Restart, Save and Restart, Wipe and Reinstall: which button does what
The Supercraft control panel has three buttons that look superficially similar. They are not interchangeable. One of them will destroy your world. This page exists because we have seen real customers lose months of progress by clicking the wrong one.
If you just clicked Wipe and your world is gone, stop everything and contact support immediately. Our system keeps several days of automatic backups on a separate disk. Recovery is usually possible if you act within 24 hours.
The three buttons at a glance
| Button | What it does | World preserved? | Config preserved? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restart | Stops and starts the server process. No file changes. | Yes | Yes (current on-disk values) |
| Save and Restart | Writes the config values from the panel form to disk, then restarts the process. | Yes | Yes (panel values overwrite disk values) |
| Wipe and Reinstall | Deletes the game directory, re-downloads the server binaries from Steam, recreates the world from scratch. | No. Destroyed. | Reset to template defaults |
When to use each
Restart
Use this when the server is misbehaving and you have not changed any settings. Players got disconnected, the world feels laggy, a mod was just updated by Steam. A plain restart costs about a minute and is non-destructive.
Save and Restart
Use this every time you change something in the Config tab and want it to take effect. Changing the server name, max players, password, sandbox values, mod list, RCON port. The panel writes the new values into the game's .ini files and then restarts the process. Your save world stays intact.
Wipe and Reinstall
This is the destructive one. It is the right choice when:
- You want a clean start with a brand new world and a brand new install.
- The game files themselves are corrupt and a plain restart does not help.
- You switched to a different game branch (stable to unstable, or back) and the binaries need to match.
- You explicitly want to discard everything.
It is the wrong choice when you only want to reset the in-game world. There is a different way to do that, listed below.
How to reset the in-game world without losing your server
This is the question that drives most "I clicked the wrong button" incidents. You do not need to reinstall to start a new world. You only need to delete the save files for that game. The server software, plan, IP, port, configuration, and mods all stay in place.
Open the File Manager tab in the panel and delete the paths below for your game. Then click Restart.
Project Zomboid
/home/u<port>/prz/data/Server/Sandbox/<servername>/
/home/u<port>/prz/data/Saves/Multiplayer/<servername>/<servername> defaults to servertest unless you renamed it. Deleting both directories triggers a fresh world generation on next start. The server itself, mods, and admin accounts persist.
Valheim
/home/u<port>/vlh/saves/worlds_local/<worldname>.db
/home/u<port>/vlh/saves/worlds_local/<worldname>.fwlAlways delete both files. The .db holds the world state and the .fwl holds the seed and metadata. A surviving .fwl without its .db will refuse to start.
Satisfactory
/home/u<port>/stf/data/FactoryGame/Saved/SaveGames/server/<savename>.savEach save is a single .sav file. You can move one aside instead of deleting it, then restart with a freshly generated session.
ARK: Survival Ascended
/home/u<port>/arksa/data/ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/<MapName>/The entire map folder contains the dino population, structures, and player profiles. Delete the folder for a fresh tame-from-zero start.
Palworld
/home/u<port>/pal/data/Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<WorldID>/V Rising
/home/u<port>/vrs/data/Saves/v3/<ServerName>/Conan Exiles
/home/u<port>/con/data/ConanSandbox/Saved/game.db
/home/u<port>/con/data/ConanSandbox/Saved/DLC_Siptah.dbExiled Lands uses game.db, Isle of Siptah uses DLC_Siptah.db. Delete the one that matches your active map. The world regenerates on next start.
Enshrouded
/home/u<port>/enh/data/savegame/7 Days to Die
/home/u<port>/sdt/data/Saves/<GameWorld>/<GameName>/Minecraft
/home/u<port>/mnj/server/world/
/home/u<port>/mnj/server/world_nether/
/home/u<port>/mnj/server/world_the_end/For a clean Overworld and Nether and End, delete all three. Deleting only world/ while keeping world_nether/ often produces visually broken portal transitions.
If your game is not listed, the pattern is the same: the panel's File Manager shows a folder under /home/u<port>/<game-code>/data/ with timestamped save files. Delete the save, restart, fresh world.
Before any irreversible action: take a backup
The Installation tab has a Backup Now button. It produces a compressed snapshot of the entire server directory which you can download. Take one of these before:
- Any Wipe and Reinstall, even when you are sure.
- Any branch switch (stable to unstable, or back).
- Any time you delete save files by hand.
- Any major in-game event you do not want to risk: boss progression, large base build, raid night.
Daily auto-backups also exist and run in the background. They are kept on a separate disk from the live server. If something destructive happens, support can roll the deployment back to the most recent good snapshot.
Recovery if you already wiped
If you have just clicked Wipe and Reinstall and realised the world is gone, do not click anything else. Open a support ticket immediately and state clearly:
- The server's name or IP and port (Connection card on the Basic Control tab).
- Approximate time you clicked Wipe.
- What you wanted to do instead (almost always: reset the in-game world without touching the server).
Auto-backups are dated. The most recent one before the wipe is usually less than 24 hours old and can be restored in a few minutes.
Ready to host without surprises? See plans. All Supercraft servers ship with daily backups and one-click rollback.