How to Set Up a Valheim Dedicated Server

A Valheim dedicated server is a separate program from Iron Gate that keeps your world online, even when nobody is playing. You run it on your own PC or rent one that never switches off. It needs three things: a server name, a world name and a password of at least 5 characters. At home you forward UDP ports 2456 and 2457, unless you use crossplay. With crossplay, friends on Xbox, PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 can join as well. Checked for Valheim 1.0.20, the latest patch on 27 October 2026.

What do you need for a Valheim dedicated server?

• A machine that stays on. Your world is only online while the server runs.
• The server program. On Steam it’s Valheim Dedicated Server, under Tools in your library. On our servers it’s already installed.
• A name, a world and a password. Your Valheim server password needs at least 5 characters and can’t be part of the server or world name. Otherwise the server won’t start.
• Steam only, or crossplay. Without crossplay, only Steam players can see and join your server.

Host it yourself or rent one?

The software is the same either way. What differs is who keeps it running.

Hosting at home suits a group that only plays while the host is online. Want your world up at any hour, without touching your router? Valheim server hosting at CakeHosting starts at €4.95 a month. Hosting on the PC you play on? Run 1.0.20 or newer. That patch stopped the server burning CPU at an uncapped frame rate when v-sync was on in the game.

Set up a Valheim server step by step

Here’s how to make a Valheim server, rented or at home. Finish the whole Valheim dedicated server setup before the first start, so the server creates the right world straight away.

On a rented server

1. Open your server in the game panel and go to Startup, under Actions. There’s no save button: the panel saves each change itself. See Change your server settings under Startup.
2. Fill in Server Name (shown in the server list) and World Name. A new name creates a new world. An existing one loads that world.
3. Set Server Password: 5 to 30 characters, with no part of the server or world name in it.
4. Turn Public Server on to appear in the community server list. With it off, players join by address or join code.
5. Turn on Crossplay if anyone plays outside Steam, or BepInEx mods for a modded PC server. Not both: many mods don’t work with crossplay, and consoles can’t run mods.
6. Leave Auto Update on and start the server on the Console page. The first start takes longer while the world is created.

Without crossplay, the server is ready when the console shows Game server connected. With crossplay, a line says your session is registered, with a six-digit join code.

On your own PC

1. In your Steam library, tick Tools and install Valheim Dedicated Server.
2. Copy start_headless_server.bat (Linux: start_server.sh) and edit the copy. Steam resets the original on every update.
3. Set your values on the start line, such as -name "Viking Hall" -world "Midgard" -password "longboat42".
4. The example script already contains -crossplay. Remove it if everyone plays on Steam, and forward UDP 2456 and 2457 instead.
5. Start your copy, allow it through Windows Firewall and wait for Game server connected.
6. Stop it with Ctrl+C in its window, not the X. Otherwise it may keep running in the background.

Which ports does a Valheim server use?

Change the game port with -port and Valheim uses that port and the next one, so forward both. With crossplay there’s nothing to forward, because traffic runs through a relay server. Local addresses such as 192.168.1.10 or 127.0.0.1 don’t work with crossplay. On a rented server, the port is part of the address in the game panel. Give friends exactly that, even if the port isn’t 2456.

How do your friends join, also on Xbox?

1. Copy the address with the port. In our game panel it’s at the top of your server’s page, next to Address.
2. Your friends start Valheim, pick a character and open the Join Game tab.
3. On PC through Steam, they choose Join IP, enter the address and click Connect. With Public Server on, the community server list works too.
4. On Xbox, PS5, Switch 2, the Microsoft Store or the Mac App Store, your server needs crossplay. They join with the six-digit join code, the public address with port, or the server list.
5. The game then asks for the password.

All platforms share the same 10 slots. The relay does make lag and disconnects more likely, says the Valheim Wiki. More in our Valheim crossplay server guide.

To become an admin, put your player ID on its own line in adminlist.txt in the saves folder. You see that ID in the game with F2, or in the console when you connect. Careful with permittedlist.txt: once one player is on it, everyone else is locked out.

Bring your own world or pick a seed

A dedicated server has no seed option, so a new World Name gets a random seed. For a specific seed, create the world in the game first, start it once, quit and upload it.

Since 1.0, every world is its own folder named after the world, and you need every file in it. On Windows, local worlds are in %UserProfile%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local. Worlds in Steam Cloud use the folder worlds next to it.

1. Stop your server and make a backup.
2. Upload the whole world folder to saves/worlds_local with SFTP. Or zip it, upload the zip in File managers and choose Unarchive.
3. Set World Name to the exact folder name, with the same capitals, and start the server.

You now have two separate copies, and they drift apart if you keep playing at home. On one PC, never open the same world in the game and on the server at once: the Valheim Wiki warns of critical errors. To preview a seed first, see Valheim seed map.

Common problems and how to fix them

• The server won’t start. It’s almost always the password: too short, or part of the server or world name. Pick another one and restart.
• You spawn in an empty new world. World Name doesn’t match the folder name, the folder sits one level too deep, or you uploaded loose files.
• Friends can’t join after a patch. Server and game need the same version. With Auto Update on, a restart is enough. Patches don’t always reach every platform at once: with 1.0.20, crossplay with Mac App Store players failed until that store caught up.
• Console players can’t find the server. Crossplay is off, so only Steam players see it. Turn it on and restart.
• Mods do nothing. Watch the console on startup. If it says BepInExPack_Valheim is missing, upload the contents of that pack to your server’s main folder. Mods go in BepInEx/plugins, built for Valheim 1.0, with crossplay off.

Still stuck on a rented server? Open a ticket in your CakeHosting account.