Greetings! I recently fixed an old computer that had one of my original java minecraft worlds on it from many years ago (about 7 years I think). I wanted to wander around my old stomping grounds out of nostalgia, but when I spawn into the world I can't find any of my old stuff. I see ocean and jungle biomes which weren't available when my world was made, so obviously my spawn point is not where it used to be. So, is there any way I can easily find my old builds in this newer version of MC when using an old save?
From my experience with my old world from 1.4.5 that I've carried forward to 1.11 and 1.14 I didn't have much luck with the spawn areas (neither do I remember them) for the most part I think it's all new due to how world gen changes over time when Mojang tweaks it. The system called Anvil if you've ever heard of it. https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Anvil_file_format They changed it about 2 or 3 times now, I'll link the wiki page on it so you can get an idea, but that's my guess. I myself did have my world modded but it was Vanilla with mods I had leftover that I never used as I was getting into modding at the time with it and it was my second world and the one I spent the most time in back then.
Otherwise probably just best to open it with the older version it was part of if you remember then copy it and put it into a modern version and see but for the most part I don't know if it's possible to not have old worlds brought forward that are older than those a few versions and if not much has changed when it comes to farms then it should be fine, otherwise for world gen the Anvil changes are my guess as to why it isn't the same.
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Niche Community Content Finder, Youtuber, Modpack/Map Maker, Duck
Forum Thread Maintainer for APortingCore, Liteloader Download HUB, Asphodel Meadows, Fabric Project, Legacy Fabric/Cursed Fabric, Power API, Rift/Fabric/Forge 1.13 to 1.17.
Existing chunks, spawn area or otherwise, should definitely not change, no matter how much world generation has changed, with the exception of biomes when upgrading from pre-1.2 to 1.2+ (the game didn't save biomes until 1.2; this only affects grass/tree colors and precipitation, not terrain) - it sounds like the game is simply overwriting existing terrain because it can't read the data or something, which should be considered to be a major bug since even 1.15 (snapshots) should be able to read chunks saved as early as 1.2, and there was no change to the way blocks were saved until 1.13 (there is no way to guarantee that every chunk in a long-term world has been loaded in each subsequent update; some say you should open an old world in each major version in between but this will only update the spawn chunks and player-loaded chunks unless you take the time to travel around the entire world each version, which is impractical for large worlds or worlds which weren't mapped).
Otherwise, the only thing I can think of is that the world is older than 1.2, when a different file format was used (MCRegion) which has to be converted to Anvil when loaded in 1.2 or later (this is a mandatory total conversion, so there will never be pre-1.2 chunks in a 1.2+ world); I do know that versions up to 1.6.4 can convert MCRegion to Anvil but I don't know if later versions have the built-in converter (it will say "must be converted" in the saves menu and when loaded for the first time it will be on "converting world" for a while until it loads). Note that MCRegion uses the extension ".mcr" for its region files, changed to ".mca" in 1.2/Anvil, while "level.dat" is the same, so it could be that the game is reading level.dat and ignoring the original region files because it is no longer able to detect pre-Anvil worlds.
Also, if you ever converted the world to Anvil and went back to an older version the game will use the old region files (they are not deleted, allowing the possibility to revert the save back, minus any changes made since then), and when you go back to 1.2+ the game could use the converted files from earlier instead of re-converting the world, failing to update the files as a result (I saw this happen to somebody; luckily the original .mcr files are not affected by the conversion so they were able to delete the .mca files and convert it again).
If the world was ever modded with mods that add new blocks/items/etc it may not be able to be loaded without issues even in the same vanilla version, much less a different version, same for loading a world in an older version than it was last loaded in (newer versions are especially picky about this - total destruction of the loaded parts of the world is likely, while e.g. 1.7 to 1.6 will only cause new blocks/items/mobs to disappear. Similarly, the save reader/converter may completely break if it encounters unknown blocks; the game is supposed to remove them but invalid data values may cause issues (1.6.4 has code that removes invalid blocks on chunk load, but it doesn't check the data value, which in this version doesn't break anything if it is invalid, but newer versions now use block states and can crash due to invalid states).
