Valheim Dedicated Servers
You can host a Valheim world as a RealmHost Adventure. Set a server name, optional join password, and world name, then connect from the game.
Create a Valheim Adventure
- Sign in at realmhost.org
- Open Dashboard → Adventures → Create a New Adventure, or open Games and choose Valheim
- Walk through Create an Adventure: name, Valheim quest, options, configuration, admins, size
- On Configuration, set SERVER_NAME (default:
Valheim by RealmHost) - Set SERVER_PASSWORD if the server is public (see Password below), or turn PUBLIC off for a passwordless private server
- Set WORLD_NAME (default:
Dedicated) — this must match the save file names below - Launch when you have at least an hour of credits and the public/password rules pass, or Save for Later and finish from the Dashboard
See Create an Adventure for the full walkthrough.
Valheim allows up to 10 players.
Join the server
After the Adventure is Active, open the Info panel for the IP and port.
- Default connect port is 2456 (UDP). A second port, 2457, is used automatically.
- In Valheim, join from the Steam server browser or use direct connect with
IP:2456. - If you set a join password, enter it when prompted. Passwordless join is only for servers with PUBLIC off.
See Connecting to Your Server for where to find the IP and port on the dashboard.
Save files
World data lives on the Adventure save volume. Stopping and starting the Adventure reloads the same world. It does not create a new empty world.
Use SFTP to download or upload saves. The SFTP home directory is the save volume, so you will see:
| Path (SFTP) | What it is |
|---|---|
saves/worlds_local/<WORLD_NAME>.db | World data. Required. |
saves/worlds_local/<WORLD_NAME>.fwl | World metadata. Required. Copy this file together with the .db. |
saves/worlds_local/<WORLD_NAME>.db.old (and similar) | Automatic backups created by Valheim |
saves/adminlist.txt | Steam IDs that are admins |
saves/bannedlist.txt | Steam IDs that are banned |
saves/permittedlist.txt | If this file has any entries, only those Steam IDs can join |
saves/valheim.log | Server log |
<WORLD_NAME> must match the WORLD_NAME environment variable (default Dedicated). If you change WORLD_NAME, the server looks for a different pair of .db / .fwl files and will generate a new world if they are missing.
Do not delete the server/ folder — that is the game install.
Back up both .db and .fwl together. Restoring only one file will not load the world.
See World Data & Persistence for stop vs destroy and retention.
Password
- A public server needs a join password of at least 5 characters. Turn PUBLIC on only after you set that password.
- Leave SERVER_PASSWORD empty only with PUBLIC off (a private server). Passwordless public servers are not allowed.
- If you do set a password, it must be at least 5 characters even when PUBLIC is off.
- The dashboard shows why a combination is invalid and will not save or start the Valheim Server until you fix it.
Mods and crossplay (optional)
Vanilla is the default. These options are off unless you turn them on:
| Setting | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| BEPINEX | off | Mod loader. Turned on automatically if you enable ValheimPlus or list Thunderstore mods. |
| VALHEIM_PLUS | off | Installs ValheimPlus. Implies BepInEx. |
| THUNDERSTORE_MODS | empty | Comma-separated Namespace-Name or Namespace-Name-Version (for example SomeAuthor-SomeMod). Implies BepInEx. |
| CROSSPLAY | off | Lets Xbox / Microsoft Store clients join. Do not combine with BepInEx or other mods. |
Restart the Valheim Server component after changing these settings.
Troubleshooting
Friends cannot see the server — Share IP:2456. Make sure the Adventure is Active and wait a couple of minutes after start for SteamCMD to finish updating.
World reset after restart — Confirm WORLD_NAME still matches the files under saves/worlds_local/ and that both the .db and .fwl files are present.
Cannot join with a password — The password must be at least 5 characters. The dashboard blocks save and start when a public server has no password or a password shorter than 5 characters.
Nobody can join except a short list of players — If saves/permittedlist.txt has any Steam IDs, Valheim treats that as a whitelist and everyone else is blocked. Clear the file (leave it empty) to allow all players again.