep the old world for now, but will want to delete it when you find a better seed. This keeps all your original settings.

So, just log in via ftp or PuTtY to the mc account, navigate the world folder in /var/games/minecraft/servers// and do a rename…

Cheers,
H

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Thanks hyndgrinder, I bet you are right, but at the moment I don’t have a need to try. I have been using a similar method to create a new server, then blast the contents with a downloaded server world from the internet, then booting it back up. So I bet you’re right, it’ll probably work. I’ll have to try it next time I want to restart one of my servers.