Yeah you should be able to carry forward a world save, I have one from alpha 1.11 or so that I just played the other day in 1.14, everything was there just as I left it, I spawned back in next to my bed in my old castle I built, so something must have gone wrong with your world save, or the jump from the old save to the new one was too great maybe? I don't think that should happen, but unless the files were corrupt, it should load in the existing chunks and items just fine. Try installing an older version of minecraft and open the save in that, see what it does. If it still doesn't spawn you back where you think you should be, then the save file is most likely corrupt. There may be a way to fix it, there's a thread here called "save file fix thread" or something like that, the people there might be able to give you a hand in getting it to work.
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D_B
To tell them how to live is to prevent them living.
If the world was ever modded with mods that add new blocks/items/etc it may not be able to be loaded without issues even in the same vanilla version, much less a different version, same for loading a world in an older version than it was last loaded in
Ah I think that's my problem. I recall using a 'tall grass' mod, and it was one of the alpha builds. I was hoping there was an easy fix. It's not a huge deal, I thought it would be a trip down memory lane to see my old cabin and farm, but unless I can track down exactly the version & mods I was using I don't know that I'll ever be able to do that.
Even if it was modded, unless it was an very extensive mod, which tall grass doesn't sound like it was, everything else should still be in place, just any blocks dependent on the mod will be gone. You might be able to use a mapping program like unmined to create a map of the world save then figure out where you are in it and where your old builds might be.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
D_B
To tell them how to live is to prevent them living.
Greetings! I recently fixed an old computer that had one of my original java minecraft worlds on it from many years ago (about 7 years I think). I wanted to wander around my old stomping grounds out of nostalgia, but when I spawn into the world I can't find any of my old stuff. I see ocean and jungle biomes which weren't available when my world was made, so obviously my spawn point is not where it used to be. So, is there any way I can easily find my old builds in this newer version of MC when using an old save?
From my experience with my old world from 1.4.5 that I've carried forward to 1.11 and 1.14 I didn't have much luck with the spawn areas (neither do I remember them) for the most part I think it's all new due to how world gen changes over time when Mojang tweaks it. The system called Anvil if you've ever heard of it. https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Anvil_file_format They changed it about 2 or 3 times now, I'll link the wiki page on it so you can get an idea, but that's my guess. I myself did have my world modded but it was Vanilla with mods I had leftover that I never used as I was getting into modding at the time with it and it was my second world and the one I spent the most time in back then.
Otherwise probably just best to open it with the older version it was part of if you remember then copy it and put it into a modern version and see but for the most part I don't know if it's possible to not have old worlds brought forward that are older than those a few versions and if not much has changed when it comes to farms then it should be fine, otherwise for world gen the Anvil changes are my guess as to why it isn't the same.
Niche Community Content Finder, Youtuber, Modpack/Map Maker, Duck
Forum Thread Maintainer for APortingCore, Liteloader Download HUB, Asphodel Meadows, Fabric Project, Legacy Fabric/Cursed Fabric, Power API, Rift/Fabric/Forge 1.13 to 1.17.
Wikis I Maintain: https://modwiki.miraheze.org/wiki/User:SuntannedDuck2
Existing chunks, spawn area or otherwise, should definitely not change, no matter how much world generation has changed, with the exception of biomes when upgrading from pre-1.2 to 1.2+ (the game didn't save biomes until 1.2; this only affects grass/tree colors and precipitation, not terrain) - it sounds like the game is simply overwriting existing terrain because it can't read the data or something, which should be considered to be a major bug since even 1.15 (snapshots) should be able to read chunks saved as early as 1.2, and there was no change to the way blocks were saved until 1.13 (there is no way to guarantee that every chunk in a long-term world has been loaded in each subsequent update; some say you should open an old world in each major version in between but this will only update the spawn chunks and player-loaded chunks unless you take the time to travel around the entire world each version, which is impractical for large worlds or worlds which weren't mapped).
