How to Back Up Your Barotrauma Server
What files to back up, how often, and how to restore — so a crash or bad update doesn't wipe your campaign progress.
What to Back Up
Not everything in the server directory needs to be backed up — installed binaries can be re-downloaded. The files that matter are the ones you configured or created:
| Path | Why it matters |
|---|---|
Servers/<ServerName>/serversettings.xml |
All your server configuration |
Servers/<ServerName>/clientpermissions.xml |
Admin and permission grants |
Servers/<ServerName>/Saves/ |
All campaign save data |
Servers/<ServerName>/banlist.txt |
Banned player list |
Submarines/ |
Any custom submarine files your crew uses |
Mods/ |
Locally installed mods (Workshop mods can be re-downloaded, but local copies save time) |
When to Back Up
- Before and after each play session for active campaigns — this is the safest cadence
- Before any server update — save formats occasionally change between game versions
- Before installing or updating mods — mods can corrupt saves in rare cases
- At minimum: once a week for servers that run regularly
Missing one backup before an update is the most common way crews lose campaign progress.
How to Back Up
Stop the server first to ensure files aren't being written mid-copy.
Linux:
# Create a timestamped backup
tar -czf /backups/barotrauma_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).tar.gz \
Servers/MyServer/serversettings.xml \
Servers/MyServer/clientpermissions.xml \
Servers/MyServer/banlist.txt \
Servers/MyServer/Saves/ \
Submarines/ \
Mods/
Windows (PowerShell):
$timestamp = Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd_HHmmss"
Compress-Archive -Path "Servers\MyServer\Saves\", "Servers\MyServer\serversettings.xml", "Submarines\" `
-DestinationPath "C:\Backups\barotrauma_$timestamp.zip"
Restoring from Backup
- Stop the server
- Extract or copy the backup files back to their original locations
- Restart the server
For campaign saves specifically, see How to Save and Load Barotrauma Campaign Saves for step-by-step restore instructions.
Before Updating
Always run a backup immediately before running app_update 1026340 in SteamCMD. If the update ships a save format change, you want a pre-update backup you can fall back to.
If the update does break your save, restore from the pre-update backup and wait for the community to report a fix — usually a hotfix ships quickly for major save-breaking changes.