diff --git a/src/provider.rs b/src/provider.rs
index 63527ac..5db3611 100644
--- a/src/provider.rs
+++ b/src/provider.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 use crate::position::RegionPosition;
 use crate::region::Region;
-use std::fs::{File, OpenOptions};
+use std::fs::{File, OpenOptions, read_dir};
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::{fs, io};
+use std::str::FromStr;
 
 pub trait RegionProvider<S> {
     fn get_region(&self, region_pos: RegionPosition) -> Result<Region<S>, io::Error>;
@@ -19,6 +20,17 @@ impl<'a> FolderRegionProvider<'a> {
 
         FolderRegionProvider { folder_path }
     }
+
+    // leave implementing this to the specific provider,
+    // makes function declaration bearable for now
+    pub fn iter_positions(&self) -> Result<impl Iterator<Item=RegionPosition>, io::Error> {
+        let positions: Vec<_> = read_dir(self.folder_path)?
+            .filter_map(|dir| dir.ok())
+            .filter_map(|dir| region_pos_from_filename(&dir.path()).ok())
+            .collect();
+
+        Ok(positions.into_iter())
+    }
 }
 
 impl<'a> RegionProvider<File> for FolderRegionProvider<'a> {
@@ -27,7 +39,7 @@ impl<'a> RegionProvider<File> for FolderRegionProvider<'a> {
             fs::create_dir(self.folder_path)?;
         }
 
-        let region_name = format!("r.{}.{}.mca", position.x, position.z);
+        let region_name = region_position_filename(position);
         let region_path = self.folder_path.join(region_name);
 
         let file = OpenOptions::new()
@@ -39,3 +51,56 @@ impl<'a> RegionProvider<File> for FolderRegionProvider<'a> {
         Region::load(position, file)
     }
 }
+
+fn region_pos_from_filename(path: &Path) -> Result<RegionPosition, io::Error> {
+    // we can use lossy because of the bound check later
+    let filename = path.file_name().unwrap_or_default().to_string_lossy();
+    let parts: Vec<_> = filename.split('.').collect();
+
+    let (x, z) = parse_coords(parts).ok_or_else(|| io::ErrorKind::InvalidInput)?;
+
+    Ok(RegionPosition::new(x, z))
+}
+
+fn region_position_filename(pos: RegionPosition) -> String {
+    format!("r.{}.{}.mca", pos.x, pos.z)
+}
+
+fn parse_coords(parts: Vec<&str>) -> Option<(i32, i32)> {
+    let incorrect_format =
+        parts.len() != 4 ||
+            parts[0] != "r" ||
+            parts[3] != "mca";
+
+    if incorrect_format {
+        return None;
+    }
+
+    Some((i32::from_str(parts[1]).ok()?,
+          i32::from_str(parts[2]).ok()?))
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use std::path::PathBuf;
+    use crate::position::RegionPosition;
+    use crate::provider::region_pos_from_filename;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_position_parse() {
+        let mut path = PathBuf::new();
+        path.set_file_name("r.-1.1.mca");
+
+        let pos = region_pos_from_filename(&path).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(RegionPosition{ x: -1, z: 1}, pos)
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[should_panic]
+    fn test_position_parse_invalid_format() {
+        let mut path = PathBuf::new();
+        path.set_file_name("this is not a valid region.filename");
+
+        region_pos_from_filename(&path).unwrap();
+    }
+}
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