How to Backup or Restore a Minecraft Realm

If you plan on taking a break from Minecraft for an extended period of time, it is important to backup your Minecraft Realm as the game will delete your world after a certain point of time if you do not maintain a subscription. Players may also want to backup a Minecraft Realm if they want to load it on a different server. Here is a rundown of how to properly backup a Minecraft Realm and how to restore it from a backup file. 

Important Note Before Backing Up Minecraft Realms 

There are two versions of Minecraft to ensure the game runs on different platforms. The Java Edition for PC, Mac, and Linux allows you to back up and restore realms. The mobile, console and Windows 10 version of Minecraft does not allow you to backup your realm so if you want it to be kept on the game’s servers perpetually, you have to keep renewing your Realms subscription.

How to Download a Minecraft Realm

Launch the game and select Minecraft Realms. There you'll find a list of Realms that you own or have been invited to. You can only download a world from a Realm which you personally own. Currently, it is not possible to download other people’s Realms. 

1. Go to your Realms configuration by selecting the button with a tool symbol.

2. From the Realms configuration screen, go to your World backups.

3. Select the Download Latest button and follow the instructions on your screen. 

The world you download will be saved with your single-player worlds. You can access downloaded worlds in single-player mode and you can upload them to a different Realm.

How to Restore a Minecraft Realm

You can restore a Minecraft Realm only if you have an active Realms subscription. Make sure that you purchase a subscription from the official Minecraft Realms website. The subscription price starts at $7.99 USD per month. 

After purchasing a new Realm subscription and creating a new world within that Realm, you can access the Realm configuration menu to upload a backup.

1. From the main menu select Realms

2. Find the Realm you wish to modify and select the wrench icon

3. Under Worlds, select an empty world slot

4. Click Upload world

5. Select the backup you would like to load

If you are unable to restore a Minecraft Realm, head to Minecraft support for further assistance. We recommend making at least two backups in case of file corruption and saving your realm on the cloud is one of the best ways to keep your Minecraft world safe.