Backups

Automatic Backups

Coalstack can back up your server automatically on a schedule, on every tier. You set the interval in hours, and the app zips the world folders (world, world_nether, world_the_end, or whatever your level-name is set to) into a timestamped archive in the server's own backups directory. Automatic backups run while Coalstack is open, whether or not the server is running; the scheduler checks every 15 minutes whether any server is due. If an automatic backup fails, you get a notification instead of finding out when you need to restore.

Manual Backups & Snapshots

You can trigger a backup manually at any time from the Backups page with the "Back Up Now" button. A snapshot is the same thing as a backup but stored in a separate snapshots directory and limited to the 5 most recent; it's meant for quick save points before trying something risky rather than long-term archival.

Restoring

From the Backups page you can browse any backup's contents and restore it. Restoring deletes the world folders the backup replaces and extracts the archive in their place. The server must be stopped first. Each backup entry shows its size and creation date so you can find the right one.

Backup Destinations

Every backup is always saved in the server's own backups folder. On top of that you can add destinations so a single failed drive doesn't take your backups with it: a local or mounted folder (an external drive, a NAS, a synced OneDrive folder) or Google Drive. Free includes one extra destination; Coalstack Plus has no limit and adds S3-compatible storage (Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, and similar). If a destination is unavailable (drive unplugged, sign-in expired), the local backup still succeeds and that destination is marked with a warning.

Backup History

The Backups page lists every run, automatic or manual, with a check or a warning. Open a run to see how each destination did and what went wrong, if anything.

Bedrock Servers

A running Bedrock server doesn't have to be stopped for a backup. Coalstack asks it to hold its world still, copies exactly the files the server lists, then lets it carry on. Only the active world (worlds/<level-name>) is backed up. Restoring a Bedrock backup replaces the world inside it and points the server's level-name at that world.

Pruning

You can set a maximum number of backups to keep. When a new backup is created, Coalstack deletes the oldest ones beyond that limit. Set it to 0 or leave it blank for unlimited backups.