How to Use SFTP With Your Minecraft Server (FileZilla or WinSCP)

The file manager in your panel is good for quick things - editing a config, checking a log, deleting one file. It's a web page, so it struggles with the big jobs.

SFTP is the same files, just accessed properly from your computer. Drag and drop, hundreds of files at a time, no browser timing out halfway through.

When you actually need it

• Uploading a whole modpack - 300 mods through a browser is painful
• Downloading your world - to keep a copy, or move it somewhere
• Adding or removing lots of mods at once
• Editing many config files without opening each one in the browser

For anything smaller, just use the panel. SFTP isn't better, it's better for big jobs.

Step 1 - Get a program

Both are free, pick one:

• FileZilla - Windows, Mac, Linux - filezilla-project.org
• WinSCP - Windows only, a bit simpler - winscp.net

Install it like any other program. Skip any bundled extras it offers you.

Step 2 - Find your details

In your Piggo panel, open your server and go to the Settings tab. You'll see an SFTP Details box with the address and your username.

You need three things:

That last one catches almost everyone. If your login fails, this is why.

Step 3 - Connect

FileZilla: put the host, username, password and port in the four boxes at the top and press Quickconnect. If it asks about an unknown host key, accept it - that's normal the first time.

WinSCP: choose New Site, set File protocol to SFTP, fill in host, port, username and password, then Login.

You should see your server's files on the right, your computer's on the left. Drag between them.

Step 4 - What you're looking at

The folders that matter:

• mods/ - your mods live here
• config/ - configuration files for the pack and individual mods
• world/ - your actual world. This is the one you back up.
• logs/ - where crash logs go, if we ever ask you for one

Two things worth knowing

Stop the server before big changes. Adding or removing mods while it's running will either do nothing or break something. Stop it in the panel, make the changes, start it again.

Don't delete anything you didn't add. Jar files and folders you don't recognise are usually load-bearing. If in doubt, ask us first - it's much faster than a restore.

If it won't connect

• "Authentication failed" - you're using the wrong password. It's your panel login password, not the server password or anything from your email.
• Nothing happens / it times out - check the port is set correctly. Plain FTP won't work, it has to be SFTP.
• Connects but the folder is empty - you may be in the wrong directory. Look for a folder with your server files in it and go in.

Or don't do any of this

Genuinely: if you're uploading a modpack and you'd rather not, send it to us and we'll do it. Message us with the pack name or a CurseForge share link and we'll install it, tune the memory and give you back a joinable address. Usually within the hour, between 08:00 and 22:00 Amsterdam time.

That's what managed hosting is supposed to mean.

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