is it possible to retrieve a lost minetest server

[OrangeSoda]

I used to go on a minetest server frequently since june but last week it shut down because the server host, boltvm, messed up. the owner sent a help ticket for the company a few hours after it did but so far we haven't heard a respone.

he doesn't have the server saved on his computer, and boltvm usually takes around 1-3 weeks to reply to its users. so since we're getting a bit impatient, is there a way to retrieve the server?

[twoelk]

if you have luck some player may have been saving to local, so you might have some of the map somewhere. RedCrab was recreated this way.

[OrangeSoda]

if you have luck some player may have been saving to local, so you might have some of the map somewhere. RedCrab was recreated this way.

hmm. how does that work?

[DI3HARD139]

adding "enable_local_map_saving = true" to the minetest.conf file allows you to save the servers map locally. It doesn't download the whole map though. It just saves what the client gets from where you have traveled to.

[OldCoder]

"I used to go on a minetest server frequently since june but last week it shut down because the server host, boltvm, messed up. the owner sent a help ticket for the company a few hours after it did but so far we haven't heard a response."

"He doesn't have the server saved on his computer, and boltvm usually takes around 1-3 weeks to reply to its users, so since we're getting a bit impatient. is there a way to retrieve the server?

"if you have luck some player may have been saving to local, so you might have some of the map somewhere. RedCrab was recreated this way."

First, tell the world owner that, if he likes, he can discuss the matter with me in IRC. He might need to phone the hosting firm. I can offer comments related to that.

Second, to recreate a world using the Redcrab process, in addition to saving the map, you'll need to reproduce the "_game". This can be tricky unless you have the cooperation of the world owner or long-time players.

We were able to recreate Redcrab "better than new", i.e., with some griefing repaired, but a lot of work was required. First, multiple players did captures. One ran a bot for this purpose.

I combined the captures into a single map and created a "_game" based on the available information. Long-time players commented on things that looked different and we fixed them over time.

The most difficult part was related to "moreblocks". The mod has never been backwards compatible and, in the case of Redcrab, this led to dozens of buildings being turned into porcupines; i.e., their bricks pointed outwards. I wrote new code to fix this and the world is largely repaired now.

The Redcrab process will be useful for some worlds, but as your world is down now, the only way to get it back is to deal with the hosting firm. I wish you luck, but others should learn from this: back up your worlds and consider sharing them.

Ideally, the best of the worlds should be documented and uploaded to sites that may take them or otherwise circulated. If this is done, they may last indefinitely.

For more information about OldCoder Redcrab (the recreated version), visit the link below:

https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=13331