How to Convert Minecraft Worlds from Vanilla to Spigot

If you recently upgraded your Minecraft server on CloudNord from Vanilla to Spigot, PaperSpigot, or CraftBukkit, you may notice that your Nether and End dimensions seem to have reset, and any changes made in those worlds have disappeared. This issue occurs because Vanilla and Spigot-based servers store dimension data differently, but your progress is safe and can be recovered by manually migrating the dimension files.

Why Does This Happen?

• Vanilla Minecraft stores the Nether and End worlds inside the main world folder in subfolders named:

  • DIM-1 for the Nether

  • DIM1 for the End

• Spigot, Paper, and CraftBukkit store these dimensions separately from the main world folder in distinct folders:

  • world_nether for the Nether

  • world_the_end for the End

When switching from Vanilla to Spigot, the server doesn’t automatically load the old dimension data because it looks for dimension folders in different locations. To restore your Nether and End progress, you need to move your data from the Vanilla dimension folders to the Spigot-specific folders.

Step-by-Step World Conversion Guide on CloudNord

Follow these instructions carefully to transfer your Nether and End dimension data from Vanilla to Spigot on CloudNord:

1. Stop Your Server

• Log in to your CloudNord Control Panel https://game.cloudnord.net/

• Select your Minecraft server instance

• Click Stop to safely shut down your server before making file changes. This prevents data corruption.

2. Access Your Vanilla Dimension Files

• Go to the File Manager or connect via FTP in your control panel.

• Navigate to your Vanilla world folder, usually named world.

• Open the folders that contain the dimension data you want to restore:

  • For the Nether, open world/DIM-1

  • For the End, open world/DIM1

These folders contain the region files with your world data.

3. Download the Region Folder

• Inside the chosen dimension folder (DIM-1 or DIM1), find and download the entire region folder to your local computer.

• This folder contains all chunks, modifications, and structures for that dimension.

4. Prepare the Spigot Dimension Folders

• Back in the File Manager, navigate to the new dimension folders created by Spigot after the server upgrade:

  • For the Nether, open world_nether

  • For the End, open world_the_end

If these folders don’t exist, Spigot will create them after the server runs once, or you can create them manually before uploading.

5. Upload the Region Folder to Spigot Dimensions

• Upload the region folder you downloaded from the Vanilla dimension folders into the corresponding Spigot dimension folder:

  • Upload to world_nether/region for the Nether

  • Upload to world_the_end/region for the End

Confirm any overwrite prompts to replace the existing files with your backed-up data.

6. Start Your Server and Check

• Return to your CloudNord control panel and click Start to relaunch your Spigot server.

• Join your server and enter your Nether and End dimensions to verify that your original builds and terrain modifications have been restored.

Additional Tips and Recommendations

• Always create a full backup of your server files before performing manual file transfers to protect your data against accidental loss.

• Use reliable FTP clients (such as FileZilla) or CloudNord’s File Manager for file transfers to avoid file corruption.

• Ensure folder names and paths match exactly to the instructions, as Spigot and Vanilla expect specific directory structures.

• If you face any issues after migration, try restarting the server and clearing your Minecraft client cache.

Migrating from Vanilla to Spigot requires careful file management due to the different ways dimension data is handled, but by following this guide, your Nether and End worlds will remain intact on your upgraded Spigot server.

For further assistance or questions, please reach out to CloudNord support through your control panel or visit our knowledge base articles.

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