# Vintage Story

# How to update your server

Shut down your server at the terminal, go to the "Startup" tab, find "Release Version", and select which version of the game you want the server to run on. Selecting "latest" will select the most recent public update. After selection, go to the "Settings" tab, and click "Reinstall Server". You may now start the server again. This should not affect your world, mods, or players, **but remember to create a backup of your world before you change versions!**

[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-01/scaled-1680-/gIVimage.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-01/gIVimage.png)

[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-01/scaled-1680-/cFcimage.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-01/cFcimage.png)

# Creating a time based schedule

To create a schedule that runs at a specific time first click the create button, then name it and create a trigger. If we want to start the server at 12pm for example we'd do the following. `0 0 12 <em>*</em> * *` Starts the server at 12pm exactly. It's important we set the second and minute to 0.

[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/scaled-1680-/image.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/image.png)

Next we need to add our action, in this example we want to start the server[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/scaled-1680-/tjZimage.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/tjZimage.png)

Click "Create First Step"

[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/scaled-1680-/HHcimage.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/HHcimage.png)

Change the action type to "Send Power Signal" and the power action to "Start", click create and that's it for your start action.  
Next create a new schedule to stop the server. In this example we're stopping the server at 3pm

[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/scaled-1680-/04cimage.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/04cimage.png)

after that add the same new action to stop the server and you're all set

# Backing Up Vintage Story Safely

## What this is about

On the **Backups** tab for a Vintage Story server, you may see a warning that
it is unsafe to back up while the server is running. This article explains why
that happens, what can go wrong, and why ZFS-enabled nodes don't have this
problem.

> You'll only see this warning on nodes that **don't** use ZFS. If your node
> uses ZFS, backups are already safe to take at any time — see the related
> article on ZFS backups.

## How Vintage Story stores your world

A Vintage Story savegame is a **database file** (a `.vcdbs` file, which is an
SQLite database):

- Autosave runs on a timer — **every 5 minutes by default**.
- Chunks are written when they are saved and unloaded (for example as players
  move around the world).
- A final save happens on a clean server shutdown.
- Alongside the main database file, the database keeps a **journal / write-ahead
  log** so it can safely commit changes.

The important detail is that a save is **not one instantaneous write**. It's a
short sequence of writes spread across the main database file *and* its
journal. Most of the time nothing is being written — but while a save **is**
in progress, the files on disk are momentarily inconsistent until it finishes.

## Why backing up while running can corrupt the save

A normal (non-ZFS) backup works by **copying files off the disk one at a
time**. If a save happens to be in progress while that copy runs, there are
**two distinct ways it can go wrong**:

**Failure mode 1 — a torn write.** The backup copies the savegame database
while the game is partway through writing it, capturing a **half-finished
transaction**. The file is internally broken on its own.

**Failure mode 2 — a mismatched file set.** The main database file and its
journal / write-ahead log are copied at **different moments**. Each file may be
perfectly valid on its own, but together they describe **two different points
in time** and no longer agree with each other.

Either failure mode produces the same result: a backup whose database is in a
state that **never actually existed** on the live server. When you try to
restore it, the database engine may **refuse to open it**, **roll back to an
older state**, or load with **missing or damaged recent progress**. In the
worst case the world is unrecoverable.

## Backing up safely on a non-ZFS node

You have two safe options.

### Option 1 — use the `/genbackup` command (no downtime)

Run **`/genbackup`** from the server console (or in-game as an admin). This
asks Vintage Story itself to save the world and produce a **consistent backup**
of the savegame — the game performs the save and the copy together, so neither
failure mode above can occur. This is the recommended option because it does
**not** require stopping the server.

`/genbackup` writes the backup into the **`/data/Backups`** folder; you can
then safely archive that file through the panel.

**Tip:** install the **Th3Essentials** mod. It has a built-in option to run
`/genbackup` automatically **on server shutdown**, so a consistent save backup
is produced every time the server stops — without you having to remember to run
the command by hand.

For this to work, both `ShutdownEnabled` and `BackupOnShutdown` must be set to
`true` in the mod's config file at **`/data/ModConfig/Th3Config.json`**:

```json
"ShutdownEnabled": true,
"BackupOnShutdown": true,
"ShutdownTime": "00:00:00",
```

`ShutdownTime` controls the scheduled shutdown (and therefore when the backup
is taken); adjust it to suit your server.

### Option 2 — stop the server

1. **Stop the server** (this flushes everything to disk and closes the
   database cleanly).
2. Create the backup.
3. Start the server again.

## Why ZFS fixes this

A ZFS snapshot is **atomic**: it captures the entire filesystem — the savegame
database **and** its journal — at the exact same instant. There is no window
where some files are newer than others.

The state captured by a ZFS snapshot is a **crash-consistent** image: it looks
exactly like the disk would look if the machine had lost power at that moment.
SQLite (the database Vintage Story uses) is specifically designed to recover
cleanly from that situation using its journal — the same way it recovers after
a power loss. So even though the server was running, the restored world opens
correctly and loses, at most, a few seconds of activity rather than becoming
corrupt.

In short:

- **Non-ZFS node:** use `/genbackup` (no downtime) or stop the server before
  backing up — otherwise you risk a corrupt save.
- **ZFS node:** snapshots are atomic and crash-consistent, so you can back up
  safely at any time without stopping the server.

SuHosting is progressively migrating all nodes to ZFS so that every Vintage
Story server can be backed up safely without downtime. See the ZFS backups
article for more on that migration.

# How to upload saves

If you're going to use an existing save first open VintageStory and click singleplayer, then click the "Open Saves Folder" button in the bottom left.

[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/scaled-1680-/fXYimage.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/fXYimage.png)

Once the folder is open go to the game panel and click your server. Then go to the "files" tab. If the server is currently running stop it first.

[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/scaled-1680-/9BXimage.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/9BXimage.png)

Once inside the files tab go to the data/Saves folder.

[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/scaled-1680-/xAAimage.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/xAAimage.png)

[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/scaled-1680-/bpeimage.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/bpeimage.png)

Next delete the "default.vcdbs" file. Click the "..." button and then "Delete"

[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/scaled-1680-/qHUimage.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/qHUimage.png)

Next, open the window for the VintageStory save folder we opened earlier. Drag and drop the save you want to the game panel window to upload it to the server. After it's uploaded we need to rename it to "default.vcdbs"

[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/scaled-1680-/BXAimage.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/BXAimage.png)

[![image.png](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/scaled-1680-/BUWimage.png)](https://knowledgebase.suhosting.net/uploads/images/gallery/2026-05/BUWimage.png)

After that you can start the server.