Moving From Vanilla Server to Bukkit

Question

I have a server running the standard, unmodified Vanilla server on a Linux box. After talking to the people on the server we have decided that moving to a Bukkit Server would be better because of the awesome plugins.

However, it seems that Minecraft generates "nether" and "overworld" files differently than Bukkit. Bukkit generates a world and a world_nether folders. I have read the forum post that copying the Vanilla's world folder to world and world_nether seems to work but I feel like this a a bit hackish and might cause problems in the future.

Has anyone successively done this?

Answer 1

Here is what I did. Bukkit generates a world and a world_nether folder.

I moved the vanilla/world/regions to bukkit/world/regions and then moved vanilla/world/DIM-1 to bukkit/world_nether/DIM-1

Answer 2

Though an answer has been accepted, I needed some additional steps to make this work. I also wanted to import The End (which didn't exist when this queston was asked and answered). So here are full, updated instructions for others with this problem.

Note: I installed Spigot rather than Bukkit. Spigot is a speed-enhanced fork of Bukkit, and the same migration process should work for both as of this writing.

In the following instructions, [worldname] is your world's name. By default, this is the word world, unless you have created a new world with a different name.

What causes the problem

The underlying problem is that, as of this writing (version 1.7.2), Bukkit and Spigot store world data files in somewhat different locations than Vanilla does.

All of them store The World in the same place:

• Minecraft: /[worldname]
• Bukkit: /[worldname]

But the Nether is here:

• Minecraft: /[worldname]/DIM-1
• Bukkit: /[worldname]_nether/DIM-1

And The End is here:

• Minecraft: /[worldname]/DIM1
• Bukkit: /[worldname]_the_end/DIM1

When you install Bukkit or Spigot, they create those new top-level directories for the Nether and The End. When I did this, the installation process imported a modified/damaged verison of my Vanilla Nether. The End, however, was completely reset: all our changes were gone, and the Ender Dragon was alive again even though we'd defeated it earlier.

How to fix it

To migrate your Nether and The End from Vanilla to Bukkit/Spigot, copy the files in like this:

1. Stop your server.
2. Make a backup copy of your World data from /[worldname]
3. Install Bukkit or Spigot, either manually or through a Minceraft host's control panel.
4. Start your server.
5. Confirm there are new directories /[worldname]_nether and /[worldname]_the_end.
6. Stop your server.
7. Delete directory /[worldname]_nether/DIM-1
8. Using the World backup from step 2, copy /[worldname]/DIM-1 into /[worldname]_nether/DIM-1
9. Delete directory /[worldname]_the_end/DIM1
10. Using the World backup from step 2, copy /[worldname]/DIM1 into /[worldname]_the_end/DIM1
11. Start your server

If anything seems to have gone wrong, you can undo the process by reverting to Vanilla and then copying back your /[worldname] backup files.

Answer 3

Yes, I did the same thing as you a few weeks ago, the only problem I encountered was that Bukkit would crash because of the nether for some reason, and that was fixed by disabling the nether. I'm not sure what you could do if you wanted the nether to work.

Answer 4

This thread helped save me a major headache for my server when migrating from Vanilla 1.11.2 to Spigot 1.11.2. However, I ran into a couple issues that I solved through additional steps. Here are the original steps copy-pasted from above with my additional steps added:

• Stop your server.
• Make a backup copy of your World data from /[worldname]
• (additional step). My host recommended wiping the data from the server to avoid issues (make doubly sure you have the backup from step 2 stored somewhere safe). So I wiped the data via FTP.
• Install Bukkit or Spigot, either manually or through a Minceraft host's control panel.
• Start your server.
• Confirm there are new directories /[worldname]_nether and /[worldname]_the_end.
• Stop your server.
• (additional step). Delete the directories /[worldname]/data, /[worldname]/playerdata, and /[worldname]/region. The region subfolder is your overworld. Replace these with the comparable folders from the World backup.
• Delete directory /[worldname]_nether/DIM-1
• Using the World backup from step 2, copy /[worldname]/DIM-1 into
• /[worldname]_nether/DIM-1
• Delete directory /[worldname]_the_end/DIM1 Using the World backup from step 2, copy /[worldname]/DIM1 into /[worldname]_the_end/DIM1
• (additonal step). Under /[worldname]_nether/data drag the files Fortress.dat and villages_nether.dat into this subfolder. Under /[worldname]_the_end/data drag villages_end.dat into this subfolder.
• (additional step). Under the /[worldname] directory place the folder /stats from the World backup. There wasn't one already in the directory at this point--if there is delete it. This step ensures that the achievements your players have earned will migrate.
• Start your server

Hope this is helpful for Vanilla 1.11.2 migrations to Spigot 1.11.2. I will post an update if any issues become apparent in the future.

Answer 5

I have successfully done this, with no issues at all. It can be a bit hackish, and from memory there is a bukkit plugin that will do it for you. But i cannot for the life of me remember what it is called :/