Move Your Minecraft World from Aternos to Chunkly (Step-by-Step)

Before you start: pick Campfire or Village

Campfire is one free Minecraft Java server and does not ask for a credit card. Use it when you want a free world you control. Village Budget is €0.85 per GB of RAM per month for friend SMPs and Paper plugin worlds. Kingdom Premium is €1.90/GB when the pack is heavy or you need an idle policy that can stay awake. Paid plans bill monthly through Stripe; cancel when the season ends.

Sleep is part of the product, not a hidden penalty. Campfire sleeps after about 6 minutes idle. Village Paper and Vanilla sleep after about 12 minutes idle and wake on join, often in 15–30 seconds. Modpacks stay running by default because heavy Forge and NeoForge boots are slow. Kingdom can disable sleep when you need that policy. Village Paper and Vanilla are not always-on. Empty worlds pause so the €/GB rate stays honest. Read /docs/sleep-wake and /blog/minecraft-server-sleep-wake before you tell friends a free server will sit online all night.

After the first successful boot, friends join at name.play.chunkly.net. Java’s default port is 25565, so they type the hostname on its own in Multiplayer. Share that address only after you have joined once yourself.

1) Export the world on Aternos

Stop the Aternos server cleanly so the world saves. In their file manager, download the world folder (often world/, or whatever you renamed it). If you use plugins, download plugins/ and the configs you still want. Player data — playerdata, stats, and advancements — lives inside the world folder on most Vanilla and Paper setups. Keep that zip intact.

On Paper, the Nether and the End are sibling folders, not files buried inside world/. Download world_nether and world_the_end as well when those dimensions have builds. Vanilla keeps the Nether and the End inside the world folder, so one complete folder covers them. Also save server.properties so you can copy level-name later. Write down the exact Minecraft version and software (Vanilla, Paper, Purpur, Fabric, Forge, or NeoForge). You will match those on Chunkly so chunks and mods do not break on first boot.

Keep the local zip until a full play session feels right. That file is your rollback if the upload is incomplete.

2) Create the Chunkly server

Sign up at chunkly.net and create a server. Choose Campfire to try free, or Village if the group already needs paid RAM. Pick the same family of software you used on Aternos: Paper or Purpur for plugins, Fabric, Forge, or NeoForge for mods. Deploy accepts the Minecraft EULA for you. First-time panel steps are in /docs/getting-started.

Do not invite the whole group yet. Boot once on the empty world, confirm the console reaches a joinable state, then replace the world files in the next step.

3) Upload the world (panel files or SFTP)

Stop the Chunkly server before you replace world files. Upload your world folder into the server root, or replace the empty default world/. The folder name must match level-name in server.properties. On Paper, also place world_nether and world_the_end beside world/ if you exported them.

Use the panel file manager for small worlds. Prefer SFTP for large worlds or a full plugin stack. In the panel, open Settings → SFTP Details. The host is sftp.chunkly.net (or your node IP), the port is 2022, the username looks like your-account-email#worldid, and the password is your panel password. In FileZilla, set the protocol to SFTP and accept the host key. The click path is in /docs/sftp.

Start once after the upload and watch the console. A version mismatch, a missing plugin jar, or the wrong level-name shows up there before friends ever connect.

4) Fix version, software, and whitelist

If the console complains about world version or datapacks, align the Chunkly jar and Minecraft version with the Aternos export. Plugin jars must match the Paper major version. A modpack must match loader and pack version. Friends need that same client pack or they get an incompatible mod list. Install notes are in /docs/modpacks and /modpack-server-hosting.

Turn the whitelist on unless you truly want an open world. In the panel, open Players and switch Whitelist Enabled on, then add exact Minecraft usernames. Grant op to the people who manage claims and backups — the console command has no leading slash — or follow /docs/whitelist. Point friends at name.play.chunkly.net, Java port 25565.

5) First-join checklist and rollback

Join yourself first. Confirm spawn, inventories, and that Overworld builds look right. If you uploaded the dimension folders, step through a Nether portal or into the End and check those too. Have one friend join while you watch the console.

If something is wrong, stop the server and restore from the zip you kept locally. Do not delete that zip until a full session feels good. On paid Village and Kingdom, open the Backups tab and choose Create Backup Now after that first good boot so the next rollback lives in the panel. Automated rolling backups are part of those paid plans. The steps are in /docs/backups.

What does not magically transfer

Aternos panel settings are not Chunkly panel settings. You recreate RAM, software, and sleep policy on our side. A plugin database on an external MySQL host needs its own export; the world zip does not include it. Chunkly hosts Minecraft Java. Phone and console Bedrock cross-play is a different product — say that plainly if a friend asks.

This guide does not quote competitor queue lengths, uptime percentages, or review scores. Campfire and Village sleep because empty free and Budget JVMs are how €/GB pricing stays honest. There is no instant always-on free tier.

FAQ

Will my player data move? Yes, if you upload the full world folder, including playerdata, stats, and advancements.

Do plugins transfer? The jars and configs can, if you upload plugins/ and match the Paper version. Test each plugin after boot. Friends still join with normal Java — they do not install Paper plugins on the client.

How long does migration take? Small vanilla worlds are often under an hour, including a test join. Large modpacks take longer, mostly because of upload size and the first boot.

Can Campfire run my heavy modpack? Usually no. Heavy packs need more RAM and stay running by default because boot is slow. Size Village or Kingdom from the pack page on CurseForge or Modrinth. See /modpack-server-hosting and /docs/ram-guide.

Does Village sleep? Paper and Vanilla on Village sleep after idle and wake on join. Modpacks stay running by default. Kingdom can disable sleep. Details: /blog/minecraft-server-sleep-wake and /docs/sleep-wake.

Do the Nether and the End come along? On Vanilla, yes, if the world folder is complete. On Paper, only if you also upload world_nether and world_the_end.