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How to Wipe an Unturned Server: Partial and Full Wipes

A safe Unturned wipe starts with Save, Shutdown and a complete backup. Remove the active Level map folder for a world reset, Players data for a player reset, or both for a full wipe.
Length8 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team

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To wipe an Unturned server safely, stop it cleanly, save and back up the server directory, then delete only the save category you intend to reset. Delete the current map folder under Level for a world-only wipe, remove player-save data under Players for a player-only wipe, or perform both deletions for a full wipe. The exact filesystem path depends on the installation and the server’s ServerID.

What each type of wipe changes

An Unturned server stores world state and player state separately. Choosing the wrong deletion can remove more progress than intended, so decide what must survive before touching the files.

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Wipe type World structures and map changes Player inventories, skills and progress Bans, whitelist and admin records Configuration and Workshop settings
Map/world-only Removed for the selected map; buildings, barricades and other saved world changes are reset. Retained. Retained unless you separately alter the administrative files. Retained.
Player-data-only Retained, including bases and barricades. Removed from the player-save data. Players.dat is a separate administrative file; handle it independently. Retained.
Full wipe Removed for the selected map. Removed. Not automatically removed unless you also delete or replace the separate administrative data. Retained unless you intentionally reset configuration.

A player-only wipe therefore does not remove bases. Bases are world data, so they disappear in a map wipe, not merely because player-save data was deleted.

Before deleting anything

Announce maintenance and stop new joins

Tell players when the server will close and what kind of reset is planned. Stop new connections before the final save so nobody is writing data while you prepare the backup.

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Save and shut down from the server console

With the server still running, enter:

Save

After the save completes, enter:

Shutdown

Smartly Dressed Games’ server-hosting documentation explains why both steps matter: “There is no built-in autosave feature. You must use the Save command to manually save your server while its still running, or the Shutdown command to safely save and close your server.” Do not delete save folders while the server process is active.

Back up the complete server directory

Copy the entire server folder, including saves and configuration, before removing a file or directory. Official documentation places savedata and configuration under U3DS/Servers/, with one folder per server. In a typical installation the relevant location is:

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U3DS/Servers/<ServerID>/

Keep the backup outside the live server directory and label it with the date and wipe type. A complete backup lets you restore the original map, player state or administrative records if you select the wrong server or folder.

Confirm the active server and map

Verify the exact ServerID folder and the map currently being played. Do not assume a hosting-provider example such as Pingperfect matches your installation. Workshop maps can use names that differ from their display title, and Linux paths are case-sensitive; copy the folder name exactly.

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How to perform a map-only wipe

Use a map-only wipe when you want a fresh world while preserving player records. This removes bases, barricades and other changes saved in the map, but it does not intentionally erase inventories, skills or other player progress.

  1. Complete the maintenance, Save, Shutdown and full-backup steps.
  2. Open the confirmed server directory under U3DS/Servers/<ServerID>/.
  3. Open the server’s Level directory.
  4. Identify the folder whose name matches the map currently being played.
  5. Delete only that map folder. Do not remove the entire Level directory unless you deliberately intend to remove every stored map there.
  6. Restart the server and wait for the level to finish loading before allowing players back in.

The map folder contains the saved world state. Removing it is the appropriate way to reset structures and map changes while leaving the player-save data in place. If the server has several maps, deleting the wrong folder can leave the active map untouched or reset a different map, so verify the name twice before confirming deletion.

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What players should expect after a map wipe

  • Buildings, bases, barricades and other placed world objects on the wiped map are gone.
  • Player inventories, skills and progression remain when the player-save data is left intact.
  • Administrative controls and configuration remain unless you separately modify their files.
  • The map starts from its original state when the server regenerates or reloads it.

How to perform a player-data-only wipe

Use a player-data-only wipe when you want everyone to start over personally while preserving the existing world. The operation targets player-save data in the server’s Players directory, not the map folder.

  1. Announce the reset and prevent new joins.
  2. Run Save, then Shutdown in the server console.
  3. Back up the entire U3DS/Servers/<ServerID>/ folder.
  4. Open the server’s Players directory.
  5. Delete the player-save data inside that directory, and nothing in Level.
  6. Start the server and verify the load before reconnecting players.

This resets the progress represented by those player saves, including the player state that the server stores there. The map remains intact, so bases, barricades and other world structures stay where they were. Because administrative records are stored separately, inspect those records before deciding whether they should survive the reset.

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Why Players.dat needs separate handling

Unturned’s administrative data is not the same thing as the player-save directory. The 57 Studios reference lists Players.dat as a separate binary file for the whitelist, bans and administrator privileges. It also warns against editing that file while the server is running.

