Panel File Manager and SFTP for Game Servers

Why this guide (not Minecraft-only)

Most Glass Gaming titles on GlassHosting share the same panel habits: edit a config, drop a mod pack, swap a world folder, then restart and smoke-test. The File Manager and SFTP paths are the same whether you run Valheim, Enshrouded, BeamMP, Vintage Story, Windrose, Palworld, Rust, Hytale, or another catalog game. Minecraft jar and plugin folders get a dedicated walkthrough at Install Minecraft Mods and Plugins via SFTP—use that page for plugins/mods/worlds under a Minecraft service.

This hub is the non-Minecraft refresh: when to stay in the browser File Manager, when to open SFTP, how to stop cleanly, how to take a named backup first, and how to avoid overwrite and permission mistakes before friends join again.

New to the panel overall? Skim the game panel beginner guide for console, schedules, backups, and startup variables.

File Manager vs SFTP: pick the right tool

Panel File Manager — best for a few small files: tweak a .json / .cfg / .ini, rename a folder, delete a bad upload, or download one config for review. Works in the browser at panel.glasshosting.com with no extra client.
SFTP — best for bulk uploads: mod folders, map packs, large world directories, or many files at once. Use FileZilla, WinSCP, Cyberduck, or any standard SFTP client against the credentials the panel shows for that service.

Rule of thumb: if the change is a handful of kilobytes, File Manager is fine. If you are dragging a whole content pack or world tree, use SFTP so the transfer is resumable and you are not fighting browser timeouts.

Get SFTP credentials from the panel

Open the game service in panel.glasshosting.com.
Find the SFTP / connection details for that service (host, port, username). Password or key material is shown or set in the same area—use what the panel documents for your account.
Connect with an SFTP client (not plain FTP). Confirm you land in the service’s file root before you upload.

Do not reuse random SSH hosts from forums. The panel allocation for your service is the source of truth—host, port, and username together.

Stop cleanly before file swaps

Editing or overwriting files while the process is writing saves is how worlds corrupt. Before config edits, mod drops, or world folder swaps:

Ask players to log out (or wait for a quiet window).
Click Stop in the panel and wait until the console shows a clean shutdown—not a forced kill mid-save.
Only then open File Manager or connect SFTP.

If the console never reaches a stopped state, do not yank files mid-write. Ticket support before you force-overwrite a live world directory.

Named backup first (non-negotiable)

Before any experiment that touches configs, mods, or worlds:

Create a named panel backup so you can restore by label, not by guesswork.
Or download the critical folders via File Manager / SFTP to your workstation as a second copy.

“There was probably an auto backup” is not a restore plan. The habit is the same across titles—see backups before mods.

Upload configs, mods, and world folders (high level)

Exact folder names differ by game. Stay inside the service root the panel shows, and match the layout that title expects:

Configs — usually small text files near the server data path. Edit one setting at a time when possible; keep a copy of the previous file.
Mods / content packs — drop into the directory that title documents (often a Mods, mods, BepInEx, or content-pack folder). Client and server packs must match when the game requires it.
World / save folders — replace or merge only when the server is stopped. Prefer rename-old → upload-new over deleting the live save first, so you still have the previous folder on disk if the upload fails.

Title-specific first-launch hubs (ports, join paths, day-one checklists) live under Guides—for example Windrose, Vintage Story, Valheim, Enshrouded, BeamMP, Palworld, Rust basics, and Hytale. This page is the shared file-ops layer underneath those hubs.

Permission and overwrite pitfalls

Partial uploads — do not Start while SFTP is still transferring. Wait for a complete transfer, then Start.
Wrong directory — uploading into a nested copy of the tree (for example a second Mods inside Mods) is a common miss. Confirm the path in File Manager after SFTP.
Case sensitivity — Linux paths care about case. A folder named Mods is not mods if the game expects one spelling.
Overwriting live saves — never delete the only copy of a world to “make room” before the new archive is fully uploaded and verified.
Mixed line endings / encoding — when hand-editing configs, keep UTF-8 and avoid pasting smart quotes from chat apps into JSON or INI files.

Restart and console smoke-test

Confirm File Manager / SFTP sessions are idle and transfers finished.
Click Start in the panel.
Watch the console until the process reports ready (or until an obvious config/mod error appears).
Fix errors before inviting the group—do not rapid-restart in a loop that interrupts saves.
Have one trusted friend join with the panel IP and port (see how friends join with IP:port), confirm the world and content look right, then announce to everyone.

If boot fails after a file change, Stop, restore the named backup (or rename the previous world folder back), Start once, and verify a clean console before trying the experiment again.

Quick checklist

Right tool chosen (File Manager for small edits; SFTP for bulk)
SFTP host/port/username taken from the panel for this service
Server Stopped cleanly before swaps
Named backup (or downloaded copy) exists
Files landed in the correct title folders—not a nested duplicate tree
Start → console clean → one-friend join smoke-test

Related guides

MSP note

GlassHosting treats file changes as planned cutovers: stop, backup, change, start, smoke-test—not live edits on a box friends are still playing on. Order or manage plans at billing.glasshosting.com; operate day-to-day at panel.glasshosting.com. Glass Gaming — powered by GlassHosting.