Revision history

v1.0: September 2026 — First edition.
v1.1: September 2026 — Updated for Valheim 1.0. Added how updates are applied on restart, the change to the world save format, where the join code is stored, and notes on crossplay and consoles. Added a figure to “Starting the server”.
v1.2: September 2026 — Added the world modifiers, the connection details shown at startup, and the join code being saved to a file.
v1.3: September 2026 — Rewrote the joining instructions so that they follow the crossplay setting. Added joining by entering the server address directly. Tidied up the explanations of mods and networking.

From order to a ready-to-use server

Once your payment is completed, the server is built automatically and delivered to you already set up. We will send you an email as soon as it is ready.During the build, we take care of the following on our side. There is nothing you need to prepare yourself.

Downloading the game server itself and verifying that all files are complete
Assigning the required ports
Generating a join password dedicated to that server

No port forwarding and no router configuration are required.

The game itself (Valheim) must be purchased separately by you. What we provide is the server where everyone gathers.

Logging in to the game panel

All server operations are done from the game panel, which you use in your browser.

Use the details in your order completion email to log in to the game panel.
After logging in, select the Valheim server on your account.
From the menu on the left you can move to screens such as Console, Files, Backups, Network, Schedules and Startup.

The display language of the game panel can be changed to English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and more. Change it from your account settings after logging in.

Checking the settings

Server settings are configured on the game panel's Startup screen. What you enter is saved automatically and takes effect the next time the server starts.You can play with the default settings as they are. Only change them when you want to.

The game panel's Startup screen, showing the Server Name, Join Password, Backup Interval, Backup Count, Backup Shorttime and Backup Longtime fields — The Startup screen. The most commonly used fields

Item	Description
[SERVER] Server Name	The name of the server. If you leave it blank, the server name shown in the game panel is used as-is. Choosing a name your friends can recognize makes the server easier to find.
[SERVER] Join Password	The password required to join. If you leave it blank, a password dedicated to that server is generated automatically on the first start. See "Checking the join password" for how to look it up.
World Name	The name of the world. Specify it when you want to switch between multiple worlds.
Public Server	Whether the server is listed publicly in the server list. Enabled by default.
Auto Update	Checks for game updates on every start. Enabled by default.
Enable Crossplay	A switch that turns crossplay on or off. Turn it on to play with people on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox, the Microsoft Store edition or Game Pass; leave it off if everyone plays on Steam. Restart the server after changing it. How people join depends on this setting, so please also read "Joining the server".
Backup Interval	How often the world is saved, in seconds. The default is 1800 (30 minutes).
Backup Count	How many generations of automatic backups are kept. The default is 4.
Backup Shorttime / Backup Longtime	The intervals for automatic backups, in seconds. The defaults are 7200 (2 hours) and 43200 (12 hours).
World Modifiers (Valheim 1.0)	Lets you change Valheim 1.0 world settings such as combat difficulty and the death penalty. Leave it blank to change nothing. See Changing the world modifiers below.

How backups work is explained in "Backups".

Changing the world modifiers

Enter your settings in the World Modifiers (Valheim 1.0) field on the game panel's Startup screen, then restart the server to apply them.The format is -modifier <key> <value>. To set several, separate them with spaces.

-modifier combat easy -modifier deathpenalty casual -modifier resources more

The World Modifiers (Valheim 1.0) field on the Startup screen with several -modifier entries typed in — The World Modifiers (Valheim 1.0) field on the Startup screen. The value shown is an example.

Your existing world is kept as it is. No new world is created. If you leave the field blank, the server runs with the settings you had before.

Key	What it changes	Values we have verified
`combat`	Combat difficulty	`easy`
`deathpenalty`	Death penalty	`casual`
`resources`	Resource amount	`more`
`raids`	Raid frequency	`less`
`portals`	Portal restrictions	`casual`

The table lists only the values we have verified on a real server. The game accepts other values as well, but we have not verified them, so they are not listed here. If there is a value you would like to try, let us know through a support ticket.

Starting the server

On the game panel's Console screen, press the Start button.

The first start takes several minutes. This is because the world is generated from scratch.
When the status turns Online and the connection details appear at the top of the console, the server is ready.
From the second start onward it finishes in a few seconds, because the world already exists.
When you change a setting, restart the server to apply it.

