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Import a private Nova-Life server save

Already played on a Nova-Life: Amboise server you created privately (on your PC or with another host)? You can bring its save — players, money, properties, permissions — to your YorkHost server. Upload the server folder to the right place, then check two settings: the name and the port.

How a Nova-Life server is organised​

Each Nova-Life server is a folder inside Servers/, named after the server name:

Servers/
└── MyServer/
    ├── Config/
    │   └── server.json   ← settings (ports, list name, slots…)
    ├── Saves/            ← world data
    ├── Logs/             ← logs
    └── life.db           ← database (players, money, admins…)

On your YorkHost server, this folder lives in /home/container/Servers/. The server only loads the folder whose name matches the server name set in the panel.

1. Find the folder on your PC​

Find your private server's folder: it is named after your server and contains Config/server.json and life.db.

  • Server run with the Nova-Life dedicated server (SteamCMD): it is in the Servers/ folder of the server install directory (for example nova-life_server/Servers/).
  • Server created from the game: look for a Servers/ folder in the game install directory (Steam → right-click Nova-Life: Amboise → Manage → Browse local files).
  • Server at another host: download the Servers/<your server name>/ folder from its file manager or over FTP/SFTP.
Before copying

Stop your private server before copying the folder: a running server may be writing to life.db, and the copy would be incomplete.

2. Prepare your YorkHost server​

  1. Stop the server from the Game Panel (game.yorkhost.fr).
  2. Create a backup of the current server (Backups tab) so you can roll back.
  3. Open the Files tab and go to /home/container/Servers/: note the exact name of the folder there. It is the server name the panel expects (also shown in the Startup tab).
  4. Open Servers/<name>/Config/server.json and note the serverPort, queryPort and steamPort values: they are the ports of your YorkHost allocation, keep them.

3. Upload the save​

The simplest method: replace the contents of the existing folder with your save, without renaming it.

  1. Connect over SFTP (credentials in Settings → SFTP Details of the Game Panel), for example with FileZilla or WinSCP. SFTP is more reliable than browser upload for a whole folder.
  2. In /home/container/Servers/<name>/, upload the contents of your save folder: life.db, the Saves/ folder and, if you want to keep your settings, Config/server.json. Accept overwriting existing files.
Large folder

You can also zip your folder on your PC, upload the .zip into Servers/<name>/ through the Files tab, then right-click → Unarchive in the panel. Then check that the files sit directly in Servers/<name>/, not in an extra subfolder.

4. Set the right port back​

If you replaced Config/server.json with yours, it holds your old server's ports, which do not work at YorkHost. Reopen Servers/<name>/Config/server.json and put back the ports noted in step 2 (your allocation port, identical on all three lines):

"serverPort": 26064,
"queryPort": 26064,
"steamPort": 26064,

Details in NovaLife connection problems.

5. Start and check​

  1. Start the server from the Game Panel.
  2. Watch the Console: the server should start without creating a blank server.
  3. Join in game and check that players, money and properties are back.

Keep your old server's name​

If you would rather keep your private server's folder name (instead of copying its contents into the existing folder), the panel's server name must be changed to match it exactly (case-sensitive: the server runs on Linux). This setting only applies after a server reinstall: open a ticket and support will handle it with you, backup included.

Troubleshooting​

The server starts from scratch (nobody finds their progress)​

The server is not loading your save: the uploaded folder does not have the expected name, or the files are in an extra subfolder (for example Servers/<name>/<name>/life.db). Stop the server, put life.db and Saves/ directly in Servers/<name>/, then restart.

The server starts but is not in the list / cannot connect​

The ports in server.json do not match your allocation: go back to step 4.

I am no longer an administrator​

Admin rights are stored in life.db: if you uploaded the right database, they are kept. Otherwise, follow Becoming an administrator on your Nova-Life server.

Roll back​

Stop the server and restore the backup created in step 2 from the Backups tab.

Support​

If you get stuck, open a ticket with the name of your save folder and what you have already uploaded: the team can help you with the import.