How to Host a Valheim Server (Step by Step, 2026)

To host a Valheim server without keeping your own PC on, pick a plan on GamezServers, pay, and your dedicated server is online in about 60 seconds with its own address. Your crew joins through Join Game > Add server in Valheim, and the world stays up when you log off. This guide walks through Valheim server hosting from choosing a plan to adding admins, uploading your world and keeping backups.

Step 1: Pick the right plan

Valheim plans are sized by RAM. Valheim is light compared with most survival games, so most groups are happy on the middle plan.

Plan	RAM	Price per month	Good for
Starter	4 GB	9.99 USD	Vanilla, up to 5 Vikings
Standard	6 GB	14.99 USD	Vanilla with a full crew of 10 or big late game bases
Pro	8 GB	19.99 USD	BepInEx modpacks or heavily built worlds

A few rules of thumb:

Up to 5 friends, no mods: Starter is enough.
Full crew of 10, or you build big: Standard. Heavy building in one area is what makes Valheim stutter, so the extra headroom helps later in a world.
Mods: Pro. BepInEx and a stack of plugins use more memory than the base game.

You can change plan any time, so starting small costs nothing if you are unsure. New customers get 50% off the first month on any plan. For more on sizing, see how much RAM a game server needs or choosing a plan.

Step 2: Split the cost with friends (optional)

At checkout you can choose Split with friends and pick from 2 to 10 people. Everyone pays their own share by card, and each share includes a 1 USD payment fee. For example, a Pro server split four ways comes to about 6 USD each per month.

You pay your share and the server starts straight away. Nobody waits on anyone.
Each friend gets their own payment link and pays when they are ready. Every share that comes in keeps the server running longer.
If you are a new customer, your friends also get 50% off their first month.
Friends who make an account with the email they paid with see the server in their own dashboard and can use the console, actions and files.

If someone drops out, the remaining shares go up (never above the full server price), and everyone is emailed before anything changes. Details are in billing and cancellation.

Step 3: Pay and open your dashboard

Name your server, sign in or create an account on the same page, then pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay through Stripe. Billing is monthly with no contract, and you can cancel from the dashboard any time (the server runs until the end of the paid month).

Right after checkout you land on your dashboard. Your Valheim server shows up in Your servers, first as Setting up and then Online. There is no command line and no ticket to wait on. The getting started doc covers each checkout step in more detail.

Step 4: Copy your server address

Open the server to reach its control panel. The address sits at the top, in the form 203.0.113.10:2456. Click it to copy. That address and port are yours, and they do not change when your home internet does.

Send it to your crew along with the server password.

Step 5: How players join

Launch Valheim, click Start Game and pick your character.
Open the Join Game tab and click Add server.
Paste the server address, for example 203.0.113.10:2456, and click Add server again.
Select the server, click Connect and enter the server password.

The server also appears in the community list after a few minutes, where friends can search for its name. Adding it by address is instant, so use that for the first join. If something goes wrong, see Valheim server not showing up and Valheim incompatible version.

Step 6: First things to set up

Server name

In Settings, the Name and server list card sets the name players see in the Valheim community list. Save it, then restart the server so the list updates.

Password, world name, public listing and crossplay

Valheim takes these as launch options on the server's start line rather than from a file: -password, -world, -public and -crossplay. Two rules the game enforces:

The password needs at least 5 characters and must not be part of the server name, or the server refuses to start.
The world name decides which save loads. If no world with that name exists, Valheim creates a new one.

Crossplay lets Xbox, PC Game Pass, PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 players join, but mods are PC only, so keep crossplay servers vanilla. If you want any of these launch settings changed on your server, email support@gamezservers.com from your account email.

Admins

Valheim admins are listed in adminlist.txt, which the server creates in its save folder. Open the Files tab and look in .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/. Add one ID per line, in the platform format the game shows you in the F2 panel, for example Steam_76561198000000000, then restart. Admins can kick, ban and force a save from the in game console. The full list is in our Valheim admin commands guide. bannedlist.txt and permittedlist.txt sit in the same folder for bans and whitelisting.

Upload your existing world

Worlds live in .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local. Since Valheim 1.0, each world is a folder named after the world. Stop the server, upload the whole folder with SFTP (in Settings, click Show SFTP login and connect with FileZilla or WinSCP), then make sure the server's world name matches the folder name. Worlds saved before 1.0 are a .db and .fwl pair and convert automatically on first load. Step by step: how to upload a Valheim world to a dedicated server.

Mods

Valheim mods run on BepInEx and are shared through Thunderstore. Most gameplay mods need to be installed on the server and on every player's game, in matching versions. A mod manager profile (r2modman or Thunderstore Mod Manager) that everyone imports with a share code is the easiest way to keep versions matched. Upload the server side files with SFTP, restart, and check the console for errors. Console players cannot use mods, so modded servers are for PC players.

Backups, Sleep and upgrades

Backups: press Backup in the control panel before every boss fight, big build or update. You get 3 backups.
Sleep when empty: the server stops after 90 minutes with nobody online, so it is not running for no one. Your world is saved, and anyone with access starts it again in one click. Turn it off in Settings if you want the world online around the clock.
Upgrading: in Settings, pick a bigger plan. The price is prorated for the rest of the month and the new RAM applies after a restart. If your group gets bored, you can also switch the server to another game with a same memory plan, and your world is backed up first.

Self hosting vs GamezServers

	Self hosting	GamezServers
Cost	Free, plus your electricity and hardware	From 9.99 USD a month, or split between friends
Setup time	An hour or more with SteamCMD and scripts	About 60 seconds
Port forwarding	Needed for UDP 2456 to 2458	None
World online when you log off	Only if your PC stays on	Yes
Your home IP	Shared with every player	Never shared
Backups	Manual	One click, 3 kept

Prefer to run it yourself? Our guide to making a Valheim server covers SteamCMD, start scripts, ports and mods on your own machine.

FAQ

How much does it cost to host a Valheim server?

Plans start at 9.99 USD a month for 4 GB, with 50% off the first month for new customers. Split with friends and a Pro server for four people comes to about 6 USD each.

How many players can join a Valheim server?

Valheim supports up to 10 players per world. The Standard plan handles a full crew.

Do my friends need to own Valheim?

Yes. Every player needs their own copy of the game. The server itself does not need one.

Can I play with friends on Xbox or PlayStation?

Yes, with crossplay on. Xbox, PC Game Pass, PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 players can join Steam players, as long as the server runs without mods.

What happens to my world if I cancel?

The server keeps running until the end of the paid month. Download your world folder from the Files tab before then if you want to keep it.