How to Host a Valheim Dedicated Server

Three ways to play Valheim together

• Host from the game. Start a world with the server option ticked, and friends join you. Nothing to install, but the world only runs while you are playing, on your PC.
• Run the dedicated server on your PC. The Valheim Dedicated Server is a free Steam tool. It runs without the game open, so friends can play while you are away from it — as long as the PC stays on.
• Rent a server. The same dedicated server on a machine in a data centre: the world is online whether or not anyone in your group has their PC on.

Ten players is Valheim's own limit, the same on every kind of server. If your group only plays together at fixed times, hosting from the game is enough. The moment someone wants to log in alone to farm or build, you need a dedicated server.

What a Valheim server needs

• RAM. Iron Gate publishes no official figure. In practice a fresh vanilla world uses around 1.5–2 GB, and memory grows as your group explores and builds. 4 GB runs a full group of ten on vanilla; mods and big, long-played worlds want 6–8 GB or more.
• Ports. UDP 2456 and 2457 — the port you choose and the one after it. The server script that ships with the game also suggests forwarding 2458.
• The software. The Valheim Dedicated Server tool on Steam, free, for Windows and Linux.
• A CPU with fast single cores. Most of Valheim's simulation runs on one core, so clock speed matters more than core count.

Set up a Valheim dedicated server on your PC

1. Install the tool. In your Steam Library, switch the filter to Tools and install Valheim Dedicated Server.
2. Copy the start script. In the install folder, make a copy of start_headless_server.bat (on Linux, start_server.sh) and edit the copy — Steam puts the original back on every update.
3. Set the launch line. The important arguments:

valheim_server -nographics -batchmode -name "My Server" -port 2456 -world "Dedicated" -password "secret123" -public 1 -crossplay

• -name is the name in the server list; -world is the world, created if it does not exist yet.
• -password must be at least 5 characters, and must not be part of the world name.
• -public 1 lists the server; 0 hides it, and players join by IP.
• -crossplay lets console and Game Pass players in (more below). Leave it out for a Steam-only server.

4. Start it and wait for Game server connected in the window.
5. Forward the ports. UDP 2456–2457 (and 2458, as the official script suggests) on your router to this PC, and allow the server through the firewall.
6. Stop it properly. Press Ctrl+C in the server window; that saves the world before it closes.

Steam players join through Join game > Join IP with your public IP and port 2456. Worlds are saved in %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local on Windows.

Host a Valheim server on HytHost

1. Order and pick the software. On Valheim hosting, choose a plan, or a Custom server from 4 to 16 GB, and pick Vanilla or BepInEx. You can switch between them later from the Startup tab; the change applies at the next restart.
2. Open the Startup tab. It holds the server name, the world name, the password, public listing and crossplay, plus the world preset, modifiers and keys. Every server starts with a random password, which you can change here: at least 5 characters, and not part of the server name or the world name.
3. Join. Steam players use Join game > Join IP with the address and port from your panel. With crossplay on, console players use the join code the server prints in the console.
4. Make yourself admin. Add your Steam ID to adminlist.txt in the server files and restart — the details are in our Valheim admin commands guide.

On a shared IP your panel shows the ports assigned to you; the Dedicated IP add-on gives the server its own address on the default ports 2456 and 2457. Automatic backups are included, alongside the game's own backup copies.

Crossplay with Xbox, PS5 and Switch 2

Since 1.0, Valheim has crossplay between PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2. A dedicated server takes part when it runs with -crossplay — on HytHost, the Crossplay switch in the Startup tab, off by default.

• Console and Game Pass players join with a join code, which the server shows in its console. The code changes every time the server restarts, so share the new one after a restart.
• Steam players can still join by IP as usual.
• Crossplay and mods do not mix in practice. Console players cannot install mods, so a BepInEx server running mods that players must also have is a PC-only server. Keep crossplay for vanilla worlds.

Bringing your existing world

A world you played at home can move to the server. Since 1.0 a Valheim world is a folder in worlds_local, not a single pair of files; you upload it to the server's saves/worlds_local folder and set the same world name in the Startup tab. The exact steps, including older .db and .fwl worlds, are in how to upload your world to a game server. If you would rather not, send us the world and we move it for you, free of charge.

Admins, difficulty and world modifiers

Two things you will set up early:

• Admins and access. Admins, bans and the permitted list are three text files next to the worlds. Kick, ban and save from the in-game console: see Valheim admin commands.
• Difficulty. Presets such as Casual or Hardcore, and modifiers for combat, death penalty, resources, raids and portals, are set with the -preset, -modifier and -setkey arguments — on HytHost, in the Startup tab. What each one does is in Valheim world modifiers and server settings.

Valheim hosting covers both, with every plan from 4 GB and a Custom server up to 16 GB.