Archived servers on uniz.host — where the world went and how to get it back
Archived servers on uniz.host — where the world went and how to get it back
Last updated 2026-08-14
Short answer
A server left stopped long enough is archived automatically: the platform packs the whole disk into a single stored file and releases the disk. The threshold is 7 days stopped, or 1 day if the owner's account has never made a real top-up. A running server is never touched, and your world is not deleted. The server page swaps its power buttons for a card reading "This server is archived" with the stored size and one button, "Restore & start". Pressing it recreates the disk, unpacks your world onto it and starts the server. Restoring is free, nothing is billed while a server sits archived because nothing is running, and the Files and Console tabs stay unavailable until it is back.
Steps at a glance
Open the archived server's page
Press restore and start
Wait for the badge to go from restoring to online
Contents
Contents
One day you open the server page and the start button is gone, replaced by a card reading "This server is archived". That is not a deletion and it is not a fault. It is what happens to a server left stopped long enough. This guide covers why, what you can do meanwhile, and how to bring it back.
What archiving is
A running server has its own disk holding the world and every file on it. That disk is reserved for you alone whether the server is on or off.
Once a server has been stopped long enough, the platform packs everything on that disk into one file, stores it, and releases the disk for other work. The server's state becomes "Archived".
Your world is not deleted — only moved. The card on the server page shows you the size of the stored file, evidence right in front of you that it is all still there.
When it happens
Account
Archived after being stopped for
has made a real top-up
7 days
has never made a real top-up
1 day
The clock runs from when the server stopped, not from your last visit to the site.
The shorter threshold applies to accounts that have never made a real top-up, so disk comes back sooner. Coupon credit, referral credit and adjustments by our team do not count as a real top-up. Once a real top-up is made, your servers go back to the seven-day threshold.
Two things never happen:
A running server is never touched, however long it has been up. Archiving only ever looks at servers that are already stopped.
A backup in progress is never interrupted. If a backup or restore is under way, the server is skipped for that pass.
A server that is asleep counts as stopped. If nobody joins before the threshold, it is archived normally — which is the right outcome, because a server nobody plays on should not hold a disk indefinitely.
Bringing it back
Open the archived server's page
The server is still in your list as usual, with the badge reading "Archived".
Press restore and start
In this state the usual start, stop and restart buttons are gone, replaced by a card carrying a single button: "Restore & start". That one button does two things in sequence — creates a fresh disk and unpacks your world back onto it, then starts the server.
Restoring is free. Charges resume only once the server is online, exactly as with an ordinary start.
Wait for the badge to go from restoring to online
While it works the badge reads "Restoring" and the button cannot be pressed again. You can close the tab: the work runs on our side and does not depend on your browser.
How long it takes depends on the size of the world, and it is always longer than a plain start because the file has to be unpacked first. Games installed through Steam take longer still — the game's own files are deliberately excluded from the archive, since they can be downloaded again and storing them would bloat the file for nothing, so they are fetched again during the restore. Your saves and configuration always come from the archive.
What is available while archived
With no disk to touch, the screen closes off everything that needs one.
What you want to do
While archived
Browse or edit files
no — it says file management is unavailable while the world is archived
Watch the console
no — nothing is running to produce logs
Take or restore a backup
no — restore the server first
Change plan or size
yes, and it applies immediately
Delete the server
yes
Changing size is worth a note. Because the server is already archived, the change applies immediately with nothing to wait for, and the screen tells you your world is restored onto the new machine the next time you press Start. That is the cleanest way to move between plans: let it archive, change the size, then restore.
Where the archive is kept
In our own storage, running inside the same cluster as your server — it is not
shipped out to an external provider. The backups you take yourself live in the
same system.
One consequence is worth knowing: deleting a server deletes its archive with
it, because the archive belongs to that server rather than to your account. If
you want to keep a world after you are done with the server, restore it first,
download one backup to your own machine, and delete afterwards.
Archiving is not a backup
These two get confused more than anything else here, and the difference matters exactly when something has gone wrong.
Archive
Backup
Who triggers it
the platform, after a long stop
you, on a schedule or on demand
How many copies
one — the state it stopped in
as many as you configure
Can you rewind
no, only the latest state
yes, to a chosen date and time
What it is for
parking a server nobody is using
a broken, griefed, or regretted world
Put simply: archiving stops an unused server from holding a disk. Backups stop you losing your work. If you want the ability to rewind, set that up yourself in the Backups tab.
Who can restore
Restoring is starting a server, so it needs the same power permission. Owners always have it; team members need it granted.
No. Archiving moves where it is stored; it does not delete it. The platform packs everything on the server's disk into a single file, keeps it in our storage, and releases the disk. The card on the server page even shows you the size of that stored file, which is the evidence it is all there. Restore whenever you like.
Does restoring cost anything?
No. Restoring is free, and nothing is billed while the server sits archived, because billing counts the time a server is actually running and an archived server runs nothing at all. Charges resume once the restore finishes and the server is online.
Why was my server archived after only a day?
Because the owner's account has never made a real top-up. Servers on those accounts are archived one day after being stopped rather than seven, to return disk sooner. Coupon credit, referral credit and adjustments made by our team do not count as a real top-up. The world is kept in exactly the same way and restoring is free in exactly the same way, and once a real top-up is made the seven-day threshold applies again.
How long does a restore take?
It depends on the size of the world, and it is always longer than an ordinary start, because a disk has to be created and the file unpacked onto it first. Games installed through Steam take longer still, because the game's own files are deliberately left out of the archive — they can simply be downloaded again, and storing them would bloat the file for nothing — so they are fetched again during the restore. Your saves and configuration always come from the archive.
What can I do while a server is archived?
Deliberately very little, because there is no disk to touch. The Files tab says file management is unavailable while the world is archived, the console has no logs to show, and the usual power buttons are replaced by a single restore button. What you can still do is change the plan or the size, which applies immediately and is used by the next restore.
How is archiving different from a backup?
They solve different problems. Archiving is about *storage*: the platform does it for you when a server has been stopped a while, there is exactly one copy — the state it was in when it stopped — and it has one destination, back to the same server. A backup is about *time*: you choose how many to keep, when they are taken, and which point you go back to. If you want the ability to rewind, you have to set up backups; archiving does not give you that.