How to regenerate chunks outside of a certain area?

Ok, so my main server town is all good, but the everything outside of it is all messed up. Is there a way i can set a area around the town to 'keep' then regenerate all the chunks outside of that area?

PS: I cant copy and paste it because it will crash the server, and to do it in small bits will take forever.

 

You can delete all the chunk files instead of those one you wanna keep. You can get their filenames by typing /chunkinfo

 

Can someone tell me more about what to delete and how?

 

Shutdown your server, backup your worlds, then remove the chunk directories / files you want. Any time you manually delete stuff with worlds, you have a chance to screw things up, thats why you make backups.

 

Where are the chunk files in the world folders?

 

If you don't know, then it's probably not the easiest solution for you.

I use worldedit to do what you are trying to do. Highlight an area you want to regenerate... and type //regen. Boom, good as new.

Might still lag you a little bit, but at least it's not as slow and boring as copy and paste options.

EDIT : However... if you have a lot around your town, then unfortunately copying the town and pasting it on a newly generated map might still be your best option... even if it does lag out your server for a few minutes.