7 Days to Die Save Location (PC and Server) and How to Upload Your World

The 7 Days to Die save location on Windows is %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\Saves\, on Linux ~/.local/share/7DaysToDie/Saves/ and on macOS ~/Library/Application Support/7DaysToDie/Saves/. A dedicated server uses the same user-data folder for its own account unless serverconfig.xml moves it. A single-player or co-op world can be moved onto a server. A save has two parts: the world (the map itself) and the save game (your progress on that map). The server finds each one by name. Copy the right folders, make the two names match, and your Day 40 base loads exactly where you left it.

The move runs through the File Manager of your 7 Days to Die server panel, plus one Startup field and one key in serverconfig.xml. Because a 7DTD save is thousands of small region files, zip it locally and use the File Manager's Unarchive option — it turns an hour of transfer into minutes.

7 Days to Die Save Location on PC

Under that root:

• Saves\<WorldName>\<SaveName>\ — your progress. Inside it, main.ttw is the world-state file, Player\ holds one .ttp per player keyed by Steam ID, and Region\ holds the terrain in r.<x>.<y>.7rg chunk files. The world folder wraps the save folder.
• GeneratedWorlds\<WorldName>\ — the map data for worlds you generated with RWG (random world generation).
• SavesLocal\ — client-side data from servers you joined; not part of this move.

The maps that ship with the game — Navezgane and the Pregen06k* / Pregen08k* worlds — are already on the server, so they never need the GeneratedWorlds half. Which folders you need depends on the world type:

Where the Save Lives on Your Server

The dedicated server uses the same layout as the game on your PC. By default it writes Saves/ and GeneratedWorlds/ into the user data folder of the account running it, which on Linux is ~/.local/share/7DaysToDie/. On our servers, the File Manager root is that account's home folder, so the paths are:

.local is a hidden folder, but the File Manager shows it. Two properties in serverconfig.xml can move all of this, and both ship commented out. UserDataFolder "override[s] where the server stores all generated data, including RWG generated worlds". SaveGameFolder moves only the saves. If you or a previous admin uncommented either one, the folders are wherever it points.

The folders appear after the first boot, so start the server once before you look for them.

Step 1: Find and Zip Your Save

Locate Saves\<WorldName>\<SaveName>\ — for an RWG world the world name looks like the generated map name, and the save name is what you typed when creating the game. If it's RWG, also locate GeneratedWorlds\<WorldName>\.

Zip each folder (the folder itself, not just its contents) so the structure survives the trip.

Step 2: Stop the Server

Click Stop on the Console tab and let it exit fully — 7 Days to Die writes its save on shutdown, and uploading into a live save directory is how corruption happens.

Step 3: Upload Both Folders

Both destinations are in the server's user data folder, .local/share/7DaysToDie/, not next to serverconfig.xml. In the File Manager:

1. Upload the world zip to .local/share/7DaysToDie/GeneratedWorlds/ and Unarchive it there, so the world ends up at .local/share/7DaysToDie/GeneratedWorlds/<WorldName>/. (RWG worlds only — skip for Navezgane and the shipped Pregen maps.)

2. Upload the save zip to .local/share/7DaysToDie/Saves/ and Unarchive it, so your progress ends up at .local/share/7DaysToDie/Saves/<WorldName>/<SaveName>/.

For multi-GB saves, SFTP to the same paths is more robust than the browser.

Step 4: Point the Server at Your World

Two values must match what you uploaded, character for character — on Linux, capitalisation counts. serverconfig.xml sits at the root of your server volume; open it in the File Manager.

1. Map Type (this sets GameWorld): open the Startup tab and set Map Type to your world's folder name. For an uploaded RWG world, that's the folder name under GeneratedWorlds/. For Navezgane, it's just Navezgane. Our servers pass this value to the game as -GameWorld when they start, and that overrides the GameWorld line in serverconfig.xml. Editing only the XML file changes nothing.

