Best Valheim Alternatives With Dedicated Servers (2026)

The best Valheim alternatives with dedicated servers are Enshrouded, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, RuneScape: Dragonwilds, Voyagers of Nera, Soulmask, Icarus, Nightingale, Conan Exiles and V Rising. Each one keeps something your group loved in Valheim, the boss ladder, the sailing, the building or the Norse feel of a small crew against a big world, and each runs on its own server so the world stays online when you log off. Enshrouded is the closest overall match, and Voyagers of Nera is the one to pick if you miss the longship most.

Valheim is a hard act to follow because it does many things at once: a generated world, crafting tied to biomes, building that rewards effort, sailing, and bosses that gate progress. Most alternatives nail two or three of those. The notes below say which.

Valheim alternatives at a glance

1. Enshrouded

The closest match. Enshrouded has biome by biome progression, deep base building with fully editable voxel terrain, and a handmade world full of dungeons. It goes further than Valheim on building and RPG systems and holds 16 players instead of 10. The trade off is weight: it needs more server memory than Valheim.

• RAM: 8 GB for up to 4, 12 GB for up to 8, 16 GB for a full 16.
• Read next: Enshrouded server settings.

2. The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria

A company of dwarves reclaiming Moria: mining, forging, base building and fighting orcs in procedurally generated depths. If your favorite part of Valheim was a small crew hauling ore back to the forge, this is it. Steam, Epic, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S players can all join a PC dedicated server.

• Players: up to 8.
• RAM: 8 GB for a small group in the early zones, 12 GB for a full company of 8.

3. RuneScape: Dragonwilds

A survival crafting game in the RuneScape world: gather, craft, build a base and take on bosses, with skills that level as you use them. Since the 1.0 release on 15 September 2026, dedicated worlds support crossplay across PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2. A dedicated server holds 6 players, two more than a world hosted from the game.

• RAM: 4 GB for a duo, 6 GB for up to 4, 8 GB for a full 6.

4. Voyagers of Nera

The game for people who miss the longship. You sail between islands on a magical ocean, swim down to sunken ruins, rescue spirits and build them a sanctuary. Buildable boats with spirit cannons, farming and weather all arrived in Early Access updates. One player steers while others work the sails, which is very Valheim.

• Players: up to 10.
• RAM: 4 GB for a crew of 2 to 5, 6 GB for a full 10.

5. Soulmask

A bigger, more ambitious survival game: you lead a tribe of recruits who work your camp, and an ancient mask lets you possess them. Version 1.0 arrived in April 2026, and a server holds up to 70, so it scales far past Valheim's 10. It also needs a lot more memory.

• RAM: 12 GB for up to 10 players.

6. Icarus

PvE survival on a planet where terraforming went wrong. Hunting, crafting, building against storms and wildlife, with a strong sense of a small crew surviving together. Open world outposts persist on a dedicated server.

• Players: up to 8.
• RAM: 6 GB for two or three, 8 GB for a full crew of eight.

7. Nightingale

Gaslamp fantasy survival: travel through portals into the Faewilds, craft, fight bosses and build an estate from a shack into a manor. The Realms Rebuilt update reworked progression and building, and the game now supports self hosted servers.

• Players: 6 supported, up to 8.
• RAM: 8 GB for two or three, 12 GB for six.

8. Conan Exiles

A harsher, bigger world with fortress building, thralls and purges. It suits groups who liked Valheim's building and want more of it, with PvE or PvP. Steam moved to Conan Exiles Enhanced on Unreal Engine 5 in May 2026, and our panel has both builds.

• RAM: 8 GB for a clan of friends on vanilla.

9. V Rising

Different theme, same backbone: you hunt V Blood bosses to unlock gear and spells, and build a castle as the group project. If boss progression was what kept your group going in Valheim, V Rising scratches that itch.

• RAM: 6 GB for a PvE group of up to 10.

Bringing a Valheim group to a new game

1. Match the group size. Valheim tops out at 10. Return to Moria and Icarus stop at 8, Nightingale and Dragonwilds at 6.
2. Check crossplay. If anyone in the group played Valheim on Xbox or PlayStation, Return to Moria and Dragonwilds keep them in.
3. Start a plan smaller than you think. Most of these servers grow with the save. Upgrade later, prorated.

Already hooked on Valheim and just want more of it: best Valheim mods for multiplayer turns the same world into a new game.

Hosting your next world

On GamezServers you can switch the game on your existing server from the panel, so a Valheim server can become an Enshrouded server without a new order, and back again if the group returns. Every server is live in about a minute, with settings in the panel, one click backups and the bill split between up to 10 friends. Try Enshrouded or see the full list of games.

FAQ

What is the closest game to Valheim?

Enshrouded. It has the same biome progression and base building focus, with deeper building and RPG systems and room for 16 players.

What Valheim alternative has sailing?

Voyagers of Nera is built around sailing between islands with crewed boats.

Is there a Valheim alternative with crossplay?

Yes. The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria and RuneScape: Dragonwilds both let console players join a PC dedicated server.

Which Valheim alternative supports more than 10 players?

Enshrouded holds 16, Conan Exiles 40, V Rising 40 by default and Soulmask up to 70.