7 Days to Die Save File Locations
Where your world, player profiles, config and logs live on a GameGrid server, and which folders are shared rather than yours.
World Save Directory
Open the Files tab. Your world lives under: saves/Saves/<World>/<Savegame Name>/
<World> is the Game World setting - Navezgane, RWG, or one of the Pregen maps. <Savegame Name> is the Savegame Name setting, which defaults to MyGame. Both are in Settings under World.
A stock server therefore has its world at saves/Saves/Navezgane/MyGame/.
GameGrid redirects the game's user data folder into your server's own saves/ directory on every start, which is why the path is not the %APPDATA% one you would see at home.
Changing Savegame Name starts a fresh save in a new folder alongside the old one. The old world is not deleted, and setting the name back returns you to it.
Key Files
main.ttp - the world state: map, POI states, blocks, vehicles.
region/ - the bulk of the world data, as .7rg files. One file covers a block of chunks.
player/ - one .ttp per player holding their inventory, health, skills and progress, plus map data.
map/ - the tile images the game renders while players explore, which is what the panel's Live Map draws from. Only written when Enable Map Rendering is on.
The save directory also holds a handful of .xml and .twd files with world time, weather and global state.
Configuration Files
config/serverconfig.xml - the live config. This is the file the game is launched against, and it is the one Settings writes.
serverconfig.xml in the server root - NOT the live file. It is a leftover from the game install and editing it has no effect. Ignore it.
saves/Saves/serveradmin.xml - admins, whitelist and bans. Edited from Settings > Player Management.
platform.cfg - platform-written, and it is what makes crossplay possible. The correct version is rewritten on every start, so an edit will not survive; see the crossplay article.
Mods/ - installed mods, one folder each. Remove a mod by deleting its folder with the server stopped.
logs/output_log.txt - the server log. The Console tab shows it live.
Folders That Are Not Yours
Data/, 7DaysToDieServer_Data/, MonoBleedingEdge/ and the game binaries are shared between every 7 Days to Die server on the host and are linked into your folder rather than copied.
Do not write into them. A change there is not per-server, it is not backed up, and it is replaced when the game is updated.
Anything you want to keep belongs in saves/, Mods/, config/ or the root config files - which is exactly the set that goes into a backup.
How GameGrid Backups Work
Automatic backups run daily, and also before an update and before a reinstall. They are kept on a rolling policy - the Backups tab states the current one - and they do not count against your storage quota.
Manual backups are the ones you take yourself with "Create Backup Now" on the Backups tab. You can label them, and they count against your 30 GB manual quota. Take one before an update, a wipe or a big settings change.
A backup captures your save data, your mods, your config and your player lists - everything in the folders above. It does not capture the shared game binaries, because those are reinstalled rather than restored.
To restore, use the Backups tab and click Restore on the backup you want. The server is stopped, restored and started again for you.
Never edit or delete save files while the server is running. Stop it first.