---
title: "How to Find or Change a Minecraft Server Seed"
description: "Finding a Minecraft server's seed, starting a new world from another seed without losing the old one, and switching back to your old world later."
url: https://fps.ms/docs/minecraft/finding-and-changing-your-world-seed
---
# How to find and change your Minecraft server seed

The seed is the number Minecraft uses to generate your world. Two worlds with the same seed have the same terrain, so you can share your seed with friends or build the same world again later.

## Find your server's seed

1. Go to [panel.fps.ms](https://panel.fps.ms) and open your server. The **Console** page opens.
2. Your server must be online. If it is offline or asleep, click **Start** and wait until the console shows `Done`.
3. Click the command box under the console and type `seed`. Do not put a `/` in front of it.

![The console with seed typed in the command box, which is highlighted](https://assets.docs.fps.ms/minecraft/finding-and-changing-your-world-seed/01-type-seed-20d3f3c6.webp)

4. Press **Enter**.
5. The console shows a line with `Seed:` and a number in brackets, for example `Seed: [-2314425705136451368]`. That number is your seed. Copy everything between the brackets, including the `-` if there is one.

![The console with the line Seed: [-2314425705136451368] highlighted](https://assets.docs.fps.ms/minecraft/finding-and-changing-your-world-seed/02-read-the-seed-eef9f6cb.webp)

!!! tip "The **seed** button under the command box does the same thing in one click. The console runs commands as the server itself, so you do not need to be in the game."

!!! info "Why not look in server.properties?" "The `level-seed` line in `server.properties` is often empty. Empty means Minecraft picked a random seed when it created your world, so the file does not tell you the seed. The `seed` command always shows the real one."

## Start a new world with a different seed

Minecraft only uses the seed when it creates a new world. If you only change `level-seed`, your server keeps loading the world it already has, and nothing changes.

So you also give the new world its own folder with `level-name`. Your server then creates a new world from your seed, and your old world stays on the server as it is.

!!! warning "Make a backup first" "Save a copy of your world before you change anything, for example with [Google Drive backups](https://fps.ms/docs/minecraft/creating-backups-with-google-drive.md)."

1. Open your server and click **Files**.
2. Click `server.properties` to open it.
3. Find the line `level-seed=` and type your seed after the `=`, for example `level-seed=3257840388504953787`.
4. Find the line `level-name=world` and change `world` to a new name, for example `world2`. Pick a name that is not already a folder on your server.

![The server.properties editor with the lines level-name=world2 and level-seed=3257840388504953787 highlighted](https://assets.docs.fps.ms/minecraft/finding-and-changing-your-world-seed/03-edit-level-seed-and-level-name-955cf0d3.webp)

5. Click **Save content**.
6. Click **Console** in the top bar, then click **Restart**. If your server is off, click **Start**.

Your server now creates the new world. The first start takes a little longer than usual. When the console shows `Done`, type `seed` to check that your new seed is in use.

!!! note "A seed can be a number or a word" "If you use a word, like `crimsoncrew`, Minecraft turns it into a number. The `seed` command then shows that number."

!!! info "Seeds and Minecraft versions" "When Minecraft changes how worlds are generated, the same seed can make different terrain. If you copy a seed from a website, check which Minecraft version it was made for."

Want the new world to be flat or amplified? See [How to change world type](https://fps.ms/docs/minecraft/how-to-change-world-type.md). For the other settings in this file, see [Minecraft server.properties explained](https://fps.ms/docs/minecraft/minecraft-server-properties-explained.md).

## Go back to your old world

1. Open `server.properties` again.
2. Change `level-name` back to the old name, for example `world`.
3. Click **Save content** and restart your server.

Your server loads your old world again. You do not need to change `level-seed` back, because a world that already exists keeps its own seed.

The new world also stays in its own folder, so you can switch between your worlds by changing `level-name`. Every world folder uses disk space on your server.

---

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