My question is somewhat similar to ( Create a world that would reset ) with a few differences that justify asking a separate question.
I have a server map, where there is a central spawn building(map, rules, spawn point, etc) which is protected (labeled 1 on map). Surrounding that area is a continuation of that seed, which is imported, and different from the world seed beyond that (labeled 2 on map). Beyond that, there is an abrupt change from the imported section, to the world's normal seed, which is a mesa biome (labeled 3 on map).
Section 1 is protected from building and mining.
I would like for section 2 to be able to be mined and built in, but to reset once every week or so, in order to allow new players to mine and set up temporary bases, before setting out into the mesa biome (section 3) where pvp is enabled.
The main issue, is that the server only has 1gb of ram, and copying and pasting large sets of schematics may crash the server. Also, simply resetting the land to the default seed would replace the hills and forest of the starter area with mesa biome, meaning that repopulating the chunks from the seed wouldn't be possible.
I could increase the server ram from 1gb to a maximum of 4gb, but I would prefer to keep it as is. The current version of minecraft is 1.10, but I could downgrade it as low as 1.7 if required for mod or plugin compatibility. Plugins, command blocks, and mods are valid options, provided that players can log on with the standard minecraft client.
The question: Which of these options (or others I've not thought of) would be the least server intensive, and easiest to set up?
Extra question: If using a method involving schematics, how many regions should I divide section 2 into? 4, 8, 32?
Options so far:
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Citizens plugin with Builder Npc
I could set a builder citizen npc to a section of land, and have them rebuild it from schematics over time. -
Use Command blocks to import Sections of land as schematics.
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Use world guard or core protect to rollback these areas on a regular basis.
Best Answer
Determine the exact chunks loaded by the second area. The chunk numbers show up on the debugging screen by pressing F3. These chunks correspond to MCA files in the region folder of your save. Copy the MCA files in a permanent location, and, once a week, copy over the current files with your backup, temporarily shutting down the server. A batch file can be used to automate this process, if you'd like.
The MCA files hold groups of 32x32 chunks, for a total block area of 512 x 512. For instance, r.0.0.mca holds chunks 0-32 in both x and z directions (and all of y), and so goes from (0,0) to (511,511).