Big PDB Changes Are One Year Away: Extended PDB IDs, the PDB Beta Archive, and PDBx/mmCIF

IP
Irina Persikova
Thu, Jul 30, 2026 2:30 PM
    Starting July 21, 2027
  • The PDB Beta Archive https://files-beta.wwpdb.org/ will replace
    the current PDB main archive https://files.wwpdb.org/. The current
    beta archive URL will point to the main archive (details
    https://www.wwpdb.org/news/news?year=2026#69ebcdca1103c56d3f444159).
  • PDB entries that have been issued 4-character PDB IDs, including IHM
    structures, will be accessed in this archive using their extended
    PDB ID that prepends “pdb_0000” to the 4-character ID (e.g., 1ABC
    becomes pdb_00001abc).
  • OneDep will only issue 12-character IDs (prefix pdb_ followed by 8
    alphanumeric characters, e.g., pdb_1000axyz).
    • New 4-character PDB IDs will not be issued at this point.
    • Entries with only 12-character IDs will follow a new DOI syntax.
      https://www.wwpdb.org/news/news?year=2026#69ebcf461103c56d3f44415a
    • Data deposited after July 20, 2027 will only be released in
      PDBx/mmCIF and PDBML formats.
    • Legacy PDB formatted files will not be generated for these entries.

The PDB Beta Archive https://www.wwpdb.org/ftp/pdb-beta-ftp-sites is
designed to be scalable and extensible. All files in this archive are
re-organized using extended PDB IDs (including file naming and directories).

All PDB users, including software developers and journal editors, must
transition to this new archive directory structure, PDBx/mmCIF and
extended PDB ID format. Start using extended IDs and PDBx/mmCIF data
files today.

For any further information please contact us at info@wwpdb.org.

    Transition Resources

Read the full news here:
https://www.wwpdb.org/news/news?year=2026#6a4fc9980fba48755e86064c

On behalf of the wwPDB,

--
IRINA PERSIKOVA, Ph.D.
Deputy Biocuration Lead, RCSB Protein Data Bank
Research Associate, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
174 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway NJ 08854
P: 848.445.4938 | E: irina.persikova@rcsb.org
mailto:irina.persikova@rcsb.org
rcsb.org <www.rcsb.org> | iqb.rutgers.edu http://iqb.rutgers.edu |
facebook https://www.facebook.com/RCSBPDB | twitter
https://twitter.com/buildmodels

Starting July 21, 2027 * The PDB Beta Archive <https://files-beta.wwpdb.org/> will replace the current PDB main archive <https://files.wwpdb.org/>. The current beta archive URL will point to the main archive (details <https://www.wwpdb.org/news/news?year=2026#69ebcdca1103c56d3f444159>). * PDB entries that have been issued 4-character PDB IDs, including IHM structures, will be accessed in this archive using their extended PDB ID that prepends “pdb_0000” to the 4-character ID (e.g., 1ABC becomes pdb_00001abc). * OneDep will only issue 12-character IDs (prefix pdb_ followed by 8 alphanumeric characters, e.g., pdb_1000axyz). - New 4-character PDB IDs will not be issued at this point. - Entries with only 12-character IDs will follow a new DOI syntax. <https://www.wwpdb.org/news/news?year=2026#69ebcf461103c56d3f44415a> - Data deposited after July 20, 2027 will only be released in PDBx/mmCIF and PDBML formats. - Legacy PDB formatted files will not be generated for these entries. The PDB Beta Archive <https://www.wwpdb.org/ftp/pdb-beta-ftp-sites> is designed to be scalable and extensible. All files in this archive are re-organized using extended PDB IDs (including file naming and directories). All PDB users, including software developers and journal editors, must transition to this new archive directory structure, PDBx/mmCIF and extended PDB ID format. Start using extended IDs and PDBx/mmCIF data files today. For any further information please contact us at info@wwpdb.org. Transition Resources * PDB ID Extension FAQ <https://www.wwpdb.org/documentation/pdb-id-extension-faq> * PDB Beta Archive Overview: includes beta archive access, scripts, shortlink URLs, and other resources <https://www.wwpdb.org/ftp/pdb-beta-ftp-sites> * PDBx/mmCIF software resources <https://mmcif.wwpdb.org/docs/software-resources.html> * Understanding PDBx/mmCIF format <https://pdb101.rcsb.org/learn/guide-to-understanding-pdb-data/beginner%E2%80%99s-guide-to-pdbx-mmcif> * PDBx/mmCIF User Guide <https://mmcif.wwpdb.org/docs/user-guide/guide.html> * PDBx/mmCIF Dictionary <https://mmcif.wwpdb.org/> * PDB -> PDBx/mmCIF correspondences <https://mmcif.wwpdb.org/docs/pdb_to_pdbx_correspondences.html> * An online PDBx/mmCIF Editor <https://pdbj.org/cif-editor/> Read the full news here: https://www.wwpdb.org/news/news?year=2026#6a4fc9980fba48755e86064c On behalf of the wwPDB, -- IRINA PERSIKOVA, Ph.D. Deputy Biocuration Lead, RCSB Protein Data Bank Research Associate, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 174 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway NJ 08854 P: 848.445.4938 | E: irina.persikova@rcsb.org <mailto:irina.persikova@rcsb.org> rcsb.org <www.rcsb.org> | iqb.rutgers.edu <http://iqb.rutgers.edu> | facebook <https://www.facebook.com/RCSBPDB> | twitter <https://twitter.com/buildmodels>