What are Snapshots?

Snapshots are temporary restore points for your server files. They let you quickly roll back changes if an update, config edit, or plugin change causes problems.

Each snapshot expires automatically after 24 hours, so snapshots are best used for short-term safety during risky changes.

Snapshots vs Backups

Snapshots are not a replacement for regular backups. They are meant for quick rollbacks within a short time frame. For long-term safety, make sure to also use the backup system.

We do not recommend relying on snapshots for critical data protection or full server recovery. You are given backups with your server, please use them. It is better to wait for a backup to complete than to spend days rebuilding a server from scratch because you lost data.

What You Can Do with Snapshots

Create snapshots before making changes.
Restore your server files from a snapshot.
Generate a diff report:
- from a snapshot to your current disk state, or
- between two snapshots.
Delete snapshots you no longer need.

Note

The panel shows your current snapshot usage and total space used.

Creating a Snapshot

Open your server and go to the Snapshots section.

Click Create Snapshot.

Enter a clear Snapshot Name (for example: update spigot.yml).

Choose what to include:

Config Files (example: server.properties, bukkit.yml, banned-players.json, etc.)
TallDwarf Hosting Files (includes files related to how your server runs, such as talldwarf.yml)
Plugin Files (plugin/mod data only, no jar files or the following file endings; .db, .tmp, and a few others)
Player Data Files (includes world playerdata, achievements)

Click Create.

Restoring a Snapshot

In your snapshots list, open the actions menu (...) on the snapshot you want to use.

Click Restore.

Confirm the restore action.

Warning

Restoring reverts included files to the snapshot state. Make sure you are restoring the correct snapshot before confirming.

Generating Diff Reports

From the snapshot actions menu, click Generate Diff Report.

You can choose one of two report types:

This snapshot to the current disk
Compare against another snapshot

If you choose comparison against another snapshot, select the second snapshot and then click Generate Report.

Deleting a Snapshot

Open the snapshot actions menu (...).

Click Delete.

Confirm deletion.

Best Practices

Create a snapshot immediately before plugin updates or large config edits.
Use descriptive names so restores are easy to identify under pressure.
Generate a diff report first if you are unsure whether you should restore.
Plan around the 24-hour expiration window for rollback decisions.

Snapshots