The Tool Desk
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Choose the wipe you actually need
A server wipe is not one single operation. The folders you remove determine whether players keep their characters, whether the terrain stays recognizable, and whether the old save can be restored. Use this decision table before touching the filesystem.
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| Action | Terrain identity | Bases and placed blocks | Player levels and inventory | Day counter and map exploration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delete the save folder only | Same cached terrain | Removed | Removed unless Player/ is preserved separately |
Reset |
| Delete the save folder and its generated-world directory | New generated terrain | Removed | Removed unless Player/ is preserved separately |
Reset |
Preserve Player/ while removing world-state data |
Same terrain unless generated data is also removed | Removed | Kept | World time resets; map data is removed if the relevant map_*.dat files are removed |
Delete only Player/ |
Unchanged | Unchanged | Removed | World time and terrain remain |
| Change World Name to an unused value on a managed host | New save slot; terrain follows that world configuration | Old save remains on disk | New save starts without the old characters | New save starts at its initial state |
The safest choice for a fresh season is usually changing World Name on a managed panel, because the existing save remains available for rollback. For a permanent reset, delete the save after confirming that your backup works.
Stop the server and make a real backup
Never remove save files while the server process is running. A live process can still be writing region, player, or time data, leaving a partial save that is harder to recover than the original.
#1 Best Overall
- Explore – Huge, rich environments, with unique biomes and worlds up to 100 square kilometres in size.
- Craft – Handcraft and repair weapons, clothes, armour, tools, vehicles, with hundreds of recipes and schematics.
- Build – Design your fort with traps, electricity, auto turrets, and gadgets to survive in a fully destructible and mouldable world.
- Cooperate or Compete – Work together to build settlements or against each other in a wasteland where zombies and outlaws rule the land.
- A must-have for collectors and fans of Open-World Survival Horror, the 7 Days to Die – Console Edition Survival Bundle includes the following: An exclusive Artbook with over 100 pages showcasing never-before-seen illustrations of the zombie apocalypse, a CD featuring the haunting Original Soundtrack (OST) of the game, a double-sided poster, Fine art prints x3, Sticker sheets x 3, the physical game, and a collectible tuck-in box housing all the contents.
- Stop gracefully. Use the server console’s stop control or the hosting panel’s stop button. Wait until the panel reports that the process has ended before opening or deleting files.
- Copy the complete save. Download or copy the entire
GameNamefolder, not just a few region files. Include every subfolder and file so player data, world time, and map data can be restored together. - Keep the backup outside the live save path. Give it a date-based name such as
MyWorld-backup-2026-10-16and store it on another disk or in your host’s download area. - Record the active world settings. Note the current World Name, Game Name, seed or terrain choice, and mod list. This makes it possible to recreate the intended configuration if the panel or configuration file is changed later.
A backup is only useful if you can identify which world it belongs to. Keep the original folder structure inside the backup so it can be copied back without renaming individual files.
Find the active save directory
Local Windows installation
In a local Windows installation, open the launcher and choose Open savegame folder. This leads to the 7DaysToDieSaves directory. Inside it, saves are arranged as Saves/<GameWorld>/<GameName>/. <GameWorld> identifies the terrain or world type, while <GameName> is the individual save slot.
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Dedicated server with a custom data root
A dedicated server can use a different root from the desktop game. Check the active serverconfig.xml for UserDataFolder or SaveGameFolder. When either setting is configured, follow that location instead of assuming the save is under the default installation directory.
Managed hosting panel
Hosts often expose a file manager, SFTP area, or a panel-specific save-management page. The visible path may differ from the local Windows path, and some panels label the generated terrain directory differently. Use the panel’s active data root and confirm that the folder contains the current GameName before deleting anything.
If you see several saves, compare the folder names with the server’s configured World Name and Game Name. Do not remove every directory under Saves unless you deliberately intend to erase every world on that installation.
Rank #2
- Explore – Huge, rich environments, with unique biomes and worlds up to 100 square kilometres in size.
- Craft – Handcraft and repair weapons, clothes, armour, tools, vehicles, with hundreds of recipes and schematics.
- Build – Design your fort with traps, electricity, auto turrets, and gadgets to survive in a fully destructible and mouldable world.
- Cooperate or Compete – Work together to build settlements or against each other in a wasteland where zombies and outlaws rule the land.
- Farm or Hunt – Plant gardens for sustainable resources or head out to the wilderness and hunt over a dozen unique animals.
