Upload a 7 Days to Die Singleplayer World to Your Server

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Move your 7 Days to Die singleplayer world to a dedicated server: the Windows folders to upload, the GameWorld and GameName lines and the V3.4 version checks.

Survivors with weapons in front of a lit cabin while zombies close in through a foggy forest

You have a solo world with a base you are proud of, or a co-op game you hosted from the main menu, and now you want it on a server that keeps running when your PC is off. A 7 Days to Die save is a set of plain folders on your PC, and two lines in the server's serverconfig.xml decide whether the server loads them or starts a new world. Below: where those folders are on Windows, which ones to upload, the lines that must match and the version checks for V3.4, all checked on 3 November 2026.

Quick answer: To upload a singleplayer world to your 7 Days to Die server, copy two folders from your PC. The save is in %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\Saves\<world name>\<game name> and a random generated (RWG) map in %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\GeneratedWorlds\<world name>. Stop the server, upload the game folder into Saves/<world name>/ and the map folder into GeneratedWorlds/ in the server's user data folder, then set GameWorld to the world folder's name and GameName to the game folder's name, letter for letter. Navezgane and the Pregen maps ship with the server, so for those you upload only the save. Paste your Sandbox Options code as SandboxCode, and check that game and server both print V3.4.0 with version before you join.

What a 7 Days to Die Save Is Made Of

The game keeps everything you create in one user data folder. The Fun Pimps call it "the folder that also stores saves, e.g. on Windows %APPDATA%/7DaysToDie" in their Alpha 20.4 notes, and their Alpha 20.6 notes add that "New worlds now always go to the GeneratedWorlds folder" inside it. For the saves, the official wiki gives the layout as Saves/<worldname>/<savegamename>: one folder per world, and in it one folder per game you started on that world.

WhatWhere on WindowsUpload it?
Your game: the changed world, your base, the characters%APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\Saves\<world name>\<game name>Always
An RWG map: terrain, roads and points of interest%APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\GeneratedWorlds\<world name>Only for an RWG world
Navezgane and the Pregen maps, such as Pregen06k01Data\Worlds in the game's install folderNo, the dedicated server ships them too
Mods you played withMods in %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie or in the install folderInstall the same mods on the server, see step 1

If you start the game with -UserDataFolder= or with the launcher's selfconfined option (added in V2.3), look wherever that points instead.

Step 1: Check the Version and Mods First

"Client and server must be on the same build," as the 7 Days to Die Modding Wiki puts it. On 3 November 2026 the default public branch on Steam carries V3.4.0 for both: game build 26309840 and dedicated server build 26310339, both live since 2 November. Press F1 in your solo game and type version, which in the official wiki's words prints "the version of the game and loaded mods". Run the same command on the server.

  • A world last played on V3.3. V3.4.0 has a known issue: "Joining a dedicated server or p2p game on 3.4.0 b6 or later may transform some resource items from a client's 3.3 inventory into different items. This is a one-time indexing error." Keep your backup and check your resource stacks after the first join. If that is too much risk, run the server on the v3.3.0 branch for now; our V3.4 server update guide has the commands and the limits of that route.
  • A world from V2.x. V3.0 moved many gameplay settings into one SandboxCode value, and the modding wiki warns that "an old save may not continue cleanly on 3.0". Back up and test on a copy.
  • Mods. A world played with mods needs the same mods in the same versions on the server, and mods with their own assets or code need a copy on every player's PC as well. Our 7 Days to Die mods guide covers which mods need a client install, and why a crossplay server for PS5 and Xbox players needs an empty Mods folder.

Step 2: Find Your World and Game Folders on Windows

  1. Close the game. Quit your solo game to the main menu and exit, so nothing is still writing to the save.
  2. Open the user data folder. Press Win+R, type %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie and press Enter.
  3. Read the two names. Open Saves. Each folder there is a world, and each folder inside a world is a game. Write both names down exactly, with spaces and capitals: a Linux server treats My Game and my game as two different folders.
  4. Look for the map. Open GeneratedWorlds. If it has a folder with your world's name, that is the map to upload. If it does not and your world is Navezgane or a Pregen map, you only need the save.
  5. Make a backup. Copy both folders somewhere safe first. The Manage Saves function in the main menu can copy a save too, as The Fun Pimps suggest in their V3.1 notes.

Step 3: How to Upload Your Own Saves to the Server

The server keeps the same layout in its own user data folder. You can recognise it by the Saves folder with serveradmin.xml in it, because AdminFileName in the config puts that file at a "Path relative to UserDataFolder/Saves". If UserDataFolder is set (and uncommented) in the config, that path is the folder. If it is not, the server uses the home folder of the account that runs it: %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie on Windows and ~/.local/share/7DaysToDie on Linux.

  1. Start the server once and stop it, if it has never run, so its folders exist. Then make sure it stays stopped while you upload, or it keeps writing its own save.
  2. Upload the game folder into Saves/<world name>/. Create the world folder there if it does not exist yet.
  3. Upload the map folder into GeneratedWorlds/, for an RWG world.
  4. Check the nesting. The result must look like this, with no extra level such as Saves/<world name>/<game name>/<game name>:
<user data folder>/
    GeneratedWorlds/
        <world name>/
    Saves/
        serveradmin.xml
        <world name>/
            <game name>/

A save can hold many files, so an FTP upload can take a while. If your host's file manager can unpack archives, upload one zip and unpack it in place. On your own Linux machine, give the files to the account that runs the server, for example chown -R steam:steam /home/steam/.local/share/7DaysToDie when that account is called steam.

