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How to Transfer Your Nova-Life Server From Another Host?

ℹ️ Switching hosts but want to keep your data (players, configuration, plugins)? Here's how to migrate your Nova-Life server to FreshPerf.

Table of Contents

Order Your FreshPerf Server

Before any transfer, your Nova-Life server must be ordered and active with FreshPerf. Once the order is validated, an empty server is created and accessible from your FreshPerf panel.

Retrieve the Files From Your Previous Host

Log in to your previous host's panel and retrieve your server's folder:

Servers/[Your server ID]/

It should contain at least:

  • Backups/ — timestamped backups;
  • Config/ — configuration files (map, announcements, dealership, etc.);
  • Plugins/ — one subfolder per installed plugin;
  • life.db — player data, economy, factions.

Two methods are generally available:

  • Archive download: select all files in your previous host's file manager, compress them into a .zip, then download the archive.
  • SFTP: for large volumes, use an SFTP client (FileZilla, WinSCP...) with the credentials provided by your previous host to download the whole folder locally.

⚠️ Make sure to stop your old server before copying the files, to be sure you're retrieving a stable, non-corrupted version.

Stop the New Server

On the FreshPerf panel, make sure your new server is stopped before importing any files, using the Start/Stop button in the Console tab.

Transfer the Files to FreshPerf

Open the Files tab of your FreshPerf server. Your server's folder is located at:

/home/container/Servers/[Your server ID]/

It already contains empty Backups/, Config/, Plugins/ folders and a life.db file:

Two options depending on your file size:

  • Small volumes: use the Upload button to directly import your .zip archive, then extract it (right-click → Extract).
  • Large volumes: use the SFTP access provided by FreshPerf (credentials available in the panel's Network tab) with a client like FileZilla, to send files faster than a web upload.

Replace the new server's empty files/folders with those from your old server (Backups/, Config/, Plugins/, life.db).

Check the Configuration

Before restarting, check that:

  • Config/server.json contains the correct mapId (see the How to change the map? article if needed);
  • life.db is present and not empty;
  • the Plugins/ folder contains all your plugins (one subfolder per plugin);
  • no host-specific files (startup scripts, specific network config) were copied by mistake, as this can prevent the server from starting on FreshPerf.

Restart and Test

Start your server from the FreshPerf panel and connect in-game to check that your data (players, economy, plugins) is present.

ℹ️ If there's an issue on startup, check the server console to identify the error, or contact FreshPerf support.

🇬🇧 Reminder: keep a copy of your old server's files until you've confirmed everything works correctly on FreshPerf.