How to Upload an Existing World to Your Windrose Server

Upload your singleplayer Windrose world to your WinterNode server so you can continue playing with friends.

Before You Start: Do Not Delete Your Server Files

A fresh Windrose server already has everything installed and ready. You do not need to delete any files before uploading your world. Only upload the world folder, nothing else.

If you already deleted your server files by mistake, go to the Settings tab and click Reinstall Server. Once the server is reinstalled, come back to this guide.

Step 1: Stop Your Server

Before touching any files, stop your server from the control panel. This prevents file corruption.

1. Log in to the Game Control Panel
2. Select your Windrose server
3. Click Stop and wait for the server to shut down fully

Step 2: Locate Your World on Your PC

Windrose stores singleplayer worlds in a folder on your computer.

1. Open File Explorer
2. Navigate to: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Windrose\Saved\SaveProfiles\Default\RocksDB\0.10.0\Worlds\

3. Inside Worlds\, you’ll find folders with 32-character hex names. Each folder is a separate world.

If you have multiple worlds, open each folder and check the WorldDescription.json file inside. Look at the WorldName field to identify which world you want.

The files inside your world folder will include: CURRENT, MANIFEST-*, LOCK, IDENTITY, LOG, *.sst, and WorldDescription.json. These are RocksDB database files and must be uploaded together as a complete folder.

Step 3: Upload the World to Your Server

The target path on your server is:

R5/Saved/SaveProfiles/Default/RocksDB/0.10.0/Worlds/

Choose the upload method that fits your world folder’s size.

Method A: File Manager (recommended for most worlds)

1. Compress your world folder into a ZIP file on your PC (right-click and choose Compress or Send to Zip)
2. In the control panel, go to File Manager
3. Navigate to R5/Saved/SaveProfiles/Default/RocksDB/0.10.0/Worlds/ (replace 0.10.0 with your version if different)
4. Click Upload
5. Select your ZIP file in the dialog that opens
6. Once uploaded, click the … next to the ZIP and select Decompress

Method B: SFTP (for large worlds or direct transfer)

If your world folder is large, use SFTP to transfer it directly. See Using SFTP for setup instructions.

Upload the world folder (the 32-character hex folder) into R5/Saved/SaveProfiles/Default/RocksDB/0.10.0/Worlds/ (replace 0.10.0 with your version if different).

Step 4: Update WorldIslandId (Critical)

This is the step most people miss. If you skip it, your server will ignore your uploaded world and generate a new empty one.

Your server’s config file R5/ServerDescription.json contains a field called WorldIslandId that tells the server which world folder to load. After uploading, you must update it to point at your uploaded folder.

1. In File Manager, navigate to R5/ and open ServerDescription.json

2. Find the WorldIslandId field. It looks like this:

   "WorldIslandId": "6BE7069CAFE04AD0B5A60868573E07F7"

3. Replace the value with the exact hex name of the folder you uploaded. The hex name is the 32-character folder name from Step 2.

   "WorldIslandId": "E282BC2770614520F1B7B87A81373C4D"

4. Click Save

Step 5: Clean Up Auto-Generated Worlds (Optional)

If the server ran before (which it likely did to get an invite code), it created its own world folder in /Worlds/. That folder is no longer needed.

You can delete it or rename it to <hex>.bak if you want to keep a copy. Leaving it does no harm since WorldIslandId now points at your uploaded folder instead.

Step 6: Start Your Server

1. Return to the main control panel
2. Click Start
3. Wait for the server status to show Online. This usually takes 1-2 minutes.
4. Find your invite code on the Game Panel dashboard
5. Connect via invite code and verify you see your world, your builds, and your progress

Troubleshooting

Server starts with a brand-new empty world: Go back to Step 4. The WorldIslandId in ServerDescription.json doesn’t match your uploaded folder’s hex name. The match must be exact, including case, and exactly 32 characters.

World uploaded but builds are missing: Confirm you uploaded the correct folder. If you had multiple worlds on your PC, open the WorldDescription.json inside each folder to check the WorldName field and find the right one.

SFTP connection isn’t working: See Using SFTP. The most common cause is using the wrong password. Your SFTP password is your control panel login password, not a game-specific one.