Know what each save component controls
The save contains separate kinds of state. Understanding them lets you perform a narrower reset than deleting the whole folder.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors| Component | What it contains | Effect of removing it |
|---|---|---|
Region/ |
Placed blocks, bases, excavations, and harvested changes to the world | Those world edits disappear when the server rebuilds the save |
Player/ |
Per-player level, perks, inventory, and status data | Characters lose progression, belongings, and status |
main.ttp |
World day and time, weather, and blood-moon state | World-clock and event state are recreated |
map_*.dat |
A player’s map exploration | That player’s explored map is cleared |
GeneratedWorlds/ |
Cached generated terrain | The terrain is generated again when the world is created |
Server settings and installed mods are normally outside the save folder, so deleting a save does not by itself remove those settings or mods. A reset changes saved game state; it does not automatically rewrite the server configuration.
Perform a world reset on the same terrain
This option clears the play state while retaining the cached terrain. It is useful when you want everyone to start over on the familiar map rather than generate a different random layout.
- Stop the server and complete the backup procedure.
- Open the active
Saves/<GameWorld>/directory, using the configuredUserDataFolderorSaveGameFolderwhen applicable. - Identify the exact
<GameName>folder used by the server. Verify its name against the configured world and game names before proceeding. - For a complete save reset, delete that
<GameName>folder. The server will create a fresh save on the same cached terrain when it starts again. - Start the server and allow the new save to finish creating before players join.
Deleting the entire GameName folder removes the Player/ data inside it as well as regions, time, and map files. Therefore, this broad operation resets character progression unless you make a separate copy of Player/ and restore it using a deliberate, compatible procedure. If characters must survive, use the selective method below instead of treating the whole-folder deletion as a character-preserving wipe.
Keep characters while clearing the world
To retain levels, perks, inventory, and status, preserve the save’s Player/ directory before removing world state. Keep that directory with the backup, remove the world-state components you intend to reset, and place the preserved player data back only after the new save structure has been created and the server is stopped again. The exact file operation depends on the host’s file manager, but the principle is constant: do not delete Player/ if character continuity matters.
Rank #3
- Unlimited hours of gameplay
- Explore - Huge, unique and rich environments, offering the freedom to play the game however you want
- Craft - craft and repair weapons, clothes, armour, tools, vehicles, and more
- Build - Take over a ruin, or build from the ground-up. Design your fortress to include traps and defensive positions to survive the undead
- Cooperate or Compete - Includes two player split screen mode, with support for up to 4 players online, in Player versus Player, co-op survival, or co-op creative modes
Removing Region/ clears bases, placed blocks, excavations, and harvested changes. Removing main.ttp resets day, time, weather, and blood-moon state. Removing map_*.dat clears exploration records. Preserve any component you intentionally want to carry forward, and keep an untouched backup in case the resulting combination is not accepted by the server.
Generate a completely different random terrain
Deleting only the save can leave the same cached terrain available, so it may recreate the familiar map. To force terrain generation again, remove the corresponding generated-world directory as well as the save.
- Stop the server and back up both the complete save folder and the existing generated-world directory.
- Delete the active
Saves/<GameWorld>/<GameName>/folder. - Locate the matching directory under
GeneratedWorlds/, or under the host’s equivalent generated-terrain location. - Delete that generated-world directory. Do not remove unrelated generated worlds that belong to other saves.
- Start the server. With no cached terrain available, it generates terrain again when the world is created.
This operation is broader than a same-terrain wipe. Bases, placed blocks, player data, day progress, and map exploration are still lost unless you intentionally preserve compatible components, and the terrain identity changes because the cached generated data has been removed.
Reset only characters
A character reset leaves the shared world intact while removing each player’s personal progression. Stop the server first, back up the save, then remove the relevant Player/ data inside the active GameName folder. This removes levels, perks, inventory, and status data for those characters. The Region/ directory, main.ttp, generated terrain, bases, and world edits remain unless you remove them separately.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallBecause player files are per-player data, take care when selecting individual files or folders in a host file manager. If the panel does not expose a safe per-player selection, preserve the complete backup and use the host’s documented player-reset control rather than guessing at filenames.
Rank #4
- Explore & Craft - Huge, unique and rich environments, offering the freedom to play the game any way you want while you craft and repair weapons, clothes, armor, tools, vehicles, and more.
- Build - Take over a ruin, or build from the ground-up. Design your fortress to include traps and defensive positions to survive the undead - the world is fully destructible and moldable.
- Cooperate or Compete - Includes two player split screen mode, with additional online multiplayer modes and features to be revealed in the near future.
- Create - Unleash your creativity and build the ultimate world by yourself friends. Enjoy unlimited access to nearly 400 in-game items and 1,200 unique building blocks in creative mode.
- Improve - Increase your skills in a multitude of active and passive disciplines. 7 to Die is the only true survival RPG with nearly 50 multi-tiered skill and perk groups.
Use a new World Name for a reversible fresh start
On a managed host, changing World Name to an unused value creates a separate save instead of deleting the old one. Stop the server, change the setting in the panel, save the configuration, and start the server with the new name. The previous save remains on disk until you explicitly delete it.
