Guide to setup a Free offsite Backblaze S3 Backup for AMP Instances

Knowledge Base How To
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Note: Backblaze B2’s free tier (10GB storage) is enough for small game server backup on home infrastructure. Daily free download bandwidth cap is 1GB (to restore backups).

Remember to set up your Caps & Alerts to monitor your usage and avoid unexpected charges.

check their official pages for the most up-to-date API pricing information:

For typical small game server backups, you should stay within the free tier limits.

Introduction

This guide shows you how to set up offsite backup for your AMP game server instances using Backblaze B2 — as part of a 3-2-1 backup strategy.

What is 3-2-1 Backup?

The 3-2-1 rule is a proven backup best practice:

  • 3 copies of your data
  • 2 different storage types (local + cloud)
  • 1 offsite backup (away from your home server)

This Guide’s Role

This guide covers the offsite backup (the “1” in 3-2-1). Here’s the recommended setup:

  • Local Backups (on AMP): Keep many versions (7-30 days worth) for quick recovery
  • Offsite Backup (Backblaze): Keep only 1 nightly backup to stay within the free 10GB tier

This approach is especially important if you’re running multiple game servers and want to back them all up without paying for storage.

Step 2: Create a B2 Storage Bucket

  1. From the Backblaze dashboard, go to B2 Cloud Storage → Buckets
  2. Click Create a Bucket
  3. Fill in the details:
  • Bucket Name: Use a globally unique name with your server name and date (e.g., amp-minecraft-20260515, amp-factorio-20260515)
  • Type: Private (important for security)
  • Encryption: Disabled (optional; fine for game backups)
  1. Click Create Bucket

Important: Change File Lifecycle Setting

By default, Backblaze keeps all versions of files, which will fill your 10GB free tier quickly.

  1. After bucket creation, go to Bucket Settings → Lifecycle Settings
  2. Change from “Keep all versions” to “Keep only the last version of the file”
  3. Save

This ensures only the latest backup is kept in Backblaze. You’ll control how many older versions to keep locally in AMP.

Recommendation: One Bucket Per Server

I recommend creating a dedicated bucket for each game server instance you want to back up. This approach:

  • Makes it easy to see storage usage per server
  • Keeps backups organized and manageable
  • Allows you to scale to multiple servers within the 10GB free tier

Take note of:

  • Bucket Name (e.g., amp-minecraft-20260515)
  • Endpoint (e.g., s3.eu-central-003.backblazeb2.com — varies by region)

Step 3: Create Application Keys

  1. In Backblaze, go to Application Keys (left sidebar)
  2. Click Add a New Application Key

Fill in the Application Key Details

In the Add Application Key dialog:

  • Name of Key: amp (or any descriptive name)
  • Allow access to Bucket(s): Select your bucket (e.g., amp-minecraft-20260515) — or leave as “All” if you plan to add more buckets later
  • Type of Access: Select Read and Write (required for AMP to upload backups)
  • File name prefix: Leave blank (optional)
  • Duration: Leave blank for “Never” expiration (recommended for automated backups)
  1. Click Create New Key

:warning: CRITICAL: Save Your Credentials

Backblaze will display the key details only once. You must copy and save:

  • Key ID: [Your Key ID]
  • Application Key: [Your Application Key]

Store these securely in your password manager (1Password, Bitwarden, KeePass, etc.) — treat them like database passwords. Never share them publicly.

Step 4: Configure AMP Backup Settings

Navigate to Backup Configuration

  1. Open your AMP Panel
  2. Select your Game Server Instance (the one you want to back up)
  3. Go to Configuration → Backups
  4. Click the Cloud tab
  5. Toggle Use S3 Storage for Backups → ON (turns green)

Fill in S3 Settings

S3 Service URL:

https://s3.eu-central-003.backblazeb2.com

Important: Make sure to add https:// in front of the endpoint you noted down earlier from Step 2. (Replace the region code if your bucket is in a different region — check your bucket’s Endpoint in Backblaze)

S3 Bucket Name:

amp-minecraft-20260515

(Use your bucket name from Step 2)

S3 Access Key:

[Your Key ID]

S3 Secret Key:

[Your Application Key]

S3 Backup Space Limit (MB):

10240

(10 GB)

S3 Individual Backup Limit (MB): Set this based on your server’s expected backup size. Consider how large your server world/data is.

S3 Backup Count Limit:

1

(Keeps only the latest backup to stay within free tier)

S3 Storage Class:

Standard

(Default is fine)

Step 5: Test Your Backup & Set Up Schedule

Test Your Backup Manually

  1. In the AMP panel, go to the Backups tab for your instance
  2. Click Create Backup and name it test
  3. Wait for the backup to complete
  4. Once created, select the test backup and click Upload to S3 to test the upload to Backblaze
  5. Wait for the upload to complete
  6. Verify the backup appeared in Backblaze:
  • Log into Backblaze
  • Go to Buckets → Your Bucket → Upload/Download
  • You should see a .zip file with the backup

Success! Your backup is now in the cloud.

  1. Delete the test backup in Backblaze to save space (you don’t need it anymore):
  • Select the test file and click Delete

Set Up Automated Backups

  1. Choose your instance
  2. Go to Schedule (left menu)
  3. Click Add new trigger
  4. Choose Simple Time Interval
  5. Choose Once per day at a time when there is minimal activity on your server (e.g., 3:00 AM or 2:00 AM)
  6. Click Add a new task under the trigger
  7. Choose Backups - Take a backup
  8. Choose S3
  9. Click Add Task
  10. Remember to enable the trigger
  11. Save the schedule

Your server will now back up to Backblaze daily at your set time, keeping only the latest version due to your lifecycle settings.

You’re done! Your game server is now backed up to Backblaze as part of a 3-2-1 backup strategy. :video_game::cloud:

:warning: IMPORTANT: Test Your Restore

Download a backup from Backblaze and perform a test restore to verify it actually works or do a restore from cloud in AMP control panel.

If you don’t test your restore, you don’t have a backup — you only have a concept of a backup. A backup is only good if you can actually recover from it when you need it.

Do this at least once every few months to make sure your backup strategy is working properly.

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