How to use a custom Terraria world on your server Print

This article explains how to upload a custom Terraria world (singleplayer or downloaded) and use it on your PlayNHost server.

1. Find or prepare your world file

You need the .wld file for the world you want to use.

• From your own PC (singleplayer world):
  • On Windows, open File Explorer and go to:
    Documents\My Games\Terraria\Worlds
  • On this screen you will see one or more .wld files – each one is a world.
• From the internet (downloaded map):
  • Download the world and extract it if it comes in a .zip or archive.
  • You should end up with at least one .wld file.

Keep the .wld file somewhere easy to find – you will upload it to the server in the next step.

2. Log in to the Game Panel and stop the server

1. Go to https://panel.playnhost.com and log in.
2. Select your Terraria server.
3. On the server dashboard, click Stop and wait until the console shows that the server is fully stopped.

3. Upload the world to the server

You can use either the File Manager in the panel or an SFTP client such as FileZilla.

Option A – Upload via File Manager

1. In the Game Panel, open File Manager for the server.
2. Navigate to the folder where Terraria stores worlds on the server. This is usually a folder named worlds or similar.
3. Click Upload and select your .wld file from your computer.
4. Wait for the upload to complete. The file should now appear in the worlds folder.

Option B – Upload via SFTP (advanced)

• Use the SFTP details from your service info (host, port, username, password) with a client like FileZilla.
• Connect to the server and navigate to the worlds directory for Terraria.
• Drag and drop your .wld file into that folder.

4. Tell the server to use your custom world

Terraria servers load a specific world file on startup. You may need to update a setting so your new world is used instead of the old one.

• In the Game Panel, look for a Configuration, Startup or Settings page for your Terraria server.
• If there is a field for World Name or World File, set it to the filename of your uploaded world (without the .wld extension, if the panel expects just the name).
• If your server uses a serverconfig file:
  • Open the File Manager and edit the Terraria configuration file (often serverconfig.txt or similar).
  • Look for the line that points to the world file and change it to your new world’s name.
  • Save the file.

Tip: If you are not sure which setting controls the world file in our panel, open a ticket and mention that you uploaded a custom .wld and want it to be the main world.

5. Start the server and test

1. Return to the server dashboard.
2. Click Start.
3. Watch the console for any error messages while the server starts.
4. Launch Terraria on your PC, click Multiplayer → Join via IP, and connect using your server’s IP and port.
5. You should spawn in your custom world.

6. Keeping a backup of the previous world

• Your previous world file will normally still be on the server unless you deleted it.
• To be safe, use our backup guide to create and download a copy before replacing worlds.
• If you want to switch back later:
  • Stop the server.
  • Change the world setting back to the old world name.
  • Start the server again.

If you run into issues (server failing to start, spawning in the wrong world), please open a ticket from Support → Submit a Ticket with your server name and the world filename you uploaded.