How to Update a Vintage Story Server Without Losing Your World
Vintage Story updates often, and every cycle produces the same posts: a 600 hour world someone is scared to touch, chunk errors after an upgrade, and "did the update break traders for anyone else". The reassuring part is that the world file itself is rarely the casualty. The modlist is what breaks.
This is the order of operations that keeps a long-running world intact, and it applies to every version bump rather than one specific release.
Step 1: Back Up Before Anything Else
Your entire world is one file. That makes backups trivial, and it makes skipping them inexcusable.
- Stop the server. Copying a live database is how you get a backup that does not restore.
- Copy the
.vcdbsfile out ofdata/Saves. - Put it in a dated folder and keep the previous one too. One backup is a single point of failure.
- Start the server again and confirm the world still loads before you go further.
The active world is named by SaveFileLocation in serverconfig.json:
"SaveFileLocation": "./data/Saves/default.vcdbs"If you restore a file under a different name, that key has to change with it. Full detail in Save Management.
Step 2: Client and Server Versions Must Match
A client on a different build cannot join, and the failure often reads like a network problem instead of a version problem. Agree the target version with your group before anyone updates their client, because a player who auto-updates ahead of the server is locked out until the server catches up.
At the time of writing the current stable release is 1.22.5. The 1.22 line shipped in April 2026.
Step 3: Audit the Modlist, Because That Is What Actually Breaks
This is the step people skip and then regret. Before updating, go through your mods one at a time and confirm each has a build for the version you are moving to. Mods that touch world generation deserve the most caution, because a worldgen mod that changes behaviour between versions is the classic source of chunk errors in an existing world. Mod authors are often explicit about whether an update is safe to drop onto an old save, and that note is worth more than any general advice here.
Practical approach:
- Write down your current mod versions while everything still works. This list is what you return to if the update goes badly.
- Update the server build and the mods together, not on separate days. Half-updated is the worst state to debug.
- Treat an unmaintained mod as a decision, not an obstacle. If it has no build for the new version, you are choosing between staying put and dropping it.
- Expect a lag after a major release. Mod authors need time, and the first week after a big update is the worst moment to move a world you care about.
See installing mods for the mechanics and long-term modded server patterns for keeping a modlist maintainable across years.
Step 4: Test on a Copy First
You already made a backup in step 1, so use it as a test subject rather than an insurance policy:
- Duplicate the
.vcdbsand point a separate server instance at the copy. - Run the new version and new modlist against that copy.
- Load in and actually go somewhere. Visit your main base, a trader, and any area built by a mod you just updated.
- Only then repeat on the real world.
Ten minutes here is the difference between an update and an incident.
If It Goes Wrong
Stop the server immediately rather than playing on. Continued play writes new state on top of a broken world and narrows your options. Then restore: stop, drop the backup .vcdbs into data/Saves, fix SaveFileLocation if the filename changed, start, verify.
If the damage is already in the only copy you have, recovering a modded world broken by a mid-save update covers the salvage path. For crash patterns specific to the current line, see 1.22 server stability issues.
What to Expect From 1.23
To be accurate about where things stand: 1.23 is announced but not released, there is no published release date, and it is not yet in the unstable channel. The stated focus is combat, including a reworked armor crafting system with layered pieces, tighter hit detection, and more weapon variety. Nothing about the world format is known yet, so any guide claiming to detail a 1.23 migration today is guessing.
What you can usefully do now:
- Keep a known-good backup of your world and a written record of your mod versions.
- Do not update on release day if the world matters. Let mod authors catch up first.
- Expect combat-adjacent mods to be the ones that need work, since that is the area being reworked.
Our Vintage Story roadmap for 2026 tracks what is confirmed for the release as it firms up.
The Short Version
| Order | Action | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stop server, copy the .vcdbs to a dated folder |
The only step that makes every later mistake reversible |
| 2 | Agree the target version with your players | Mismatched clients cannot connect |
| 3 | Confirm every mod has a build for that version | Mods break far more often than worlds do |
| 4 | Run the new build against a copy and walk around in it | Catches chunk and worldgen problems before they are permanent |
| 5 | Update the real world, keep the backup | Keep it until everyone has played a full session |
Version-by-version change details are listed on the official Vintage Story version history.
Prefer backups and version switching handled for you? Run Vintage Story on Supercraft.