Consequently, deleting player-save data does not automatically mean that bans, whitelist entries or admin privileges are deleted. If your policy requires a completely new administrative list, make that a separate, deliberate operation and retain the backup first. If the policy is only to reset inventories and skills, leave Players.dat alone.

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  • Keep Players.dat when you want existing bans, whitelist entries and admin privileges to remain.
  • Do not open or edit the binary file while the server process is live.
  • After any wipe, test an administrator login, a whitelisted account and a banned account as appropriate for your server.

How to perform a full wipe

A full wipe combines the two partial operations: remove the active map folder under Level and remove the player-save data under Players. It resets the world and player progression together.

  1. Stop joins, announce the maintenance window and record which map and server are being reset.
  2. Run Save, then Shutdown.
  3. Back up the complete server directory.
  4. Delete the active map folder inside Level.
  5. Delete the player-save data inside Players.
  6. Leave administrative and configuration files in place unless you have a separate reason to reset them.
  7. Restart, wait for Loading level: 100%, and complete the verification checks before reopening the server.

A full wipe is not the same as deleting every file in the server directory. It resets world and player saves while normally preserving server settings, Workshop configuration and administrative records that you did not intentionally remove.

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Do not confuse a save wipe with a configuration reset

The ResetConfig command resets the server configuration file to its defaults. The Unturned command reference describes it as “Resets the config file to the default values.” It does not replace deletion of map or player-save data.

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The 57 Studios reference identifies Commands.dat, Players.dat and Config.json under Servers/<servername>/Server/. These files control configuration or administration; they are not shortcuts for clearing a world. Deleting them can remove settings you intended to keep, and editing Players.dat while the process is running is unsafe.

Use ResetConfig only when the configuration itself is the problem

  • Use a map-folder deletion to reset structures and map changes.
  • Use player-save deletion to reset personal progress.
  • Use ResetConfig only when you intentionally want the configuration restored to defaults.
  • Do not delete Commands.dat, Players.dat or Config.json as a general-purpose wipe method.
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Finding the correct folders

Identify the right server folder

One installation can contain multiple servers under U3DS/Servers/. The folder name is the server’s identifier, which may not be the public server name shown to players. Match the running instance to its actual ServerID before opening Level or Players.

Identify the right map folder

Use the map name reported by the running server or shown in its configuration, then compare it with the directory names under Level. Workshop maps are especially easy to misidentify because their folder names may not match the title displayed in a launcher. On Linux, capitalization and spelling must match exactly.

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Check the path before confirming deletion

Before pressing Delete, confirm all three parts: the intended ServerID, the intended category (Level or Players), and, for a map wipe, the exact active map folder. If any part is uncertain, stop and inspect the backup or hosting panel rather than guessing.

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Verification after restarting

Start the server and wait until the console reaches:

Loading level: 100%

Reconnect only after that point. Then check the result that corresponds to the wipe you performed.

  • Map-only wipe: join the intended map and confirm that expected structures, bases and barricades are gone.
  • Player-only wipe: confirm that the world and bases remain, while player progress is reset as intended.
  • Full wipe: confirm both a fresh world and reset player state.
  • Administrative records: test whitelist, ban and administrator behavior because those controls are associated with Players.dat.
  • Configuration: verify that server settings and Workshop options still match the pre-wipe configuration.

If the wrong map, server or player data was removed, stop the server, preserve the current directory for diagnosis, and restore the appropriate files from the complete backup. Do not continue making deletions while trying to determine what went wrong.

Choosing the right wipe for common goals

Goal Correct action Do not delete
Remove bases and rebuild the world while keeping player progress Delete the active map folder under Level. Player-save data under Players.
Make everyone restart with fresh inventories and skills while keeping the built world Delete player-save data under Players. The active map folder under Level.
Start both the world and player progression over Delete both the active map folder and player-save data. Configuration and administrative files unless separately intended.
Restore default server settings Use ResetConfig or intentionally replace the configuration from a known backup. Do not treat this as a map or player wipe.

Maintenance checklist

  1. Tell players the exact wipe type and maintenance window.
  2. Block new joins.
  3. Run Save in the live console.
  4. Run Shutdown and verify the process has closed.
  5. Back up all of U3DS/Servers/<ServerID>/.
  6. Confirm the active map and exact server folder.
  7. Delete only the selected map folder, player-save data, or both.
  8. Leave Players.dat and configuration files untouched unless their reset is intentional.
  9. Restart and wait for Loading level: 100%.
  10. Test world state, player state, administrative controls and settings before reopening the server.

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