I have an exploded directory that I am editing in eclipse (created via setting location to directory location when creating New Project, deployed directory already existed). When I deploy this directory from the command line, it does not seem to save it locally (anywhere within glassfish\domain_
If I create a Java EE application in eclipse from scratch and deploy it from Eclipse Run -> on server, it copies it to glassfish\domains\domain1\eclipseapps
Is there a way to have GlassFish save deployed directories locally without using the GlassFish plugin magic?
Short Answer: No.
The whole point of directory deployment is speed and development convenience.
You tell GlassFish to not copy any files at all but to, instead, use the files already laid out on disk.
If you want to run from a copy of your app then just deploy the archive (war/rar/ear/jar) file.