Wiping a V Rising server gives everyone a clean slate: fresh castles, fresh characters, and a brand-new world to conquer. It is the standard move at the end of a season, after a major patch like the 1.1 “Invaders of Oakveil” update, or whenever your world has filled up with abandoned bases and stale progression. But a wipe is also one of the most destructive admin actions you can take, so it pays to know exactly what gets deleted, where the save files live, and how to back everything up before you commit. This guide walks through the whole process for a self-hosted dedicated server running 1.1.x.
If you would rather skip the file management entirely, our managed V Rising hosting plans expose the save folders through a control panel so a wipe is a few clicks, and our V Rising server documentation covers the panel-specific steps. The rest of this article explains what is happening under the hood so you understand the consequences either way.
What “wiping” a V Rising server actually means
A V Rising server stores its entire game state in a single save folder on disk. Wiping the server means deleting (or replacing) that save so the server has nothing to load and generates a fresh world the next time it boots. There is no in-game “reset everything” button and no console command that nukes the world for you — the wipe happens at the file level, by removing the save directory.
Because everything lives in that one folder, a wipe is comprehensive. When you delete the save and restart, the server permanently removes:
- All castles and castle hearts — every player-built base, station, and the territory plots claimed by castle hearts.
- All player vampire characters and their progression — gear, V Blood unlocks, spell/ability access, research, and recipes.
- The world state for that save — server-side world data tied to the save name.
In other words, after a wipe every player logs back in as a freshly spawned vampire with nothing. That is exactly what you want at the start of a new season, but it is irreversible without a backup — which is why the very first step below is making a copy.
Where V Rising stores your save (the v4 folder)
The single most common mistake people make when wiping is editing the wrong files or deleting the wrong folder. V Rising keeps two separate copies of its settings, and only one of them is the “live” one the running server actually reads.
- Template copies live inside the install at
VRisingServer_Data/StreamingAssets/Settings/. These are overwritten on every game/server update and are not what your save reads. Ignore them for wiping. - Active, save-specific data lives in the persistent-data path. On a default Windows install that is
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Stunlock Studios\VRisingServer\, and it can be redirected with the-persistentDataPathlaunch parameter (most host panels point this at asave-data/folder).
Inside the persistent-data path, your actual world lives at:
\Saves\v4\\ The v4 here is the persistence-format version and it matters. Older guides written for earlier builds reference a v3 folder — that path is outdated. On a current 1.1.x server, the world you care about is under v4. A full default Windows path looks like this:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Stunlock Studios\VRisingServer\Saves\v4\world1\On a host panel the same folder is typically exposed as save-data/Saves/v4/. The SaveName in ServerHostSettings.json — the default is world1. If you have never changed it, that is the folder you are looking for. If multiple saves exist, match the folder name to your current SaveName so you wipe the right world.
Step 0: Back up first (do not skip this)
⚠️ A wipe permanently removes world progress and cannot be undone without a backup. Before you touch anything, copy the entire save folder somewhere safe — a different directory, an external drive, or off the server entirely. Copy the whole folder, not individual files:
Saves\v4\\ → Backups\_2026-06-15\ It is tempting to assume the auto-saves will protect you. They will not. V Rising rotates auto-saves according to the AutoSaveCount (default 50) and AutoSaveInterval (default 600 seconds) values in ServerHostSettings.json — but those auto-saves live inside the same save folder. When you delete that folder, every auto-save inside it goes with it. The only safe backup is a copy stored outside the save directory.
Always stop the server before copying or deleting. The server holds the save files open while running, and copying a live save can produce a corrupt or partial backup. Shut it down cleanly, then proceed.
Method 1: Delete the save folder
This is the cleanest, most permanent wipe. It removes the world and reuses the same SaveName, so players reconnect to the same server identity but find a brand-new world.
- Stop the server from your control panel or by closing
VRisingServer.exe. - Make your backup (Step 0 above) — copy
Saves\v4\elsewhere.\ - Delete the save folder at
Saves\v4\. Delete the whole\ - Restart the server. On boot it finds no save under that name and generates a fresh world automatically.
That is it. There is no separate “create new world” step — the server creates one the moment it cannot find an existing save for the configured name. Your ServerHostSettings.json and ServerGameSettings.json are untouched, so the same name, password, ports, and gameplay rules carry over to the new world.
Method 2: Change the SaveName (fresh world, old save kept on disk)
If you want a fresh world but would rather not delete the old one yet, change the SaveName in ServerHostSettings.json. The server treats the new name as a new save, generates a fresh world under it, and leaves the old save sitting untouched in Saves\v4\.
- Stop the server.
- Open
ServerHostSettings.jsonin the persistent-dataSettings/folder (the active copy — not theStreamingAssetstemplate). - Change the
SaveNamevalue, for example fromworld1toseason2. - Restart the server — it generates a fresh world under
Saves\v4\season2\whileSaves\v4\world1\remains on disk.
{
"Name": "V Rising Server",
"SaveName": "season2",
"Port": 9876,
"QueryPort": 9877,
"MaxConnectedUsers": 40,
"MaxConnectedAdmins": 4,
"Password": "",
"AutoSaveCount": 50,
"AutoSaveInterval": 600
}This method is reversible: switch SaveName back to the old value, restart, and you are running the old world again. It is the safest way to wipe if you might want to roll back, and it is handy for seasonal servers where you label each season’s world by name. The trade-off is disk usage — old saves pile up until you eventually delete them. Either way, edit the active copy under the persistent-data path; settings are read at boot, not hot-reloaded, so a restart is mandatory for the change to apply.
