Copying an SMP server

A few players on our server are concerned that the admin is on the verge of abandoning his (our) server. He hardly logs in and when he does it's for nothing more than to complain about how the server is lagging his computer and our creations look "lame". After offers to send new hardware for upgrading his PC were refused I am not sure what else we can do. Nobody has ever been given OP/admin status on his server.

We have decided to all pitch in components and donate for a new server; one which will be dedicated to Minecraft. The only problem now is that he isn't willing to give us the files and will only offer us the seed.

Is there any way we can download the entire world without admin permissions? Our buildings, monorail system and everything else is spread out amongst 6 players who have been playing for almost a year. We have a lot of stuff everywhere! Can anybody help us save a year's worth of work?

Solution 1:

Use World Downloader, a client mod which downloads maps from the server and saves them locally. You need to walk around all the areas that you want to download so that the chunks are grabbed.

This is not a perfect solution, as the forum post details:

Important usage notes:

• You need to open chests while downloading or their contents cannot be saved.
• The mod can only save chunks which are sent by the server as you move around. If you see the chunk while downloading, then it's saved! If you don't move, it will likely only save 10 chunks (160 blocks) in each direction.
• The seed is not saved automatically. You must be op to request the seed with the /seed command. World Downloader will pull the seed automatically from the server response.
• When you click "stop download", wait until the world is saved to disconnect. You will be notified in chat.

If possible, get the admin to send you the world files, or at least the seed. If this is not possible, this is about the best you can do.

With the seed however, and carefully checking all chests, you can get a perfect copy of the world. The only thing to do then is to try and find out what server setup your current admin is using (such as plugins and settings).