How to Add a Savegame to Your Avorion Server

In Avorion a savegame is always a complete galaxy – an entire folder, not a single file. The name of that folder is at the same time the galaxy name your server loads on startup. Both have to match, otherwise your server starts with a new, empty galaxy.

Tip

Create a backup of your current galaxy before uploading, in case you want to switch back later.

What belongs to the galaxy?

Besides the actual save data, the galaxy folder also holds the server-side settings:

File	Content
server.ini	Server settings of the galaxy
admin.xml	List of administrators
modconfig.lua	Configuration of the mods

Always upload the folder completely – individual files taken from it do not make a usable savegame.

Find your local galaxy

1. Open the galaxy folder
   On your PC press Windows key + R, enter the following path and confirm with Enter:

   %AppData%\Avorion\galaxies

   On Linux the galaxies are located in the folder ~/.avorion/galaxies.

2. Select the galaxy
   Inside you will find one folder per galaxy. Choose the folder of the galaxy you want to transfer – you need the complete folder including its contents.

Upload the galaxy

1. Stop the server
   Stop your server via the dashboard. While the server is running it writes to the save files itself.

2. Connect via SFTP
   Connect to your server via SFTP or use the file browser in the dashboard.

3. Open the data directory
   Navigate to the directory where your server stores its galaxies:

   /galaxy/

   You can recognise it by the fact that it already contains a folder named after your current galaxy – with the files server.ini, admin.xml and modconfig.lua inside.

   Note

   Which directory your server uses is defined by the startup parameter --datapath; the galaxy folder sits inside it under its own name (<data directory>/<galaxy name>). If no galaxy folder exists at all yet, start the server once – the folder structure and the server.ini are only created on the first start. Stop it again afterwards.

4. Upload the galaxy folder
   Upload the complete folder of your galaxy with all its files into this directory.

   Warning

   Use a folder name without spaces and special characters and keep it short. It is best to replace spaces with underscores, for example My_Galaxy – otherwise spaces in the folder name cause problems on startup.

5. Enter the galaxy name
   Open the dashboard, switch to the settings and enter the folder name of your uploaded galaxy in the field for the galaxy name (Galaxy Name) – exactly as it is written, including capitalisation.

6. Start the server
   Save all changes and start your server. On startup your uploaded galaxy is now loaded.

Important

The folder name and the configured galaxy name have to match exactly. If they do not, your server simply creates a new, empty galaxy under the configured name on startup – your uploaded galaxy is then left untouched and is not loaded.

Warning

Only change server settings while the server is stopped. Values your server receives as startup parameters – such as the galaxy name – are written into the server.ini on startup and overwrite differing entries there.

Tip

If you want to save your galaxy first or move it to another server, you can find the other direction under Download savegame.