Step 4: Set GameWorld and GameName in serverconfig.xml

These three lines decide what the server loads. The example is a game called "My Solo Run" on Navezgane; for an RWG map, the world value is the name of your folder in GeneratedWorlds.

<property name="GameWorld"   value="Navezgane"/>
<property name="GameName"    value="My Solo Run"/>
<property name="SandboxCode" value="AAAJABJACJADJARFBNC"/>
  • GameWorld takes "RWG" or "any already existing world name", in the words of the shipped config. For your own map, enter the world folder's name, not RWG. With RWG the server builds a world name from WorldGenSeed and WorldGenSize, and "If a world with the resulting name already exists it will simply load it". That finds your map only when seed and size match what you used solo; anything else generates a new world. When V1.0 retired the old experimental Pregens, The Fun Pimps had players who wanted to keep their save copy the Pregen into %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\GeneratedWorlds: the same move you make here.
  • GameName "affects the save game name as well as the seed used when placing decoration", so it must be the game folder's name exactly. The comment allows letters, digits, spaces, _, - and .; test a name with other characters on a copy first.
  • SandboxCode holds the sandbox options since V3.0, and the shipped value is "the default difficulty of Adventurer". To make your own, the config comment says to start the new game screen, click the sandbox options button, adjust the options and use the copy code button. Set them to what your solo game used and paste the code. In the V3.0 notes The Fun Pimps gave the same instruction to admins continuing an older save. Build the code on V3.4: the V3.1 notes warn that older preset codes may be invalid and "Invalid codes may default some or all settings".
  • Two settings that reset chunks. SaveDataLimit is "The maximum disk space allowance for each saved game in megabytes (MB)", and when it is reached "Saved chunks may be forcibly reset to their original states". MaxChunkAge resets a chunk nobody has visited for that many in-game days unless a land claim or bedroll protects it. Both ship at -1; keep them there for a world you have played for weeks.

On your own machine, keep these lines in your own copy of the config (-configfile=): the modding wiki warns that the shipped serverconfig.xml "is overwritten on every game update". On our 7 Days to Die server hosting you upload the folders over FTP and set these lines in serverconfig.xml or in the panel settings.

Step 5: Start the Server and Test Before Friends Join

  1. Read the log. Since V3.0 b259 the game prints its sandbox settings "to log on game start", so a wrong code shows up right away. getsandboxoptions (gso) in the console lists them too; run it in your solo game first to compare.
  2. Join with the same account you played the solo game with. Check your position, base, inventory, skills and map before you invite anyone. That one check tells you the world, the save and your character all came across.
  3. Make yourself admin with serveradmin.xml or the console, as in our admin and console commands guide.
  4. Warn friends about the first join. Players without the RWG map download it from the server when they first connect, at up to 512 KiB/s by default (ServerMaxWorldTransferSpeedKiBs, "about 1300 kiB/s" at most), so a large map takes a while.
  5. Console friends need a server that meets the crossplay rules, explained in is 7 Days to Die cross platform.

If the world still does not load, our support team helps from 08:00 to 20:00 UTC by live chat, Discord and email.

When the Server Starts a New World Instead of Yours

What you seeLikely causeFix
A different mapGameWorld is RWG or misspelled, or the map folder is missing or one level too deepUse the exact folder name and check GeneratedWorlds/<world name>/
Your map, but day 1 and no baseGameName does not match, or the game folder sits under another world folderMatch the game folder's name and check Saves/<world name>/<game name>/
Your world, but a fresh characterAnother account than the one you played solo with, or an incomplete uploadJoin with the solo account, or upload the game folder again in full
Adventurer settings instead of yoursSandboxCode is still the shipped defaultPaste your own code and restart
Players cannot connect or find the serverGame and server on different buildsUpdate both on the public branch
Parts of the base back to how they wereSaveDataLimit or MaxChunkAge reset chunksRestore the backup and set both to -1

FAQ

How do I upload my own saves onto my 7 Days to Die server? Stop the server, upload your game folder from %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\Saves\<world name> into the server's Saves/<world name>/ and, for an RWG map, the map folder into GeneratedWorlds/. Set GameWorld and GameName to the two folder names and start the server.

Can I upload a map or existing world to my 7 Days to Die server? Yes. A map is a world folder: put it in GeneratedWorlds/ and set GameWorld to its name. Without a save under the same GameName, the server starts a new game on that map. If the map's author lists mods it needs, install those on the server too.

Do I need to upload Navezgane? No. Navezgane and the Pregen maps ship with the dedicated server. Upload only your game folder into Saves/Navezgane/ (or the Pregen's folder) and set GameWorld to that world's name.

Will my character and inventory carry over? The characters are part of the save folder, so they come along when you join with the same account. Check right after the first join. On a V3.4 server, some resource items from a V3.3 inventory can change once, a known issue in the V3.4.0 notes.

Why did my server make a new world instead of loading mine? Usually a name. The server looks for Saves/<GameWorld>/<GameName> and starts fresh when nothing is there, so check both names letter for letter and the nesting, then restart.

Can I move the world back to singleplayer later? Yes, the same way in reverse. Stop the server, download both folders and put them back in %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\Saves\<world name>\ and %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\GeneratedWorlds\ on your PC.

Sources

All opened on 3 November 2026: