Valheim Dedicated Servers and How to Host Them

Valheim is catching fire as the newest survival game sensation on Steam, reaching 3 million buys on Steam, and it's only in Early Access!

For online multiplayer in Valheim, you have a few options - including hosting your own dedicated Valheim server, or starting a multiplayer game.

Here's how to start up a simple multiplayer game in Valheim, or go the extra step and host your own dedicated Valheim server!

Latest - Valheim hits 3 million sales

Valheim is one of the fastest rising games of the year so far, reaching over 3 million sales in its first 3 weeks of early access!

This bodes fantastic things for the game, and with so much to do and explore, we expect it will live on for some time.

So whether you're new or a veteran at the game, let's go over how to host your own Valheim server.

Valheim Multiplayer

To play Valheim online with a small group of friends, you won't have to go the extra mile to host a Valheim dedicated server.

Here's how to simply host a multiplayer game in Valheim for your friends.

• Create your world (and pair it with a random or custom seed)
• Go to the Start World tab, highlight the options for Start Server and Community Server
• Fill in with your server's password, and press start

READ MORE: How to Farm in Valheim

Does Valheim Have Public Servers?

Valheim servers come with a password system by default that means there aren't traditional public servers.

Instead, players have to go find Valheim servers, or create their own.

With this in mind, here's how to host a Valheim dedicated server.

READ MORE: How to Play With Friends in Valheim

How to Host a Dedicated Valheim Server

To create a Valheim server for online multiplayer with friends, you'll have to go through the following steps:

• Choose the machine you'll host your Valheim dedicated server on
• Through Steam, find Valheim Dedicated Server in your Library (you'll first have to toggle on Tools) then Install it
• Find the folder where you installed Valheim Dedicated Server (the default being: Program Files (x86)>Steam>steamapps>common>Valheim Dedicated Server)
• Go to line 7, where you'll see a line beginning with "start valheim_server"
• Edit the following (if it isn't already changed to your information):
  • -name "My Server"
    • Add in whatever you want your Valheim server to be named (don't name it the same as your World name, and vice versa)
  • -port 2456
    • Change this to your Port Forwarding default (can be found in your Router settings)
  • -world "Dedicated"
    • Add in whatever you want your Valheim world to be named (don't name it the same as your World name, and vice versa)
  • -password "Secret"
    • Add in whatever you want your Valheim server password to be. If you want a public server that's open to anyone, you can leave this field blank instead
• Load up your server, fire up Valheim, and get to playing!

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Valheim Dedicated Server System Requirements

There are no hard and fast rules for hosting a Valheim dedicated server in terms of what your machine needs.

There are, however, some recommendations, like having a strong CPU to handle the constant load.

If you have a powerful pc, you'll likely be able to run your Valheim dedicated server on it while playing the game, just keep in mind if you experience any issues, the server will go down for everyone else.

If not, you can run your Valheim dedicated server on a different PC instead, you'll just have to make sure it stays on and running for the server to stay open.

READ MORE: How to Summon Valheim's First Boss - Eikthyr