Alternative World Save Location
by Serilum
Alternative World Save Location lets a player point Minecraft's world saves at a folder outside the instance, so worlds stay in one place across modpacks and installs.
What it does
By default Minecraft keeps saves inside each instance folder, which makes worlds hard to track when a player runs several modpacks or moves to another computer. The mod changes where the game reads and writes worlds, so a single location, ideally a folder synced to the cloud, can hold all of them. Existing saves are not moved or copied when the location changes, so the old ones stay where they were.
The behaviour is controlled from a config file. The option that switches the custom save location is disabled by default, which prevents unwanted changes in modpacks. A second option sets a separate backup folder, which is used only when the save location is changed as well. Both paths accept either two backslashes or a single forward slash as separators.
The mod is client-side only, so the server does not need it. It is released under All rights reserved, which means the code is not open source. It requires Collective and is published for Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt across 29 release versions, 1.16.5 – 26.3.
Key features
Custom save folder
Worlds are read from and written to a folder chosen in the config file, instead of the default instance saves folder.
Separate backup folder
A backup location can be set on its own, and it is used alongside a custom save location when both options are enabled.
Disabled by default
Both behaviours stay off until enabled, so modpacks that do not need a custom location keep the standard layout.
Existing saves stay put
Worlds already in the old location are not copied over when the path is changed, so they must be moved by hand.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
26.x5 of 5 versions with builds
1.21.x12 of 12 versions with builds
1.20.x7 of 7 versions with builds
1.19.x3 of 3 versions with builds
1.18.x1 of 1 version with builds
1.16.x1 of 1 version with builds
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Requirements
Dependencies declared by the latest file for each loader.
Required 1
How it compares
XYZ Copy is open source under the MIT License, is client-side only and covers 1.16 – 26.2 on Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt. One World Folder is open source under the Apache License 2.0, client-side only, and built for Fabric alone across 1.20.1 – 26.3. Alternative World Save Location is not open source, and its files cover 1.16.5 – 26.3 on all four loaders.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative World Save Location | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.16.5 – 26.3 | Client-side only | 2026-10-02 |
| XYZ Copy | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.16 – 26.2 | Client-side only | 2026-07-22 |
| One World Folder | Fabric | 1.20.1 – 26.3 | Client-side only | 2026-09-20 |
Questions
Does Alternative World Save Location require Collective?
Does the server need this mod?
Are existing worlds moved when the save location is changed?
Which path separators can be used in the config file?
In the catalog
Alternative World Save Location is one of 36,990 Utility mods on ModsFinder, and one of 25,772 Utility mods for Fabric. 8,071 mods support Minecraft 26.3.
More from Serilum
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What the author says
Alternative World Save Location allows users to change where Minecraft saves (and loads) its worlds. When you've got multiple modpacks or instances spread out in different locations, you can easily lose track of your data. When transferring to another PC or OS install, you might forget to copy over your precious…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/alternative-world-save-location
- Owner
- Serilum
- Published
- 2022-09-01
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-10-02
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15