Which method should you use?
| Goal | Method | Old world | Reversible? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent end-of-season wipe | Delete the | Gone (unless backed up) | Only via backup |
| Fresh world, keep the old one | Change SaveName | Stays on disk | Yes — switch the name back |
| Roll back a bad wipe | Restore your backup folder | Restored | Yes, if you backed up |
For most server owners, deleting the folder is the right call at the end of a season because it keeps disk usage clean and reuses the same server name. Use the SaveName swap when you are nervous about losing the old world or want to keep past seasons archived. In both cases, the up-front backup is what protects you from a mistake.
After the wipe: verify the fresh world loaded
Once the server restarts, confirm the wipe actually took effect rather than reloading the old world:
- Check the new folder exists. A directory matching your current
SaveNameshould appear underSaves\v4\shortly after boot. - Log in and look around. You should spawn as a fresh vampire with no gear, no V Blood unlocks, and no castle. Old bases should be gone.
- Confirm your settings carried over. The server name, password, and ports come from
ServerHostSettings.jsonand are not affected by the wipe, so players connect exactly as before.
If you instead see the old world, you likely deleted the wrong save folder or edited the template copy under StreamingAssets instead of the active persistent-data copy. Double-check that the SaveName in the live ServerHostSettings.json matches the folder you intended to wipe.
Good moments to plan a wipe
A wipe is a community event, so give players notice. The most common triggers:
- Seasonal resets — start a new competitive season with everyone on equal footing.
- Major content updates — the 1.1 “Invaders of Oakveil” update added the Oakveil region, the boss Megara the Serpent Queen, new weapons (Claws, Twinblade, Throwing Daggers), new castle stations like the Stables and Blood Homogenizer, and a reworked blood system with Corrupted Blood. A wipe lets players experience that fresh content from the ground up.
- A cluttered or balance-broken world — abandoned castles claiming territory, runaway economies, or settings changes that make the old progression feel unfair.
Whatever the reason, announce the date in advance, take a final backup, then wipe. If you are also changing gameplay rules at the same time — clan size, castle damage windows, rate multipliers — handle those in ServerGameSettings.json as part of the same maintenance window. Our walkthrough on how to configure your V Rising server covers those fields in detail, and if you are standing up a brand-new box, see setting up your V Rising dedicated server.
A quick refresher on the config files involved
Because the wipe touches ServerHostSettings.json, it helps to know what that file controls. V Rising uses two JSON config files: ServerHostSettings.json for network and identity, and ServerGameSettings.json for gameplay rules. Here are the host-settings fields most relevant to wiping and reconnecting:
| Field | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
SaveName | world1 | Names the save folder under Saves\v4\. Change it to spin up a fresh world. |
Port | 9876 | Main game traffic port. |
QueryPort | 9877 | Steam server-list query port. |
MaxConnectedUsers | 40 | Player slot cap. |
AutoSaveCount | 50 | How many auto-saves to keep (inside the save folder). |
AutoSaveInterval | 600 | Seconds between auto-saves. |
Note the ports: V Rising’s defaults are 9876 (game) and 9877 (query), not the generic Steam 27015/27016 you may see in some older write-ups. The dedicated server itself installs anonymously via SteamCMD using app ID 1829350 (the client app ID is 1604030), runs as VRisingServer.exe, and is Windows-only — there is no official native Linux build, so Linux hosting relies on community Wine/Proton wrappers.
Frequently asked questions
Does wiping delete player characters too?
Yes. A wipe removes everything in the save folder, including every player’s vampire character and all their progression — gear, V Blood unlocks, research, and recipes — alongside the castles and the world. Players reconnect as freshly spawned vampires with nothing.
Can I undo a wipe?
Only if you backed up. Deleting the save folder is permanent and there is no built-in undo. If you copied Saves\v4\ elsewhere before wiping, you can restore by stopping the server, copying that backup back into place, and restarting. This is exactly why the backup step is non-negotiable.
Why is the folder called v4 and not v3?
The number is V Rising’s save-format version. Current 1.1.x servers store worlds under Saves\v4\. Guides that mention v3 were written for older builds and are out of date — if you wipe based on a v3 path you may not be touching the folder your live server actually uses.
Will I lose my server settings when I wipe?
No. Your server name, password, ports, and gameplay rules live in ServerHostSettings.json and ServerGameSettings.json, which are separate from the world data in the save folder. Deleting or renaming the save does not touch those configs, so the new world inherits all your existing settings.
Do auto-saves count as a backup?
No. Auto-saves are stored inside the same save folder you are about to delete, so they are removed along with everything else when you wipe. A real backup is a copy of the whole save folder stored somewhere outside the save directory.
Where do I get ready for the new world?
A fresh world means re-planning your base, blood, and build. Start with our guide to the best base locations in V Rising to claim strong territory early, then brush up on why blood types matter so you target the right enemies from level one.
Bottom line: a V Rising wipe is just file management — delete or rename the Saves\v4\ folder, restart, and the server builds a fresh world. The only thing standing between a clean reset and a disaster is a backup. Copy the save folder first, every single time, and you can wipe with confidence.
Ready to play?
Run your own V Rising server with XGamingServer
Spin up an always-on V Rising server your friends can join in minutes — no port-forwarding, no tech headaches.