Otherwise, the only thing I can think of is that the world is older than 1.2, when a different file format was used (MCRegion) which has to be converted to Anvil when loaded in 1.2 or later (this is a mandatory total conversion, so there will never be pre-1.2 chunks in a 1.2+ world); I do know that versions up to 1.6.4 can convert MCRegion to Anvil but I don't know if later versions have the built-in converter (it will say "must be converted" in the saves menu and when loaded for the first time it will be on "converting world" for a while until it loads). Note that MCRegion uses the extension ".mcr" for its region files, changed to ".mca" in 1.2/Anvil, while "level.dat" is the same, so it could be that the game is reading level.dat and ignoring the original region files because it is no longer able to detect pre-Anvil worlds.
Also, if you ever converted the world to Anvil and went back to an older version the game will use the old region files (they are not deleted, allowing the possibility to revert the save back, minus any changes made since then), and when you go back to 1.2+ the game could use the converted files from earlier instead of re-converting the world, failing to update the files as a result (I saw this happen to somebody; luckily the original .mcr files are not affected by the conversion so they were able to delete the .mca files and convert it again).
If the world was ever modded with mods that add new blocks/items/etc it may not be able to be loaded without issues even in the same vanilla version, much less a different version, same for loading a world in an older version than it was last loaded in (newer versions are especially picky about this - total destruction of the loaded parts of the world is likely, while e.g. 1.7 to 1.6 will only cause new blocks/items/mobs to disappear. Similarly, the save reader/converter may completely break if it encounters unknown blocks; the game is supposed to remove them but invalid data values may cause issues (1.6.4 has code that removes invalid blocks on chunk load, but it doesn't check the data value, which in this version doesn't break anything if it is invalid, but newer versions now use block states and can crash due to invalid states).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
Yeah you should be able to carry forward a world save, I have one from alpha 1.11 or so that I just played the other day in 1.14, everything was there just as I left it, I spawned back in next to my bed in my old castle I built, so something must have gone wrong with your world save, or the jump from the old save to the new one was too great maybe? I don't think that should happen, but unless the files were corrupt, it should load in the existing chunks and items just fine. Try installing an older version of minecraft and open the save in that, see what it does. If it still doesn't spawn you back where you think you should be, then the save file is most likely corrupt. There may be a way to fix it, there's a thread here called "save file fix thread" or something like that, the people there might be able to give you a hand in getting it to work.
D_B
To tell them how to live is to prevent them living.
NO!
NEVER OPEN A SAVED WORLD IN AN EARLIER VERSION THAN IT WAS LAST OPENED IN!!!!!
(Unless you are using a copy of the world. )
Just testing.
As TheMasterCaver (and he is!) wrote, going forward should work but going back is a recipe for disaster.
Unless in the cases that TheMasterCaver has outlined and in any case do make a backup and test on that.
You should make a backup right now and keep it safe in case Minecraft is overwriting chunks and there are still undamaged chunks in the save.
Do try the things TheMasterCaver hase suggested but do everything on a copy of a master backup.
Good luck!
I hope you are just in the wrong part of the world or that your world is still safe in unconverted old format files or something.
Just testing.
Ah I think that's my problem. I recall using a 'tall grass' mod, and it was one of the alpha builds. I was hoping there was an easy fix. It's not a huge deal, I thought it would be a trip down memory lane to see my old cabin and farm, but unless I can track down exactly the version & mods I was using I don't know that I'll ever be able to do that.
Thanks for the info everyone!
Even if it was modded, unless it was an very extensive mod, which tall grass doesn't sound like it was, everything else should still be in place, just any blocks dependent on the mod will be gone. You might be able to use a mapping program like unmined to create a map of the world save then figure out where you are in it and where your old builds might be.
D_B
To tell them how to live is to prevent them living.