How to Save, Load and Switch Worlds on your Project Zomboid Server

Project Zomboid automatically saves your server at regular intervals, but there are times when you’ll want to force a save, start a completely new world or switch between multiple saves. This guide explains how to use the save command, change the world name and load existing worlds on Wabbanode.

Auto Save vs. Manual Save

By default, the server writes to disk every few minutes and when shutting down. To trigger a save manually:

1. Open the Console in the Wabbanode Control Panel while your server is running.
2. Type save and press Enter. This command saves the current state of the world.
3. Wait until the console reports that the save is complete. Avoid stopping the server during this process.

Manual saves are useful before making major changes or when debugging issues.

Start a New World

Starting a fresh world allows you to keep your old one intact. Each world is stored in its own folder under Zomboid/Saves/Multiplayer. To create a new one:

1. Navigate to the Wabbanode Control Panel and Stop your server.
2. Navigate to Settings and locate the World Name field.
3. This is your current world name. To use a different save, replace the existing value, such as newworld
4. Save the file and Start your server. Project Zomboid will generate a new world folder (newworld) and associated configuration files.

You can now swap between worlds simply by changing the World Name value at anytime.

Load an Existing World

To revisit an older world or continue progress from a backup:

1. Navigate to the Wabbanode Control Panel and Stop your server.
2. Make sure the world folder exists under Zomboid/Saves/Multiplayer. The folder name is the same as the world name you previously used (e.g. servertest or newworld).
3. Navigate to Settings and locate the World Name field, and replace it with the existing world you wish to load.
4. Save and Start your server. The server will load the specified world along with its world.ini and other settings.

Uploading and Downloading Save Games

You can transfer worlds between servers or back up your progress by downloading and uploading the world folder:

1. To download a world, navigate to Zomboid/Saves/Multiplayer in the file manager, select your world folder and click Archive. A zip archive will be created that you can then download locally.
2. To upload, Stop your server, drag‑and‑drop the zipped world folder into Zomboid/Saves/Multiplayer and Unarchive the file.
3. Navigate to Settings and locate the World Name field.
4. Replace the value with the folder that was extracted with the archive, such as NewWorld.
5. Save the file and Start your server.