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Updating Paper

Updating Paper is an important part of running every server. With new features and fixes coming every day, we recommend updating at least once per week to keep your server patched for the latest bugs. Installing updates is very simple, but it's important to know how to do it correctly.

Don't replace any JAR in a running server

Unless you know exactly what and why you're doing what you're doing, it's never a good idea to replace any JAR in a running server, be that plugins, or Paper itself.

Step 1. Backup​

tip

If you are using a shared host, your host may provide a built-in way to back up. Consult their documentation before continuing.

This is the most important step, and yet the most frequently skipped. While it is unlikely that updating Paper itself will cause any issues requiring you to restore from a backup, plugin malfunctions or other accidents might! Updating is a great time to work in a backup. Having functioning backups is essential to every server, big or small. The main things to back up are:

  • The world folders
  • Server Configuration Files
  • Plugin Configuration Files & Plugin JARs

You should aim to have backups from multiple times, and keep them in a safe place. A common approach is to keep rolling backups, so you always have a certain number of backups from a set amount of time.

Step 2. Update plugins​

Just like it's important to update Paper, it's equally important to keep plugins up to date. You never know what plugin authors may be working on, be it bugfixes or new features.

A little known feature of Paper servers is the update folder. Here's how you use it.

  1. Create a folder called update within the plugins folder.
  2. One by one, download plugins you would like to update and put them in the update folder.
  3. Restart your server, do not remove or modify any plugins outside the update folder.

By doing this, you are able to update all of your plugins at the same time without having the server off, or replacing plugin JARs while the server is running. You do not need to restart your server before updating Paper itself. This feature allows you to update both Paper and plugins all at the same time, without needing any additional downtime.

Step 3. Update Paper​

tip

If you are using a shared host, your host may provide a built-in way to update! Consult their documentation before continuing.

Updating Paper itself is very simple.

  1. Download a new JAR from our downloads page.
  2. Stop your server. It is not recommended and may cause issues to replace your Paper JAR while the server is running.
  3. Rename the downloaded file to match the name specified in the start command.
  4. Replace your old Paper JAR file with the new renamed one.
  5. Start your server. Watch the startup log to ensure everything goes to plan. If there are any plugin conflicts or issues, you will see them here.

To minimize downtime caused by updates, some server owners will, rather than replacing their server JAR, upload a new one and set their start script to use the new one on the next restart. Both of these are valid update strategies.

Automatic Updates

While it may be convenient to install updates automatically (and Paper's downloads API allows you to with ease), doing so is not recommended by Paper due to the possibility of plugin conflicts or other issues that you may not know about. Always be present during updates, and keep a careful watch on your server's log after the fact.

If you do choose to automatically install updates, ensure you have a functioning backup strategy in place!