PaperBackup [1.21.1]

PaperBackup - Lightweight Google Drive Backups for Paper/Purpur

It creates ZIP backups of your Minecraft server and can upload them directly to Google Drive. The plugin is designed to be simple, automatic and safe for hosted servers with limited disk space.

Main Features

• Full server backups as ZIP archives
  
  
• Asynchronous backup process
  
  
• Scheduled automatic backups
  
  
• Manual backup command
  
  
• Google Drive upload support
  
  
• Direct ZIP streaming to Google Drive
  
  
• No local backup ZIP is created when Google Drive mode is enabled
  
  
• OAuth support for personal Google Drive accounts
  
  
• Service account support for Google Workspace Shared Drives
  
  
• Automatic exclusion of the backup folder
  
  
• Custom excluded files and folders
  
  
• Old backup cleanup by maximum count
  
  
• Old backup cleanup by maximum total size
  
  
• Configurable minimum number of backups to keep
  
  
• Optional world saving before backup
  
  
• Memory usage logging before and after backups
  
  
• Persistent next backup time after server restarts

Google Drive Backups

PaperBackup can upload backups directly to Google Drive.

When Google Drive storage is enabled, the plugin streams the ZIP backup directly to Google Drive. This means the server does not need to create and store a local backup ZIP file first.

This is useful for servers with limited disk space or hosting panels where large local backup files can quickly fill the storage.

Memory Usage Note

After a backup, your hosting panel may show higher RAM usage.

This is usually normal Java behavior. Java may keep previously used memory reserved inside the server process instead of instantly returning it to the operating system.

This memory is still available for the Minecraft server to reuse later for worlds, plugins and other server tasks.

Because of this, higher displayed RAM usage after a backup does not automatically mean that there is a memory leak.

If RAM usage keeps growing forever until the server crashes or gets killed by the host, that is a different issue and should be investigated separately.

Commands

/backup
Shows the command help.

/backup run
Starts a manual backup.

/backup status
Shows the current backup status, schedule and retention settings.

/backup reload
Reloads the configuration file and reschedules automatic backups.

Permissions

backup.admin
Allows access to all PaperBackup commands.

Server operators receive this permission by default.

Requirements

• Paper or Purpur 1.21.1
  
  
• Java 21

Important: this plugin is made for Paper/Purpur. Plain Spigot support is not guaranteed.

Installation

1. Download the plugin jar.
   
   
2. Put the jar into your server's plugins folder.
   
   
3. Restart the server.
   
   
4. Open plugins/PaperBackup/google-drive-config.yml.
   
   
5. Configure backup settings and Google Drive settings if needed.
   
   
6. Run /backup reload.
   
   
7. Run /backup run to test your first backup.

Configuration

The plugin creates this file on first startup:

plugins/PaperBackup/google-drive-config.yml

You can configure:

• Backup folder
  
  
• Maximum number of backups
  
  
• Maximum total backup size
  
  
• Backup interval
  
  
• Startup delay for missed backups
  
  
• Whether worlds should be saved before backup
  
  
• Google Drive upload mode
  
  
• Google Drive folder ID
  
  
• Upload chunk size
  
  
• Excluded files and folders
  
  
• Memory cleanup options

Backup Retention

PaperBackup can automatically delete old backups.

You can limit backups by:

• Maximum backup count
  
  
• Maximum total backup folder size
  
  
• Minimum backups to always keep

This helps prevent your server storage or Google Drive folder from filling up.

Notes

• With Google Drive enabled, PaperBackup streams the ZIP directly to Drive.
  
  
• The plugin does not keep the full ZIP archive in RAM.
  
  
• Files are read in small chunks during the backup process.
  
  
• Google Drive upload chunk size can be configured.
  
  
• Locked, deleted or unreadable files are skipped and logged.
  
  
• If a backup is already running, another manual backup will not start.
  
  
• The backup schedule is based on the server machine clock, not Minecraft ticks.
  
  
• The next scheduled backup time is saved, so server restarts do not reset the interval.
  
  
• Higher RAM usage after a backup is usually normal Java behavior and does not automatically mean that the plugin has a memory leak.

Best For

• Small and medium Paper/Purpur servers
  
  
• Hosting servers with limited disk space
  
  
• Automatic Google Drive backups
  
  
• Simple manual and scheduled backups
  
  
• Server owners who want a lightweight backup solution