How to host a Valheim dedicated server

The useful question is whether your friends need the world when you are away. If every session starts and ends together, hosting from the game menu can be enough. A dedicated server is for a world that keeps its own schedule.

You can run that server on a spare computer or rent one. At home, you own the updates, power, networking, and recovery work. With managed hosting, you pay someone to provide the machine and a panel, but you still need to know how to retrieve your world. Neither route makes backups optional.

In Steam, enable the Tools filter in your library and install Valheim Dedicated Server. Open its installation folder. Keep a separate copy of the startup script so an update does not erase your changes: the Windows file is start_headless_server.bat; Linux uses start_server.sh.

Work on the copy. Give it a name that makes sense to you, and keep a note of where it lives. A second person in the group should be able to find it without needing a tour of your desktop.

The first launch is a plumbing test. Leave mods out, use a new world, and make the minimum configuration changes needed to connect. Adding an existing world and a mod pack at the same time makes a failed launch much harder to diagnose.

The startup arguments specify the server’s name, world, password, and port. Use your own values in the copied script; do not replace the entire supplied script with this abbreviated example.

-name "Squad Server" -world "SquadWorld" -password "REPLACE_ME" -port 2456

The Steam backend uses the configured port and the next port; the default pair is 2456–2457. The crossplay backend uses a relay and does not need router port forwarding. Add -crossplay when you intend to use that backend.

Choose the backend deliberately. A join code and a Steam-only server are different connection paths. Write down which one the group should use so that a networking problem does not turn into everyone trying a different method.

Launch your copied script and inspect the console. Iron Gate’s documented readiness message is Game server connected. Then ask a friend on another internet connection to join. A connection from your own computer is not a useful substitute for that outside test.

On the crossplay backend, use its supported public address or join-code route rather than a loopback or local address. For Steam networking, confirm that your router forwards the intended ports to the server machine and that the machine’s firewall allows the server traffic. Avoid opening unrelated ports to see whether something changes.

If the outside test fails, keep the test world. Record the backend, server version, exact join address, and the console output. Our Valheim ports and connection checklist puts those checks in a useful order.

Once an outside player can join, stop the server cleanly before changing the world or copying files. Keep the original save untouched while you verify the copy. Rejoin and check a recognizable building or location; a server that launches successfully can still be loading the wrong world.

Create a short operator note: where the script lives, how to stop the server, where saves are stored, who can update it, and how to recover a backup. Keep account passwords out of that shared note. Record which person has access instead.

Schedule maintenance when the group is offline. Before an update, make a separate backup and note the version you were running. Afterward, check that a player can join and that recent progress remains. A repeatable ten-minute check is worth more than an elaborate setup nobody else understands.