How to Set Up Automatic Backups for Your Game Server

Protecting your game server data is crucial. Automatic backups ensure you never lose player progress, configurations, or custom content due to unexpected issues.

Why Automatic Backups Matter

Game servers can experience problems from:

• Server crashes or corruption
• Accidental file deletions
• Failed updates or mod conflicts
• Player data loss
• Hardware failures

Regular automatic backups save you from disaster.

How Automatic Backups Work on GameServersHub

GameServersHub provides automated backup systems that:

• Run on a schedule you define
• Store multiple backup snapshots
• Allow quick restoration with one click
• Include all server files and databases
• Compress backups to save storage space

Setting Up Automatic Backups

Step 1: Access Your Server Panel

1. Log into your GameServersHub account
2. Select your game server from the dashboard
3. Navigate to the Backups section in the left sidebar

Step 2: Configure Backup Schedule

Choose Your Backup Frequency:

• Hourly: Best for active servers with frequent changes
• Every 6 Hours: Good balance for most servers
• Daily: Suitable for smaller or less active servers
• Weekly: Minimal protection (not recommended for active servers)
• Custom Schedule: Set specific times and days

Recommended Schedules by Game Type:

Game Type	Recommended Frequency	Reason
Survival Games (ARK, Rust)	Every 6 hours	Frequent player progression
RPG/Economy Servers	Every 12 hours	Regular trading/progress
Creative/Building	Daily	Less frequent data changes
PvP Competitive	Every 6 hours	High activity, important stats

Step 3: Set Backup Retention

Configure how many backups to keep:

• Keep Last 3 Backups: Minimal storage, recent snapshots only
• Keep Last 7 Backups: Recommended for most servers
• Keep Last 14 Backups: Good for high-value servers
• Keep Last 30 Backups: Maximum protection (uses more storage)

Storage Considerations

More backups = more storage used. Check your plan's backup storage limit.

Step 4: Enable Auto-Backups

1. Click Enable Automatic Backups
2. Confirm your schedule and retention settings
3. Click Save or Apply
4. Your first automatic backup will run at the next scheduled time

Manual Backups

You can also create manual backups anytime:

1. Go to the Backups section
2. Click Create Backup Now
3. Add an optional description (e.g., "Before mod update")
4. Click Create
5. The backup will appear in your backup list

Create manual backups before:

• Installing new mods or plugins
• Major server configuration changes
• Game version updates
• Trying experimental settings

Restoring from a Backup

If you need to restore your server:

Step 1: Stop Your Server

Always stop the server before restoring to prevent data conflicts.

Step 2: Select a Backup

1. Navigate to the Backups section
2. Review available backups (sorted by date)
3. Click on the backup you want to restore
4. Review the backup date and time to confirm

Step 3: Restore

1. Click Restore Backup
2. Confirm the restoration (this will overwrite current files)
3. Wait for the restore process to complete
4. Start your server

Important

Restoring a backup will replace ALL current server files with the backup version. Any changes made after that backup will be lost.

Downloading Backups

You can download backups to your local computer:

1. Go to the Backups section
2. Find the backup you want to download
3. Click the Download button
4. The backup will download as a compressed file (.zip or .tar.gz)

Why download backups:

• Extra off-site protection
• Transfer to another host
• Archive important server snapshots
• Recover specific files without full restore

Best Practices

✅ Enable automatic backups immediately after server setup ✅ Test your backups - Restore to a test server periodically ✅ Create manual backups before major changes ✅ Keep at least 7 days of backups for flexibility ✅ Download critical backups for off-site storage ✅ Monitor backup logs to ensure they're completing successfully ✅ Clean old backups if approaching storage limits

Backup File Contents

GameServersHub backups typically include:

• All server configuration files
• World/map data
• Player databases
• Plugin/mod configurations
• Custom content and assets
• Save files and progress data

Not typically included:

• Log files (too large, not needed)
• Cache or temporary files
• Server binaries (re-downloaded on updates)

Troubleshooting

Backup Failed to Create

• Check storage space: You may have reached your limit
• Check server status: Server may be locked during update
• Review error logs: Check backup logs for specific errors

Backup Not Running on Schedule

• Verify automatic backups are enabled
• Check your schedule configuration
• Ensure your server is running at backup time

Restore Taking Too Long

• Large servers take longer to restore (10-30 minutes is normal)
• Do not start the server during restoration
• Contact support if restore stalls for over an hour

Can't Download Backup

• Check your internet connection
• Verify backup completed successfully
• Try a different browser
• Contact support if download link is broken

Need Help?

If you have backup-related questions:

• Contact GameServersHub Support
• Join our Discord Community
• Visit the GameServersHub Forums

Don't wait for disaster - set up automatic backups today!