Backups on Falix are one button — right up until one won't create, refuses to delete, or restores something other than what you expected. Every one of those has a specific setting behind it. This guide is the short list, symptom first.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| You need | The server's Backups page |
| The gotcha | Most "it didn't work" restores are the Delete all files toggle — jump to Restore below |
A backup won't create
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan: it asks you to connect Google | Free-plan backups store in your own Google Drive | Connect a Google account when the page prompts — that's where free backups live (and they don't count against a limit) |
| "Please wait before creating another backup" | Cooldown: at most 2 backups per 10 minutes | Wait out the cooldown |
| Premium: it won't make a new one | Your backup limit is full and every backup is locked | A new backup auto-deletes the oldest unlocked one — if all are locked, unlock one or delete manually |
🎯 Good to know: Free and premium store backups in different places. Free → your Google Drive (no limit, but you must connect it). Premium → the node, counted against your plan's backup limit (typically 5). When a premium limit is full, creating a new backup removes the oldest unlocked one to make room.
A backup won't delete
- It's locked. A locked backup shows "Prevents accidental deletion until manually unlocked" — it cannot be deleted until you unlock it. Unlock it first, then delete.
- The confirmation. Deleting asks you to type the backup's name to confirm, and needs the delete permission. If the Delete button does nothing for a sub-user, they're missing that permission.
A restore ran but did the wrong thing
This is where nearly all restore confusion lives, and it's one toggle:
"Delete all files before restoring."
- Left off (the default): only the files in the backup are put back. Anything you added since the backup — new plugins, a new world, config you changed — stays. If your restore "didn't work," it usually did work: it just didn't remove your newer files.
- Turned on: the server's files are wiped first, then the backup is laid down — a true point-in-time rewind. Use this when you want to erase everything after the backup, not merge into it.
Pick based on what you want: merge the backup in (off) or rewind completely (on).
Other restore facts worth knowing:
- You must type
RESTOREto confirm — a restore overwrites live files, so it's deliberately hard to trigger by accident. - Full vs Selective. A Full Restore brings back everything in the backup; a Selective Restore lets you pick just the files or folders you need — perfect for grabbing one config or one world without touching the rest.
💡 Tip: Stop the server before a full restore. Restoring over files an app is actively writing can leave you with a half-old, half-new mess; a quick Stop → Restore → Start avoids it.
A restore is missing files I expected
If a restored backup is missing files, they were probably excluded when the backup was made. Backup creation takes optional exclude patterns (one per line) — a pattern like logs/ or *.tmp keeps those out of the backup, so they can't come back in a restore. Check what the backup actually contains before assuming the restore dropped them.
Free vs premium at a glance
| Free | Premium | |
|---|---|---|
| Where backups live | Your Google Drive (connect first) | On the node |
| Counted against a limit? | No | Yes (plan-dependent, e.g. 5) |
| When full | n/a | Oldest unlocked backup is auto-deleted |
| Cooldown | 2 per 10 minutes | 2 per 10 minutes |