2. GameName: set it to your save folder's name. This is the name of your progress within the world — leave it at the default and the server starts a fresh game on your uploaded map.

WorldGenSeed and WorldGenSize only matter when the server is generating a new world; once GameWorld names an existing one, a seed change takes effect only on a new world.

Save the file and the Startup tab, then restart — serverconfig.xml is read at startup, so nothing applies to a running server.

Step 5: Start and Verify

Hit Start and watch the Console come up — the boot output includes the world it resolved. Then join and check the in-game day counter and your base. Once it's confirmed, take a snapshot from the Backups tab so the migrated state is your rollback point.

Backing Up a 7 Days to Die Save

Stop the server from the panel before you take a copy, so nothing is writing to the save while you copy it.

• Panel backup: the Backups tab snapshots the whole server, including .local/share/7DaysToDie/. See How to create a backup.
• A copy on your PC: in the File Manager, open .local/share/7DaysToDie/Saves/, use Archive on your world folder, then Download the archive the panel creates. The panel downloads files, not folders. For an RWG world, do the same for its GeneratedWorlds/ folder. Without the map, the save has nothing to load into.

To play the server world on your own PC, unpack the two folders into Saves\ and GeneratedWorlds\ under %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\, and continue it from the game's menu.

Common Issues

• The server started a brand-new game on my map: GameName doesn't match your save folder's name. World loading and save loading are separate lookups; the map can be right while the progress is not.
• "World not found" or RWG starts generating: The GeneratedWorlds/<WorldName>/ folder is missing, misplaced, or its name doesn't match Map Type in the Startup tab exactly (case included).
• I can't find Saves/ on the server: Look in .local/share/7DaysToDie/, not the root. It's created on the first boot, so start the server once if it isn't there. If serverconfig.xml has an uncommented UserDataFolder or SaveGameFolder, the folders are wherever that points.
• The save is from an older major version: A minor-version gap only warns; a different major version is a hard block, and the game says so — "This game cannot be continued with this game version". Separately, V3.0 moved thirty gameplay properties out of serverconfig.xml into the encoded SandboxCode, so an old world's settings do not survive the jump untouched. The serverconfig.xml reference covers that migration.
• The world came from an overhaul mod: Darkness Falls and friends change world data — the server needs the identical overhaul installed before it can load the world. See How to install Modlets and Overhaul Mods.

Common Questions

Where are 7 Days to Die saves on PC?

On Windows they're in %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\Saves\ (paste that into the Explorer address bar). On Linux they're in ~/.local/share/7DaysToDie/Saves/, and on macOS in ~/Library/Application Support/7DaysToDie/Saves/. Randomly generated maps are in GeneratedWorlds\ in the same parent folder.

Where does a 7 Days to Die dedicated server save the world?

By default, in the user data folder of the account running the server: ~/.local/share/7DaysToDie/ on Linux, which is .local/share/7DaysToDie/ in our File Manager. UserDataFolder or SaveGameFolder in serverconfig.xml can move it.

Do I need to upload GeneratedWorlds for Navezgane?

No. Navezgane and the pregenerated maps ship with the server, so you only upload your Saves/Navezgane/<SaveName>/ folder. Only a world you generated yourself (RWG) needs its GeneratedWorlds/<WorldName>/ folder as well.

My save folder name has a space in it. Is that a problem?

No. The shipped default GameName is My Game, space included. It just has to match exactly. Whatever you type for GameName in serverconfig.xml must be the save folder's name character for character, spaces and capitals included. If you rename the folder after uploading it, change GameName to the new name too.

What to Read Next

• 7 Days to Die default serverconfig.xml for GameWorld, GameName and the V3 SandboxCode migration
• Managing your 7 Days to Die server for the backup schedule that should follow this upload
• 7 Days to Die Configuration guide for ports, connecting, and the rest of first-day setup

---

Made with 💜 by GameServerKings