Backup & Recovery

Backup Overview

Backup Type	Frequency	Location	Managed By
SMAPI Auto-Backup	Once per day	/data/game/save-backups	SMAPI
Docker Volumes	Persistent	Host filesystem	Docker
Manual Backups	On-demand	Your choice	You

SMAPI Automatic Backups

SMAPI's built-in Save Backup mod compresses all your saves into a single dated zip once per day.

Viewing Backups

docker compose exec server ls -al /data/game/save-backups

You'll see dated zip files named {date} - SMAPI {version} with Stardew Valley {version}.zip (the version numbers reflect your installed build):

2026-03-26 - SMAPI 4.5.1 with Stardew Valley 1.6.15.zip
2026-03-21 - SMAPI 4.5.1 with Stardew Valley 1.6.15.zip
...

Each archive contains every save folder (e.g. Junimo_430843225/) at its root.

Restoring from SMAPI Backup

1. Move current save aside:

docker compose exec server bash -c "cd /config/xdg/config/StardewValley && mv Saves Saves_old && mkdir Saves"

2. List available backups:

docker compose exec server ls -al /data/game/save-backups

3. Restore the desired backup:

docker compose exec server unzip "/data/game/save-backups/BACKUP_FILENAME.zip" -d /config/xdg/config/StardewValley/Saves/

4. Verify and restart:

docker compose exec server ls -al /config/xdg/config/StardewValley/Saves
docker compose restart

Docker Volume Persistence

Your data lives in Docker volumes and bind mounts that persist across container restarts and updates:

Data	Storage	Contents
Saves	saves volume	Save files
Game data	game-data volume	Game files
Steam session	steam-session volume	Steam tokens
Discord dashboard	discord-bot-data volume	Dashboard ownership id (details)
Settings	.local-container/settings/ bind mount	Server configuration (server-settings.json)

Volume Names

Docker Compose prefixes each volume with your project directory name, so the saves volume is actually <project>_saves (e.g. server_saves if you cloned into a server/ directory). Run docker volume ls to see the real names, and substitute your prefix wherever <project>_saves appears below.

Inspecting Volumes

# List volumes (find your real prefix here)
docker volume ls

# Inspect the saves volume
docker volume inspect <project>_saves

Manual Backups

For maximum safety, create periodic manual backups.

All commands below use <project>_saves for the saves volume. Replace it with your real prefix (see the volume names note above).

Backup Saves Volume

Linux/macOS:

docker run --rm -v <project>_saves:/saves -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/saves-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /saves

Windows PowerShell:

docker run --rm -v <project>_saves:/saves -v ${PWD}:/backup alpine tar czf /backup/saves-backup-$(Get-Date -Format "yyyyMMdd").tar.gz /saves

Backup All Data

Create a comprehensive backup:

# Stop server first
docker compose down

# Backup saves volume
docker run --rm -v <project>_saves:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/saves-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /data

# Backup settings (bind mount, just copy the directory)
cp -r .local-container/settings settings-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)

# Restart server
docker compose up -d

Restore from Manual Backup

# Stop server
docker compose down

# Remove old volume
docker volume rm <project>_saves

# Recreate volume
docker volume create <project>_saves

# Restore from backup
docker run --rm -v <project>_saves:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine sh -c "cd /data && tar xzf /backup/saves-YYYYMMDD.tar.gz --strip-components=1"

# Restart
docker compose up -d

Backup Best Practices

Frequency

Situation	Recommended Frequency
Active development	Before any changes
Regular play	Daily
Stable server	Weekly
Before upgrades	Always

Storage

• Keep backups off the server (cloud storage, different machine)
• Maintain multiple generations (daily, weekly, monthly)
• Test restore procedures periodically
• Document your backup locations

Automation

Consider automating backups with cron (Linux) or Task Scheduler (Windows):

# Example cron entry (daily at 3 AM)
0 3 * * * /path/to/backup-script.sh

Bringing in a save from elsewhere?

This page covers backing up and restoring saves you already host. To import an existing save into the server, see Importing Saves.

Recovery Scenarios

Corrupted Save

1. Check SMAPI backups for recent clean save
2. Restore from backup as described above
3. If all backups corrupted, check manual backups

Accidental Deletion

1. Saves volume persists unless explicitly deleted
2. Restore from SMAPI or manual backup
3. Consider more frequent backups

Server Crash

1. Docker auto-restarts containers
2. Last save should be intact
3. Check logs for cause: docker compose logs

Failed Upgrade

1. Don't panic. Volumes persist.
2. Rollback server version if needed
3. Restore saves from pre-upgrade backup