During the first start, many lines reading Failed to place all ... scroll past in the console. This is normal progress of world generation, not an error. Please just wait.

When you stop the server, it saves the world before shutting down. Stopping or restarting will not lose your save.

Game updates are applied when the server restarts. Steam updates the game (client) automatically, so until the server has been restarted you will see a version mismatch and will not be able to join. The update to Valheim 1.0 is applied the same way — just restart the server from the game panel.
If crossplay is on, restarting issues a new join code, so please pass the new code to the people you play with (see Joining the server). The server address and port do not change when you restart.

The game panel console screen, showing the Restart power button and the line with the join code — The Console screen. Press Restart to apply an update (the join code changes with every restart).

Every time the server starts, a summary of the connection details is printed at the top of the console — the server name, the address, the join password, the world name and whether crossplay is on.
This appears once you have restarted the server.

The connection details at the top of the console: server name, address, join password, world name and whether crossplay is on — The connection details printed at the top of the console on startup (address and password hidden here). The **Crossplay: 1 / 0** value on the last line is the current setting of that server (shown here as on).

Checking the join password

If you leave [SERVER] Join Password blank, a password dedicated to that server is generated automatically on the first start. The same password is never reused across servers.

Open the game panel's Files screen.
Open valheim_password.txt in the top-level directory (home).
The string written in it is the join password for that server.

The game panel's Files screen. The join password is in valheim_password.txt directly under home, and the world data is inside the hidden folder .config — The Files screen. `valheim_password.txt` directly under home

If you want to use a password of your own, enter it in [SERVER] Join Password on the Startup screen and restart the server.

Be careful that the join password is not visible on screen when you are streaming or sharing your screen.

The join password is now also printed at the top of the console every time the server starts. It used to be shown only on the very first start, so it is now available whenever you need it. It is the same value as in valheim_password.txt.
This appears once you have restarted the server.

Joining the server

How people join depends on the crossplay setting. Start by checking which setting your server is using.

Checking the current setting
In the connection details printed at the top of the console when the server starts, the number in World: OO / Crossplay: 1 is the current setting (1 = on / 0 = off).
You can also check and change it with the Enable Crossplay switch on the Startup screen of the game panel. Changes take effect when the server is restarted.

Setting	Suits	How to join
Off (0)	Everyone plays on Steam	Enter the server address and port directly in the game (Method A)
On (1)	Playing together with PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox, Microsoft Store edition or Game Pass	Join with the 6-digit join code (Method B). Entering the address directly also works

Method A: Enter the server address and port directly

This method works whether crossplay is on or off. The address does not change when the server restarts, so once you have noted it down you can use it every time.

Open the Console screen in the game panel and look at Address: ***.***.***.***:***** printed at the top (the same value is also shown at the top of the panel).
Start Valheim, pick your character and world, and open the Join Game screen.
In the field for joining by IP, enter address:port exactly as shown.
Enter the join password you looked up above, and you are in.

Include the port number. The IP address on its own will not connect.

Method B: Enter with a join code (only when crossplay is on)

Servers with crossplay on are issued a 6-digit join code. Share the code and people can join without being told the address.

Open the Console screen in the game panel.
Look for a line reading Session "server name" registered with join code ...... (it appears one or two minutes after startup).
The 6 digits on that line are the join code.

The game panel console, with the join code shown on the Session registered with join code line — The join code shown in the console (the value is an example)

Servers with crossplay off do not issue a join code. In that case please join with Method A.
Note that if the server was started with crossplay on at some point, valheim_joincode.txt may still hold that older code, which will not work while crossplay is off.

The join code changes every time the server restarts. After changing a setting and restarting, or if you have scheduled restarts, check the console for the new code.
If someone says yesterday's code no longer works, this is the first thing to check.

As well as being printed in the console, the join code is saved automatically to a file called valheim_joincode.txt (you can read it at any time from the top of the Files screen).
Note that the join code (valheim_joincode.txt) and the join password (valheim_password.txt) are two different things.

Joining across platforms

To play together with people on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox, the Microsoft Store edition or Game Pass, turn Enable Crossplay on on the Startup screen of the game panel and restart the server. Once it is on, a 6-digit join code is issued, and sharing it lets people join from any of those platforms (Method B).If everyone plays on Steam, leaving it off is perfectly fine. With crossplay off, connections do not pass through a relay server, so latency may be lower.

