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Updates are normally a good thing, ushering in new and exciting content, such as Minecraft's archeology, which was finally added in 1.20. There are even experiments and snapshots for upcoming content, like the newly added and mechanically unique Minecraft mace coming to update 1.21.
However, every update comes with the chance for something to go wrong, as Reddit user u/Temporary-Ad-678 learned the hard way when their world was deleted after updating the game on PC.
When a Minecraft update goes wrong
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The post is quite simple, with just a few photos of the game showing off the world no longer being listed and the title explaining the world was six years old. Temporary-Ad-678 provided more information through the comments.
The world was not only six years old but also had thousands of hours of playtime on it. Understandably, they are devastated and desperate for ways to attempt data recovery. Large-scale building projects and Minecraft's expert-level farms are a nightmare to remake whenever a player wants to start a new world, so being forced to start over would be disappointing.
Unfortunately, most of the consensus is that the world is lost forever due to the game bypassing the recycle bin and deleting worlds outright.
There are also, understandably, several comments that are angry at Mojang, asking how such a major and game-breaking bug was able to slip through QA testing. Surely, one of the first things to be tested was updating an old world, as the entire appeal of the game is to have a long-standing world that grows and evolves alongside the game.
That makes the history of Minecraft's updates so interesting: the evolution and change in game design can be seen throughout the additions. It's inconceivable that Mojang failed to test world updating.
Backups are important
Understandably, there are a lot of commenters worried that their world might share the same fate in the future. After all, if Mojang can't even be trusted not to delete worlds accidentally, are they ever truly safe?
Thankfully, there is a solution to this. As brought up by many in the comments, PC players have the ability to copy the world folder somewhere else to keep it safe from any potential issues. There are many comments, such as the one from u/SurPulga, from players with worlds as old, if not older, stating that the only reason they haven't lost their progress yet is due to making copies.
As devastating a loss as this is for Temporary-Ad-678, there is a silver lining to be had in an important lesson learned for the community. World data and saves are not safe from any side, so creating regular backups is essential to avoid ending up in a similar situation. Hopefully, Mojang has learned from this update debacle and never puts out such a dangerous patch again.
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