SFTP, FTP, web panel: managing your server files day to day
Three ways of accessing your server's files still coexist today. They're not equal, and one of the three shouldn't be used anymore in 2026.
The panel's file manager
For everyday use: editing a config file, checking the logs, tweaking a whitelist.
Accessible from a browser, nothing to install, with a built-in text editor for common
files (server.properties, YAML, JSON). The right reflex for any quick,
one-off change.
SFTP — for the heavy lifting
SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) remains the standard for transferring large volumes: installing a full modpack, uploading an entire world during a migration, syncing a local plugins folder before pushing it all at once. Unlike the web file manager, it lets you use a dedicated client (FileZilla, WinSCP, or the built-in integration of most code editors) with drag-and-drop, resumable transfers, and parallel uploads. The connection is encrypted end-to-end — it's a secure derivative of the SSH protocol.
Why plain FTP has no place anymore
FTP (without the S) sends credentials and files in plain text over the network — anyone intercepting the traffic (an unencrypted public Wi-Fi network, for example) can recover the account password in the clear. This isn't about performance, it's basic security: no serious host should still offer unencrypted FTP by default, and RMDCGames deliberately doesn't — only SFTP is available.
Which one to use, in practice
- Quick, one-off change → the panel's file manager.
- Large transfers, migration, full world → SFTP.
- Plain FTP → avoid systematically, everywhere, not just here.