DH Rescue

Recover Minecraft terrain from Distant Horizons LOD databases when the original world or region files are missing or damaged.

IMPORTANT: Always back up the target world before starting a restoration.

DH Rescue overwrites blocks in the selected area, including with air. Cancelling does not undo blocks that have already been placed.

Features

• Recovers block states from an active or external Distant Horizons database
• Keeps the active DH database in read-only mode while it is selected
• Shows a color-coded preview before changing the world
• Requires explicit confirmation before a restoration starts
• Provides configurable block and speed limits
• Reports progress, missing columns, and invalid block states
• Supports negative coordinates and every valid build height of the current dimension
• Reads FullData format 2 with uncompressed, LZ4, Zstd stream, XZ/LZMA2, and Zstd block compression

Requirements

DH Rescue is a client-side single-player recovery tool. It operates through Minecraft's integrated server and is not intended for dedicated or remote multiplayer servers.

Quick start

Option A: Use the active Distant Horizons database

Open the correct world and dimension, then run:

/dhrescue source active

The selected active database is used in read-only mode.

Option B: Use an external database

1. Start Minecraft once so DH Rescue creates:

   .minecraft/dhrescue/import/
   

2. Copy the .sqlite database into that directory.

3. If matching -wal or -shm files exist, copy them as well. They may contain recent database changes.

4. Open the correct target world and dimension, or create a new world.

5. Select the database:

   /dhrescue source external "DistantHorizons.sqlite"
   

Select and restore an area

Both corner coordinates are inclusive:

/dhrescue restore <x1> <y1> <z1> <x2> <y2> <z2>

Review the displayed coordinates, dimension, and block count. Click the [ CONFIRM ] button or run the following command within 60 seconds:

/dhrescue confirm

Monitor or stop the job with:

/dhrescue status
/dhrescue cancel

Commands

Limits and performance

• The default block limit is 100,000,000 blocks.
• The default speed is 8,192 blocks per tick.
• Valid speeds range from 1 to 50,000 blocks per tick.
• Values above the default can reduce server TPS and client FPS.
• Settings are stored in .minecraft/config/dhrescue.properties and persist across restarts.
• Changing the block limit clears a pending selection for safety.

Recommended recovery workflow

1. Work on a copy of the damaged world.
2. Confirm that the target dimension matches the database.
3. Test a small area first.
4. Check /dhrescue status for missing columns or invalid block states.
5. Increase the selected area gradually.
6. Lower the speed if the game stalls or loses TPS.
7. Keep the source database and its -wal/-shm files until the recovery is complete.

Troubleshooting

What DH Rescue can restore

DH Rescue reconstructs block states stored in Distant Horizons LOD terrain data. It is a best-effort recovery process rather than a complete world backup.

What DH Rescue cannot restore

• Chest contents and other block-entity NBT
• Entities and mobs
• Biomes and structure metadata
• Scheduled block or fluid ticks
• Player progress
• Other level.dat data
• Detail that was discarded by Distant Horizons LOD compression

Why does the recovered terrain differ from the original?

Distant Horizons stores level-of-detail terrain rather than a complete copy of every Minecraft chunk. Visually compressed or missing LOD data cannot be reconstructed exactly.

Can I undo a restoration?

No. Cancelling only stops future block placement. Restore into a backed-up copy of the world so you can revert safely.