Valheim Dedicated Server: How to Host One After 1.0 (Self-Hosted, Free or Rented)

Yes, you can host a Valheim dedicated server, and the server software is free. It's a separate tool in the Tools section of your Steam library. You run it on a PC that stays on, a Linux box, or a rented machine, and your group can log in whenever they like, even when you're offline. Here's how it works as of October 2026, a month and a bit after the 1.0 launch on September 9.

The question that picks your route: should the world still be there when your own PC is off?

Which route: in-game host, your own server, or rented

Hosting from the game is fine for a Friday night with a couple of friends. The step-by-step for that, join codes included, is in my Valheim crossplay guide. Everything below is about the other two routes.

Install the Valheim Dedicated Server tool

In Steam, open your library, tick Tools in the filter, scroll to Valheim Dedicated Server and install it. Iron Gate's guide also ships with the download. It's dated April 2024, so it predates 1.0, but hosts who went through the 1.0 patch notes say no launch arguments changed.

The guide expects some scripting comfort, and Iron Gate won't walk you through router settings.

The start script

On Windows you edit start_headless_server.bat. On Linux it's ./start_server.sh. The server properties sit on line 7, the one starting start valheim_server. Edit a copy, because Steam resets the original every time it updates the tool. The catch is that a copy can't be launched from Steam's shortcut, so run it yourself.

When the console says Game server connected, you're up. Windows may pop a firewall prompt: tick all the boxes. To stop the server, press Ctrl+C in the command window. Closing it with the X might leave the server running in the background, and Iron Gate admits it doesn't really know.

Launch flags that matter

Default save path is %USERPROFILE%/AppData/LocalLow/IronGate/Valheim on Windows and ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim on Linux.

Ports: what to open

It depends on the backend. On the default Steam backend, you forward the port and port+1 on your router (2456-2457 unless you changed it) to the server machine. Whatever you set with -port has to match what you forward. With -crossplay, traffic goes through a relay, so no port forwarding is needed. The port still matters if you run several servers behind one public IP.

If you've never touched router settings, my Terraria server hosting guide covers port forwarding, CGNAT and whether opening a port is safe. The ideas carry over with different numbers.

Console friends: -crossplay and join codes

PS5 and Switch 2 players can only reach a server started with -crossplay, according to hosts, and the official guide says the same about the Steam backend being Steam-only. A crossplay server shows up with a join code, and you can also connect with the public IP and port or from the server list. A local or loopback IP won't work. Consoles can join a dedicated server but can't run one.

Two more notes. Players need crossplay switched on at their end too, and on Xbox parental controls can hide the toggle. And if anyone is on console, keep the server vanilla: there's no mod support on console, and hosts report crossplay servers add a little latency from the relay. More detail on all of it is on the crossplay page.

Move an existing world in

Pre-1.0 worlds convert themselves. Host write-ups from September 2026 say that since 1.0 a world is a folder of small chunk files instead of a .db and .fwl pair, and an older world converts the first time a 1.0 server loads it, with the old files renamed and a backup copy made. That makes moving a world a matter of copying a whole folder, not two files.

Put the world in the save path, then start the server with -world set to the same name. Back up before the first load. Hosts also reported early converted worlds losing item stand upgrade levels, and Iron Gate's own hotfix notes say not to take high-level items off item stands without a backup.

Admin, banned and permitted lists

Three text files in the save path: adminlist.txt, bannedlist.txt and permittedlist.txt. One ID per line, written as [Platform]_[User ID], case sensitive. You can pull a player's ID from the server log or the in-game F2 panel. Adding anyone to the permitted list bans everybody else, so only use it if you want a closed whitelist.

Old Steam_ IDs and new V_ IDs should both work. Iron Gate's September 11 hotfix (1.0.12) fixed a bug that made the ban and permitted lists work only with the new format. In-game, F5 opens the console, where you can kick, ban and unban.

Backups

The server saves every 30 minutes by default and keeps backups on its own: one short backup at two hours, then three long ones 12 hours apart. Tune it with -backups 4 (how many to keep), -backupshort 7200 and -backuplong 43200 (the two intervals, in seconds). Built-in backups are folders now too, going by host write-ups. I'd still copy the world folder somewhere else before every update and before anything risky.

Updating after patches

Server and clients have to be on the same build, or players hit "Incompatible version". Hosts reported that at least one 1.0 patch bumped the network version, so a server left a patch behind turned away updated clients. Update the tool through Steam, or by re-running your SteamCMD update on a headless box, then restart. On a rented server, the host's panel decides how that works.

Valheim server on Linux

Linux works with the same flags and start_server.sh. Install libatomic1, libpulse-dev and libpulse0 first. The tool needs GLIBC 2.29 and GLIBCXX 3.4.26 or newer. If your distro is older than that, Iron Gate's guide points you to Docker: run docker_start_server.sh start_server.sh, which builds the container the first time and takes a few minutes. Docker data lives in the valheim_server_data volume unless you set DOCKER_DATA_VOLUME to a path in your home folder. That's where your worlds and the three lists end up.

How much RAM does a Valheim server need?

Iron Gate doesn't publish a RAM or CPU number. Hosts who've measured it put a vanilla server at around 4 GB for a full group, more with mods. One host's September 2026 measurements had a fresh world idling around 1 to 1.4 GB and an established 10-player world peaking near 3.5 GB, roughly 150 MB per connected player. Same host says the main simulation is single-threaded, so clock speed beats core count. Those are one host's numbers, not a spec sheet. A group of four sitting on a 4 GB box would be fine by that math, and 10 players on 2 GB wouldn't.

Is there a free Valheim dedicated server?

The tool itself is free to download. Your cost is the machine you run it on: electricity for a PC that stays on, plus your internet connection. If you've got a spare PC or an old laptop, that's the free route, and it's the one I'd try first.

What renting adds, and what it costs

Hosts consistently pitch the same things: always on, a crossplay toggle in the panel, automatic updates, scheduled backups, mod installs and a world upload button. You skip router settings and CGNAT problems. Check what a specific plan includes before paying, since that's where they differ.

Entry plans ran from about $8 to $13 a month at the hosts I looked at in October 2026, and one host's own tiers climb to $25-40 a month for premium. Prices bounce around, so check the storefront. Don't pick on price alone.

Which one should you pick?

There's no neutral best Valheim host, and anyone ranking them with a score is selling something. Pick by situation:

• Two or three friends, playing together: host from the game.
• You've got a spare machine and don't mind tinkering: run the tool yourself with -crossplay if anyone's on console.
• Mixed platforms, no spare hardware, a mid-week group: rent.

Same logic as hosting an Enshrouded server or a Minecraft one. And if you're already planning what comes after Valheim, here are my picks for games like Valheim.