Valheim dedicated server: settings, admins and ports

To play Valheim with friends on a world that stays online, you need a dedicated server. You can run it at home for free, or rent one. Here's what each option takes, then the settings, admins and connecting.

At home: free, as long as your PC stays on

The dedicated server comes with the game. In your Steam library, tick "Tools" in the drop-down menu at the top left, then install Valheim Dedicated Server. Open its installed files: on Windows it starts with start_headless_server.bat, on Linux with start_server.sh. Your settings go in that file. Keep a copy of it: Steam puts the original back on every update. On Linux, install the libatomic1, libpulse-dev and libpulse0 packages first.

Your server is ready when it shows "Game server connected". To stop it, press Ctrl+C in its window: closing it with the X may leave it running.

What it takes: a PC that stays on while your group plays and, without crossplay, the server ports open on your router. It's the right choice if someone in your group has a machine that runs all the time.

Rented: your world online without your PC

With us, your plan's RAM is reserved for your server, never oversold. Two plans: Small group, up to 5 recommended players, and Community, up to 10 recommended players, Valheim's maximum. Your server updates itself on every start. It's backed up every day, and you restore it yourself from your panel: when it's done, click Start. Already have a world? We help you move it over, included. Group getting bigger? Ask for the plan above from your account: we move your world over with you. See the Valheim plans.

Settings

At home, settings are options added to the server's launch line:

• -name: the name shown in the server list;
• -port: the port, 2456 by default;
• -world: the world name. The server loads it if it exists, and creates it otherwise;
• -password: the password;
• -public: 1 to show in the server list (the default), 0 for a server joined by its address only;
• -crossplay: opens your server to players on every platform;
• -saveinterval: how often the world is saved, every 30 minutes by default. -backups, -backupshort and -backuplong set the game's automatic backups;
• -preset: the world's difficulty, Normal, Casual, Easy, Hard, Hardcore, Immersive or Hammer. -modifier then adjusts one aspect, such as combat, resources or raids.

On your Easy Game Server server, these are set in your panel's Startup tab: "Server Name", "Server Password", "World Name", "Public Server", "Enable Crossplay", "Auto Update", then "Backup Interval", which sets how often the world is saved, "Backup Count", "Backup Shorttime" and "Backup Longtime". Change them, then restart your server. The port is the one in your server's address. Difficulty isn't set from Startup.

Password and private server

Your Easy Game Server server is delivered with a password generated for it. You see and change it in the Startup tab, 5 to 20 characters: share it with your players, or replace it with your own. Crossplay, the password and backups are also covered in our crossplay and co-op world guide.

For a server only your group can find, also set "Public Server" to 0: your server drops out of the server list, and it's joined by its address only.

Admins, bans and the allow list

Three files in the server's save folder control access: adminlist.txt for admins, bannedlist.txt for banned players and permittedlist.txt for allowed players. One player per line, in the form [Platform]_[User ID], case sensitive. You'll find the ID in the server log, or in game with the F2 key.

Careful: as soon as one player is in permittedlist.txt, everyone else is refused.

An admin opens the in-game console with F5 and types kick, ban or unban followed by the player's name, or banned to list banned players.

At home, the save folder is %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim on Windows and ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim on Linux. On your Easy Game Server server, open it from your panel's file manager, in .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim. Edit the files, then restart your server.

Port and connecting

At home, without crossplay, open the server's port range on your router: 2456-2457 by default, which is the port you set and the next one. With crossplay, the server goes through a relay and you have no port to open. If Windows asks, allow the server through the firewall.

To join, launch Valheim, pick your character, open Join Game, then Add server, and enter the address and port. A crossplay server can't be joined with a local address: use the public one. A friend on Xbox can only get in if crossplay is enabled on both their console and the server.

On your Easy Game Server server, the full address is in your panel, and crossplay is already on. Your server is ready when your panel's console shows "Game server connected".

Your existing world

The server loads the world named with -world, or in "World Name" on your Easy Game Server server. Change that name and the server starts a different world. The old one stays in the save folder, and you get it back by setting its name again.

Your world already runs at home or somewhere else? We help you move it over, included: we copy your files, check the version and make sure everything starts before switching. Ask from your account or on Discord.

When nobody can join

• The server isn't ready yet: wait for "Game server connected" in the console.
• It doesn't show in the list: "Public Server" may be set to 0. Join it by its address.
• A friend on Xbox can't get in: crossplay must be enabled on the server and on their console.
• Everyone is refused except a few players: permittedlist.txt isn't empty.
• One player is refused: check whether they're in bannedlist.txt.

After a game update

Restart your server: it downloads the update on start, before loading your world. Keep "Auto Update" enabled in Startup. At home, Steam updates Valheim Dedicated Server and puts the original launch file back: copy your settings over from your own copy.

Is your world older than version 1.0? It still loads and gets the new content, but new biomes only generate properly in areas not yet explored. Iron Gate recommends starting a new world to get the most out of it.

Sources: official Valheim support (Iron Gate), guide to dedicated servers, crossplay FAQ and Valheim 1.0 FAQ.