There is no need to match play environments. As long as crossplay is on and the join code has been shared, everyone can meet in the same world.

PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox

On these platforms you cannot host a dedicated server (you can still join one).
If you want your world to keep running while nobody has the game open, use a dedicated server.

About mods

Mods (BepInEx) cannot be used on our Valheim servers.In Valheim, crossplay and the mod loading mechanism cannot both be active — that is how the game itself works. We prioritise a setup in which any server can be switched over to crossplay, so we do not offer a configuration for mods.

In exchange for mods, we prioritize letting everyone gather in the same world without having to match play environments.

Turning Enable Crossplay off does not give you a setup in which mods can be used. That setting governs how people join (whether a join code is issued).
We cannot guarantee that mods you install yourself will work. Most mods stop working at Valheim 1.0, so if the server will not start, remove your mods and BepInEx and try again.

Backups

There are two backup mechanisms. Both are active by default.

Mechanism	Description	Where to configure
The game's own automatic backup	Valheim itself creates backups of the world. They are kept in the same location as the world data, named `<world name>_backup_auto-date-time` (world name, then the date and time).	Backup Interval / Backup Count / Backup Shorttime / Backup Longtime on the Startup screen
The game panel's backup	A backup of the whole server. It stores only the world data and the settings, excluding the game itself (about 2 GB). That way, keeping many generations does not eat up your storage.	The game panel's Backups screen

Using the Schedules screen, you can also take backups automatically at a set time. For the steps, see How to set up a recurring schedule on your game server.

For the restore procedure, see "Restoring from a backup".

Taking and restoring backups from the game panel should be done while the server is stopped.

Where the world data is stored

The world data is stored in the following location.

.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local/
<world name>/ — the world data (a folder containing several files)

It is a hidden folder, because its name begins with a dot ( . ). Depending on your file manager settings, it may not be displayed. In that case, turn on "show hidden files".

The same information is also written in ワールドデータの場所.txt ("location of the world data"), directly under the server's home directory.

The world save format changed with Valheim 1.0. It used to be two files, <world name>.db and <world name>.fwl; the world is now stored as several files inside a folder of the same name.
The migration happens automatically the first time the server saves. Your previous files are kept as <world name>_backup_<date>.db, so nothing is lost.

Adding an administrator

To allow admin commands to be used in game, write the Steam IDs, one per line, in the following file.

.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/adminlist.txt

In the same location there are also bannedlist.txt (the list of players who are refused) and permittedlist.txt (the list of players who are allowed).

For detailed steps, see How to add an administrator to your server.

After editing the files, restart the server.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check
The join code does not work	The join code changes every time the server restarts. Look up the latest code again on the Console screen.
No join code is shown	Servers with crossplay off do not issue a join code. Please join with Method A (entering the server address directly).
In-game ping is high, is not displayed, or players are disconnected with a network error	On servers with crossplay on, the connection passes through a relay server, so the in-game ping can read higher than it really is, or not be shown at all. If everyone plays on Steam, turn Enable Crossplay off on the Startup screen, restart the server, and rejoin with Method A. Note that with crossplay off, console players can no longer join and no join code is issued.
I cannot find the server	Join by entering the server address and port directly (Method A). The address does not change when the server restarts, so this always works.
I do not know the join password	Check `valheim_password.txt`, directly under home on the Files screen.
The first start never finishes	The first start takes several minutes because the world is generated. `Failed to place all ...` is normal progress.
I cannot find the world files	`.config` is a hidden folder. Turn on "show hidden files" in the file manager.
I want to install mods	Because of how the game works, mods cannot be used on our servers whatever the setting (see "About mods").
I changed a setting but nothing happened	Settings on the Startup screen take effect when the server restarts.
A version mismatch stops me joining	The game has been updated. Restart the server. Note that the join code changes after a restart.

If this does not solve the problem, please send us a support ticket from the client portal. We handle tickets in English, as well as Japanese, Korean and Chinese.

Next steps

Logging in to the game panel and feature overview — how to use the panel as a whole
How to set up a recurring schedule on your game server — automatic restarts and automatic backups
Restoring from a backup
How to add an administrator to your server
Valheim Dedicated Server — plans and pricing