This approach is useful when you are unsure whether the group will want to return to the old world. It also avoids mixing files from two seasons: the new name points the server at a new save slot, while the old folder remains available for rollback. Once the new world has been tested and the community agrees that the old one is no longer needed, stop the server and remove the old save through the panel’s file tools, keeping an archival backup if required.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Check the result after restarting
Do not judge the wipe only by whether the server accepts connections. Verify the expected scope in the game and in the file manager.
- Save creation: confirm that a new
GameNamefolder exists under the activeSaves/<GameWorld>/path. - Terrain: enter a known area. A same-terrain reset should retain the cached layout; a generated-world deletion should produce different terrain.
- Structures: check a former base location. Removed
Region/data should no longer contain the old construction or excavation. - Characters: verify one test account’s level, perks, inventory, and status. These should remain only when
Player/data was deliberately preserved. - Time and events: check the day counter, weather, and blood-moon schedule. They are controlled by
main.ttp. - Map exploration: open a player’s map. Exploration should remain only when the relevant
map_*.datdata was retained. - Settings and mods: confirm that the server configuration and installed mods are still loaded. A save wipe should not remove them, but a custom data-root change can make the server appear to have lost them if it is pointed at the wrong directory.
Have one administrator perform this verification before announcing the reset. If the result is wrong, stop the server rather than allowing players to create additional data on top of a mistaken reset.
Troubleshoot common wipe problems
The old world returns after deletion
The server may be reading a different data root than the one you edited. Recheck serverconfig.xml, especially UserDataFolder and SaveGameFolder, and inspect the path used by the hosting panel. A cached generated-world directory can also recreate the same terrain after a save-only reset.
Best Value
- Explore & Craft - Huge, unique and rich environments, offering the freedom to play the game any way you want while you craft and repair weapons, clothes, armor, tools, vehicles, and more.
- Build - Take over a ruin, or build from the ground-up. Design your fortress to include traps and defensive positions to survive the undead - the world is fully destructible and moldable.
- Cooperate or Compete - Includes two player split screen mode, with additional online multiplayer modes and features to be revealed in the near future.
- Create - Unleash your creativity and build the ultimate world by yourself friends. Enjoy unlimited access to nearly 400 in-game items and 1,200 unique building blocks in creative mode.
- Improve - Increase your skills in a multitude of active and passive disciplines. 7 to Die is the only true survival RPG with nearly 50 multi-tiered skill and perk groups.
The map looks the same when a new map was expected
Deleting GameName alone does not necessarily remove cached terrain. Stop the server and remove the matching directory under GeneratedWorlds/ or the host’s equivalent, then start again. Keep the backup so you can restore the former terrain if the result is unsuitable.
Players lost progress unexpectedly
Character data lives in Player/. If the complete GameName folder was deleted, player levels, perks, inventory, and status were deleted with it. Stop the server and restore the original save from the backup rather than trying to reconstruct progression manually. For future wipes, preserve Player/ before clearing world-state data.
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Bases or excavations remain
Those changes are stored in Region/. Confirm that the intended save’s region data was removed and that the server is not loading another GameName folder. Do not delete unrelated saves while searching for the active path.
The server will not start after a selective reset
Stop it again and restore the complete backup. Selective combinations of old and newly created files can be incompatible if copied while the server is running or if files from different saves are mixed. Once the original save starts, repeat the operation with a fresh backup and preserve only the components you have a clear reason to keep.
The panel shows no obvious Saves or GeneratedWorlds folder
Some hosts hide the underlying data root or use a custom label. Use the panel’s save-management documentation, file manager, or support channel to identify the active equivalent. Do not assume that a similarly named directory is the live one; confirm by matching the configured world and game names.
Rollback procedure
If the wipe produced the wrong terrain or removed data that should have survived, stop the server immediately. Remove the newly created save only after confirming that the backup is intact, then copy the backed-up GameName folder back into the original Saves/<GameWorld>/ location. If generated terrain was also removed, restore the matching directory under GeneratedWorlds/. Restore the original configuration values, including World Name, before starting the server.
For a rollback from a temporary new World Name, stop the server, change the setting back to the old name, and start it. Because the old save was not deleted, it should remain available in its original location.
Quick Recap
Final pre-start checklist
- The server process is stopped, not merely disconnected from the console.
- A complete, dated copy of the save exists outside the live directory.
- You identified the active data root from the configuration or hosting panel.
- You chose whether terrain, bases, characters, world time, and map exploration should survive.
- You deleted only the intended
GameName,Player/,Region/,main.ttp,map_*.dat, or generated-world directory. - You used an unused World Name when a reversible managed-host reset was preferable.
- You restarted once, verified the result, and kept the server closed if rollback was needed.
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