Valheim Dedicated Server Setup (1.0) Guide

Setting up a Valheim dedicated server comes down to four things: install the free Valheim Dedicated Server tool from the Tools section of your Steam Library, edit a copy of its start script, pick either the crossplay backend (join code, no port forwarding) or the Steam backend (forward ports 2456 – 2457), and, if needed, configure admin rights, bans or a whitelist in the appropriate permission file. This guide goes through all of it for Valheim 1.0, which Iron Gate released on 9 September 2026, with the current patch being 1.0.15 from 18 September 2026. It also covers the launch arguments listed in Iron Gate’s guide, how old worlds get converted to the new 1.0 save format, Linux and Docker, and the gaps Iron Gate’s documents leave open.

You need the Valheim Dedicated Server tool. It’s a free download listed under Tools in the Steam Library, separate from the game. Iron Gate’s guide covers Windows and Linux, and gives Docker as an option on Linux distros whose system libraries are too old. Xbox players can’t set up a dedicated server, but they can join one if both the Xbox and the server have crossplay turned on.

Iron Gate’s 1.0 FAQ describes Valheim as “a game for 1-10 players”. Game8’s secondary guide reports that dedicated hosting does not increase that cap. Our reading is that the real benefit is persistence: the world stays up when the person who normally hosts goes offline. Iron Gate’s own guide says running one takes “some cursory scripting knowledge”. Depending on your setup, you may also need to configure your router, and the guide leaves that to your router manual or ISP.

These steps come from Iron Gate’s official dedicated server guide. It’s dated 11 April 2024, before 1.0, and it’s still the current official guide.

Here’s what the job actually involves. Iron Gate doesn’t give a time estimate, but the list is one free download, one edited line, one firewall prompt, and a router port forward if you use the Steam backend. If you go the Docker route, the first boot builds the container, which the guide says “takes a few minutes”. Our reading: if you use crossplay and your world is new, it’s a short evening. Importing an old world, setting up admin files and changing the backup schedule each add a bit more time.

Ready-made start line: what to put after -name

Everything below comes from the arguments in Iron Gate’s guide. Swap in your own server name, world name and password, and keep the quotes.

Crossplay (players on any platform, no port forwarding):

-name "Neon Vikings" -port 2456 -world "Midgard" -password "your-own-long-password" -public 1 -crossplay

Steam backend (Steam players only, forward ports 2456 – 2457 on your router):

-name "Neon Vikings" -port 2456 -world "Midgard" -password "your-own-long-password" -public 1

• -name is what players see in the server list.
• -world is the world’s file name without extension. For an existing world it must match exactly; otherwise the server creates a new, empty world with that name.
• -password: use a long password you don’t use anywhere else. It sits in the script copy in plain text, so don’t share that file.
• -public 1 lists the server; use -public 0 if only people you invite should find it.
• -crossplay goes at the end of the line; leave it out for the Steam backend.

Check it worked: when the server window reports “Game server connected”, start Valheim, open Join Game and find the server by its name (with -public 1) or add it with Add server. Join once yourself: if you brought an existing world, your base should be there before anyone else logs in.

The launch options listed below are supplied on the server’s start-script command line; permissions are configured separately in text files. The table below follows Iron Gate’s list. These arguments and defaults are documented in Iron Gate’s April 2024 guide, before 1.0; they have not been re-checked here for 1.0.15.

The listed defaults retain four automatic backups, with a short interval of 7,200 seconds (2 hours) and a long interval of 43,200 seconds (12 hours). The DeathPenalty modifier changes how much skill you lose when you die. Our guide to Valheim skills and the death penalty explains what each setting costs your group.

This is the one real decision in the setup. With -crossplay, the server runs on PlayFab and players on any platform can join. Without it, the server uses the Steam backend, and only Steam users can see it and join. Crossplay sends traffic through a relay server, so you don’t need to forward ports. The Steam backend needs the port range forwarded on your router.

To get a friend into a crossplay game, copy the join code from the pause menu and send it to them. They go to ‘Join Game’, press ‘Add server’ and paste the code. Switch 2 needed its own patch for crossplay after launch; Iron Gate’s Hotfix 1.0.10 & 1.0.12 post (11 September 2026) says all platforms should be compatible for crossplay again. For the full breakdown of Iron Gate’s crossplay rules, see the official Crossplay FAQ.

Stop the server (Ctrl+C) and make a backup copy of the world files outside the Valheim folders before you copy anything. That copy is your way back if the name doesn’t match or the conversion goes wrong.

Where your world is now

Since patch 0.209.5 (June 2022), local worlds live in worlds_local: %USERPROFILE%/AppData/LocalLow/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local on Windows, ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local on Linux. Cloud worlds are not there: Steam keeps them in its own folder (Steam/userdata/[your Steam ID]/892970). Take the world from wherever it actually is.

Where it goes on the server

Into worlds_local inside the server’s save directory: the default path above on the server machine, or the folder you set with -savedir.

Scenario 1: a pre-1.0 world (.db + .fwl)

Copy both files, for example Midgard.db and Midgard.fwl, and set -world "Midgard". On its first start a 1.0 server converts the world to the new chunked save format; per the Patch 1.0.15 notes, the game keeps a backup of the world from before that first load. Third-party hosting guides describe the conversion as one-way, so keep your own copy as well.

Scenario 2: a world you already played on 1.0

Copy everything in worlds_local whose name starts with the world’s name, files and any folder with that name, and set -world to that name.

Check, and roll back if needed

Join once and look for your base. If you spawn into an untouched world, the name did not match and the server created a new one: stop it with Ctrl+C, correct -world to the exact file name, remove only the new world files the server just created, and start again. If the converted world is broken, restore your own copy. For moving worlds between PC, console and hosts, see our Valheim 1.0 servers and saves guide.

Permissions are set in three text files in the save directory. Each line holds one Platform User ID in the format [Platform]_[User ID], and the format is case sensitive.

adminlist.txt: who can run admin commands

Add IDs here to give players admin rights. Admins use the in-game console, opened with F5: Kick PLAYERNAME, Ban PLAYERNAME, Unban PLAYERNAME and Banned (lists banned players). Admin commands aren’t the same as devcommands. See our devcommands cheat-flag explainer for how those affect achievements.

bannedlist.txt: who is kept out

Each ID on this list is banned. Since 1.0, IDs also come in a new platform-neutral format (V_123456789) next to the older Steam_123456789 style. At launch, the ban list and whitelist only matched the new format. Hotfix 1.0.12 (11 September 2026) fixed that on Steam, and Iron Gate said the fix would reach the other platforms in an upcoming hotfix. If bans or the whitelist ignore an old-style ID, add the player’s V_ ID as well.

permittedlist.txt: whitelist that bans everyone else

Once you add anyone to this file, everyone who isn’t on it is banned from the server. If you want a private group, put every member’s ID in before you save the file, including your own.

On Linux, Iron Gate lists three extra packages you need: libatomic1, libpulse-dev and libpulse0. The server needs at least GLIBC_2.29 and GLIBCXX_3.4.26. If your distro ships older versions, running it in Docker is one way around upgrading.

For Docker, run the bundled script and pass it the start script you want to use, for example ./docker_start_server.sh start_server.sh or your copy. Game data goes into the volume named by DOCKER_DATA_VOLUME in that script, which defaults to valheim_server_data. Your worlds and the three permission files live there.

Steam updates the server tool, and each update resets the original start script. Launch from your copy and your settings stay put. Patch 1.0.14 (17 September 2026) fixed characters not saving properly when you pressed Save on a server someone else hosts. It also turned off biome-data caching, which could get into a state where remote servers couldn’t be joined. According to the 1.0.14 post, Iron Gate said the patch would take a few days to reach all platforms because of internal restrictions, while crossplay would remain functional during the rollout.

To shut the server down, press Ctrl+C in its command window. Iron Gate warns that closing the window with the X may leave the server running in the background. A Docker server stops the same way.

Iron Gate’s server guide, Crossplay FAQ, 1.0 FAQ and patch notes up to 1.0.15 don’t set any password rules. They also don’t say whether the server and clients have to be on exactly the same patch, or give any instructions for rented hosts. The server guide doesn’t list a player limit either, though the 1.0 FAQ gives the 1 – 10 cap. Whether PS5 or Switch 2 can run the server tool isn’t stated. Iron Gate has no official mod support.

Sources and Confidence

This table separates what the studio has confirmed from what comes out of press previews, and what is still just circulating. Each claim below is tied to the post and the game version it describes.