Running a Soulmask server means your tribe’s progress lives inside a handful of important files. Every building, follower, mask, storage box, explored area, and server setting depends on those files staying safe. If they are deleted, corrupted, overwritten, or damaged by a bad update, your players can lose hours, days, or even weeks of progress.
That is why Soulmask server backups are one of the most important parts of managing a server. Backups give you restore points. A restore point is basically a saved copy of your server from a specific time. If something goes wrong, you can roll the server back instead of starting from zero.
This matters even more if you are running a self-hosted Soulmask server. When you host the server yourself, you are responsible for finding the save files, copying them, storing them safely, and restoring them correctly. With dedicated Soulmask server hosting, this process is usually much easier because backups can often be created and restored directly from the hosting control panel.
What Soulmask Save Files Should You Back Up?
Before you can protect your progress, you need to know what you are backing up. On a dedicated server, the most important Soulmask save files are usually inside your Soulmask server installation folder.
A common Windows SteamCMD location looks like this:
C:\steamcmd\steamapps\common\Soulmask Dedicated Server For Windows\WS\Saved\
Inside that folder, the main world save is usually found here:
WS\Saved\Worlds\Dedicated\Level01_Main\world.db
Your gameplay settings are usually stored here:
WS\Saved\GameplaySettings\GameXishu.json
The world.db file is the big one. This is the file that stores your world progress. If you only back up one thing, back up this file. However, the safer option is to back up the entire WS\Saved folder because it can include world data, settings, logs, and other saved information your server may need.
You should also back up your server start file, especially if you customized it. On Windows, this is often:
StartServer.bat
On Linux, it may be something like:
StartServer.sh
Think of it this way: world.db is your tribe’s world, GameXishu.json is your rulebook, and your start file is how the server launches.
How To Back Up A Self-Hosted Soulmask Server On Windows
If you are self-hosting on Windows, the first step is to stop your Soulmask server safely. Do not copy the files while the server is actively saving. That can create a broken or incomplete backup.
Once the server is stopped, create a backup folder somewhere outside the main server folder. For example:
D:\SoulmaskBackups\
Now open PowerShell and use this example. Change the server path if your Soulmask server is installed somewhere else:
$server = "C:\steamcmd\steamapps\common\Soulmask Dedicated Server For Windows"
$stamp = Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd-HHmm"
$dest = "D:\SoulmaskBackups\soulmask-$stamp"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $dest -Force
Copy-Item "$server\WS\Saved" "$dest\Saved" -Recurse
Copy-Item "$server\StartServer.bat" "$dest\" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Compress-Archive "$dest\*" "$dest.zip"
This creates a dated backup, such as:
soulmask-2026-06-11-2130.zip
That date and time are useful because they tell you exactly when the backup was made. This makes it much easier to choose the right restore point later.
Do not store every backup inside the same folder as your active server. If your server drive fails, you could lose both the live server and the backups. Use another drive, an external drive, or cloud storage if possible.
How To Back Up A Self-Hosted Soulmask Server On Linux
If you are hosting Soulmask on Linux, you can create a simple backup script. This is helpful because you do not want to type the same commands every day.
First, create a script file:
sudo nano /usr/local/bin/backup-soulmask.sh
Paste this example into the file:
#!/bin/bash
set -e
SERVER="/home/steam/soulmask"
DEST="/home/steam/soulmask-backups"
STAMP=$(date +"%F-%H%M")
systemctl stop soulmask || true
mkdir -p "$DEST"
tar -czf "$DEST/soulmask-$STAMP.tar.gz" -C "$SERVER" WS/Saved StartServer.sh
find "$DEST" -name "soulmask-*.tar.gz" -mtime +14 -delete
systemctl start soulmask
Save the file, then make it executable:
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/backup-soulmask.sh
Run it manually with:
sudo /usr/local/bin/backup-soulmask.sh
This script stops the server, creates a compressed backup, deletes backups older than 14 days, and starts the server again. If your server is not installed at /home/steam/soulmask, change the SERVER path to match your setup.
To run this backup automatically every six hours, open cron:
sudo crontab -e
Add this line:
0 */6 * * * /usr/local/bin/backup-soulmask.sh
Now your self-hosted server has automatic Soulmask server backups without you needing to remember every time.
How Often Should You Back Up Your Soulmask Server?
Backup frequency depends on how active your server is. For a small private server with a few friends, one backup per day may be enough. For an active public server, PvP server, or large tribe, backups every four to six hours are much safer.
You should always create a manual backup before major changes. This includes game updates, server setting changes, admin commands, save transfers, mod changes, or anything that could affect progression.
A good beginner-friendly backup schedule is simple: keep several daily backups, a few weekly backups, and at least one backup from before every major update. That gives you multiple restore points instead of relying on one old file.
How To Restore A Soulmask Server After A Mistake Or Bad Update
Restoring your Soulmask save files is basically the reverse of backing them up. First, stop the server completely. Never restore files while the server is running.
Next, go to your current server folder and rename the active saved folder instead of deleting it. For example:
WS\Saved
Rename it to:
Saved-broken-backup
Then extract your backup and place the backed-up Saved folder back into:
WS\
After that, start the server again. If everything was restored correctly, your Soulmask world should load from the backup point.
If you only backed up individual files, replace:
WS\Saved\Worlds\Dedicated\Level01_Main\world.db
and, if needed:
WS\Saved\GameplaySettings\GameXishu.json
This is how you recover from accidental wipes, bad updates, corrupted saves, wrong admin commands, or players making mistakes that need to be rolled back.
Why Dedicated Soulmask Server Hosting Makes Backups Easier
Self-hosting gives you control, but it also gives you responsibility. You need to know the file locations, stop the server safely, copy the correct folders, run commands, manage storage, and restore everything by hand.
With dedicated Soulmask server hosting, backups are much easier. Instead of searching through folders for world.db, you can open your hosting panel, click the backup section, and create a backup with one button or have it fully automated. Restoring is also simpler because you choose a restore point from the panel instead of manually replacing files.
This is one of the biggest benefits of proper Soulmask server hosting. You spend less time managing files and more time actually playing, building, recruiting followers, and protecting your tribe.
Protect Your Tribe With Pine Hosting
If you want reliable automated Soulmask server backups without manually hunting through folders, commands, and save files, Pine Hosting makes it simple. With Pine Hosting’s dedicated Soulmask server hosting, you get an easy control panel, fast setup, file access, and backup tools that help protect your tribe progress from wipes, bad updates, and mistakes.
Start your Soulmask server hosting with Pine Hosting and keep your Soulmask world safe with easier backups and faster recovery.
