--- title: "Windrose Save File Location: PC, Dedicated Server and Backups" description: "Where Windrose saves live on PC and on a dedicated server, which RocksDB folder holds your world since 0.10.0.5, and how to back it up." url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/windrose/windrose-save-file-location/" category: "Windrose" category_url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/windrose/" published: "2026-09-28T03:14:09.224Z" updated: "2026-09-28T03:14:09.224Z" source_format: "markdown" site: "GameServerKings" --- # Windrose Save File Location: PC, Dedicated Server and Backups The Windrose save file location depends on two things: whether the world runs on your own PC or on a dedicated server, and whether it has been played since update 0.10.0.5.120 (4 May 2026). That update moved saves into a new storage format, so most save folders now contain three sibling directories, `RocksDB`, `RocksDB_v2` and `RocksDB_v2_Backups`, and guides written before May point at the wrong one. This page lists every path, explains which folder holds your live world, and covers backing it up on a GameServerKings server. Paths are checked against the developer's dedicated server guide and FAQ on playwindrose.com for version 0.10.0.9. ## Quick Answer: The Paths | Where the world runs | Save folder | |---|---| | Your PC (solo, or hosting from the game), Steam or Epic | `%LOCALAPPDATA%\R5\Saved\SaveProfiles\\` | | Your PC, Stove launcher | `%LOCALAPPDATA%\R5\Saved\SaveProfiles\StoveDefault\` | | Dedicated server (any host, including ours) | `R5/Saved/SaveProfiles/Default/` inside the server folder | Press **Win + R**, paste `%localappdata%\R5\Saved\` and press Enter to jump straight to the client folder. Your profile folder is the long number, your Steam ID. A second folder next to it ending in `_Backups` holds the backups made before May 2026. On a dedicated server, one world sits at: ``` R5/Saved/SaveProfiles/Default/RocksDB_v2/0.10.0/Worlds// ``` The `` is a 32-character hex string, and the same value is the world's `IslandId`. The version folder is `0.10.0`, not the full patch number, which is why it didn't change between 0.10.0.5 and 0.10.0.9. ## Which RocksDB Folder Is Your Save? The developer's guide defines the three folders like this: | Folder | What it is | Touch it? | |---|---|---| | `RocksDB` | Old saves from before 0.10.0.5.120. After the update the game migrates them into the new format | Read-only history. It's also where the developer's transfer guide says to drop an imported world | | `RocksDB_v2` | The live database the game works in while it runs. The official guide calls it the runtime folder and says "DO NOT TOUCH IT" | Only to edit `WorldDescription.json` with the server stopped | | `RocksDB_v2_Backups` | Automatic backups since 0.10.0.5.120, one `_Latest` backup per world plus older ones | This is the copy to save or restore | `RocksDB_v2` is not a safe place for hand edits because the game restores the live database from the world's `_Latest` backup in `RocksDB_v2_Backups` every time the world loads. Two independent save-editing tools document this: change files in `RocksDB_v2` alone and the next launch overwrites your change. When you want a copy of a world, take the whole `SaveProfiles` folder, or at least the world's `RocksDB_v2_Backups` entry. > [!NOTE] Older guides show `RocksDB//Worlds/` as the live world > That was correct until May 2026. On a server that has run 0.10.0.5.120 or later, the live world (we checked this path on a GSK Windrose server) and its `WorldDescription.json` are under `RocksDB_v2`. The `RocksDB` copy is what the migration started from. ## Your Character Is Not on the Server A dedicated server keeps only the world. The developer's guide says dedicated servers "only use the Worlds folder, since they store only world-related data and do not store player character data here". Your character, inventory and progression stay in your own client profile under `%LOCALAPPDATA%\R5\Saved\SaveProfiles\\`. In practice this means: - A server backup protects the world and everything built in it, not anyone's character. Each player backs up their own `SaveProfiles` folder. - Moving your world to a server doesn't move your character. You keep playing the same character because it never left your PC. - If you play on more than one PC, Steam Cloud syncs the character. After a Steam Cloud conflict prompt, the developer's FAQ says to choose **local files** when you've just restored a backup. ## Find the World ID Your Server Loads The server picks its world from `WorldIslandId` in `R5/ServerDescription.json`: ```json title="R5/ServerDescription.json (excerpt)" "WorldIslandId": "DB57768A8A7746899683D0EEE91F97BF", ``` That ID matches one folder name under `Worlds/` and the `IslandId` inside that world's `WorldDescription.json`. If `WorldIslandId` is empty, or names a folder the server can't find, the server generates a brand-new world on boot. When a server suddenly starts on a fresh island, check this value first. The developer's FAQ lists it as the usual cause. ## Back Up a Windrose Save on GameServerKings 1. **Stop the server** from the Console tab and wait until it shows as offline. Don't use **Kill**. The game is meant to write an exit backup when it shuts down cleanly, and killing the process skips that. The panel backup in the next step is the copy to rely on either way. 2. Open the **Backups** tab and create a backup. It captures the whole server folder, including `R5/Saved/`. 3. For an off-site copy, open **File Manager**, go to `R5/Saved/SaveProfiles/`, and download `Default` as an archive. You can also pull it over SFTP. 4. Start the server again. Keep `ServerDescription.json` with any off-site copy. Without the matching `WorldIslandId` a restored server won't know which world to load. > [!TIP] Before every Windrose patch > Windrose's last big save change arrived in a patch and migrated every world. Take a backup before letting **Auto Update** install a new version. See [Managing your Windrose server](/knowledge-base/windrose/updates-and-maintenance/) for update control. ## Restore or Move a World The developer's procedure for moving a world from your PC to a dedicated server: 1. Stop both the game and the server, and back up both `SaveProfiles` folders. 2. On your PC, find the world folder. Depending on migration state it is in `RocksDB\0.10.0\Worlds\` or in `RocksDB_v2_Backups` (use the `_Latest` backup). 3. Upload the whole `` folder to the server. The developer's guide puts it in `R5/Saved/SaveProfiles/Default/RocksDB/0.10.0/Worlds/` and lets the game migrate it into `RocksDB_v2` on the next start. 4. Set `WorldIslandId` in `ServerDescription.json` to the folder name. 5. Start the server and check that your island loads instead of a new one. We haven't yet tested that migration on a server that already has a `RocksDB_v2` folder. If the server starts a brand-new island instead of yours, stop it straight away, don't play on the new island, and contact support. Your uploaded folder and the backup from step 1 are still there. Step-by-step screenshots, running several worlds side by side, and fixes for a world that loads as a fresh island are in [Managing your Windrose worlds](/knowledge-base/windrose/managing-worlds/). If the world loads but its difficulty needs changing, that's `WorldDescription.json`, covered in [Windrose world settings](/knowledge-base/windrose/world-settings/). ## Common Problems - **The server generated a new world after an update.** `WorldIslandId` no longer matches a folder, or migration failed for that world. Stop the server, look for your world ID under `RocksDB` and `RocksDB_v2_Backups`, and set `WorldIslandId` back to it. - **My edit to a world file disappeared.** You edited `RocksDB_v2` directly and the game restored from `RocksDB_v2_Backups` on load. For world settings, stop the server, edit `WorldDescription.json`, then run the developer's `R5WorldDescriptionUpdater.exe` as described in [Windrose world settings](/knowledge-base/windrose/world-settings/). - **A downloaded world doesn't open locally.** Update the game, launch it once to the main menu and close it before copying files in. The FAQ says the update has to create the new local folder structure first. - **`AutoLoadLatestBackupIfHasBroken`.** This `ServerDescription.json` flag makes the server restore from the latest backup when it detects a broken save on launch. Edit it only with the server stopped. ## What to Read Next - [Managing your Windrose worlds](/knowledge-base/windrose/managing-worlds/) for creating, switching and uploading worlds - [Configuring your Windrose server](/knowledge-base/windrose/configuration-overview/) for `ServerDescription.json` and the Startup tab - [Getting started with your Windrose server](/knowledge-base/windrose/getting-started-with-your-server/) --- Made with 💜 by GameServerKings