Upload Valheim World Saves to a Dedicated Server: Steam, Xbox and 1.0

To upload Valheim world saves to a dedicated server you need three things: the world files from your PC, a server stopped while you copy them, and the server's world name set to the exact name of your world. This guide covers Steam, Steam Cloud and Game Pass saves, the 1.0 save format and our Valheim server hosting.

New to dedicated servers? Our Valheim dedicated server guide covers installation, crossplay and mods. This post only moves a world you already play.

• Where the world is: %UserProfile%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local on Windows, if the save is local.
• Steam Cloud or Game Pass: a cloud save is not in that folder. Use Move to Local in the game first.
• What to copy: since 1.0 a world is a folder named after it; older worlds are a .db and a .fwl file.
• On the server: stop it, upload the files into save/worlds_local, set World name to the same name, start it.
• PS5 and Switch 2: there is no way to copy a console world to a PC or a server.

1. Find your world on the PC

The official wiki lists the local save folders, used by both the game and the dedicated server tool:

On Windows, paste the first path into the File Explorer address bar. Characters live next door in characters_local (or in each player's Steam Cloud). They belong to each player's game, not to the world, so you only move the world: everyone keeps their own character and inventory.

Look for your world's name. What you find depends on when the world was last saved:

• Saved in 1.0 or later: a folder named after the world. Iron Gate's patch notes for the new save system explain it: "Instead of saving a world with the .db and .fwl files it's now stored in folders and the world (.db) is split up in multiple files (chunks)." On our test server the folder held _main.<n>.db2, _main.<n>.fwl2, _main.<n>.chunks and _main.<n>.ok files.
• Not opened since before 1.0: two files, <World>.db with the map and your builds, and <World>.fwl with the name and seed. The wiki stresses that a world needs both.

You will also see folders named <World>_backup_auto-…. These are the game's own backups and do not need to go to the server.

2. Steam Cloud saves: move them to local first

If the world list in Valheim shows a cloud icon next to your world, it is a Steam Cloud save and is not in worlds_local. Iron Gate's Steam Cloud save FAQ, posted by a developer, puts these files under Steam\userdata\<your Steam ID>\892970\remote, "a folder not meant to be manipulated manually".

The same FAQ is clear about servers: "Dedicated servers can only access local files, since the cloud saves are now tied completely to your steam account". So:

1. Open Valheim and select the world.
2. Press Move to Local. The game moves it to worlds_local and, according to the FAQ, creates a backup every time a file moves.
3. Close the game and check that the world is in worlds_local.

You can move it back with Move to Cloud once the server is running, but from then on the server copy is the one your group plays.

3. Xbox, Game Pass, PS5 and Switch 2

The Valheim 1.0 FAQ sets the limits: "If you are playing on an Xbox, you will be able to access your saves from a PC, provided that you launch the game from the Microsoft store. Beyond this, there will be no cross platform sync for your save files."

• Xbox console: install the PC version from the Microsoft Store or Game Pass with the same account, open your world there, then follow the PC steps.
• Game Pass or Microsoft Store on PC: your world lives in cloud storage. Select it and press Move to Local, as above. Hosting guides report that it then appears in the same worlds_local folder; we have not checked this on a Game Pass PC, so if it is not there, search your user folder for the world name.
• PS5 and Switch 2: no cross-platform save sync and no file access. To play on a dedicated server, start a new world there; console players then join through crossplay.

4. Prepare the server

On 1up, Valheim runs on Free and 24/7 from Casual, since it boots on 2 GB of RAM; a big explored world is happier with more. The server must have started once, so its folders exist.

1. Open your server and press ■ Stop. Never upload a world while the server is running: it would save its own world over yours.
2. In Backups, press 💾 Create backup. Casual keeps 1 backup and Starter 3, and a backup is your way back if the upload goes wrong. Free has no backups, so keep a copy of the server's current world from Files instead.
3. Make sure your game and the server run the same version. Our image installs the latest Steam build at every start; Iron Gate warns that console patches can arrive a few days after PC, as with patch 1.0.17 on 6 October.

5. Upload the world files

Open the Files tab and go to save/worlds_local. Then:

For a 1.0 world (a folder):

1. Press + Folder and create a folder with your world's exact name, capital letters included.
2. Open it, press ↑ Upload and select every file inside your world's folder on the PC. You can pick several files at once, or drag them onto the list.

For a pre-1.0 world (two files): upload <World>.db and <World>.fwl straight into worlds_local. The game converts the world to the new format on its first load and, as the patch notes promise, "a backup is made first so no data is lost".

Three details:

• The file manager does not unzip archives, so upload the files themselves, not a .zip.
• A Valheim server has no Import a world button: the .zip import of the Worlds tab is built for Minecraft worlds. Use ↑ Upload. While the server runs, the panel refuses any change inside save/worlds_local, so stop it first.
• The browser takes files up to 512 MB each. For bigger worlds, or many files, the SFTP access card on the same page gives a host, port and username for FileZilla or any SFTP client.

6. Set the world name and start

1. Open the Game tab. Under World, set World name to the exact name of your folder (or of your .db file without the extension). The default is Dedicated.
2. Save and press ▶ Start.
3. Open the Console and watch the log. When the server loads your world, it prints a line like ZNet.LoadWorld: <World> (<World>), save number <n>.

If you see missing …/<World>.db instead, the server did not find your files under that name and is generating a fresh world. Stop it, compare the name in the setting with the folder name letter by letter, and start again. The empty world it created does not overwrite yours, but delete it from worlds_local to avoid confusion.

7. Check the world in game

Join from Valheim as usual: Join Game, Add server, then the address and port shown on the Overview. Walk to your base and check that the latest builds are there.

Two rules for the weeks after the move:

• Play the server copy only. The wiki warns against running the same world in the game and on the server at the same time. The copy on your PC is now an old snapshot.
• Take a backup before big changes. Patch 1.0.17 fixed "a rare bug that could erase all objects in parts of the world" when a large chunk file was split, a reminder that the new format is still young. 💾 Create backup before a patch, a mod or a boss raid, and use ↓ Download .zip in Backups to keep a copy on your PC.

If console friends cannot get in after the move, turn on Crossplay (every platform) in the Game tab and read our join code troubleshooting guide. If the server does not show in the list, our guide to a Valheim server not showing in the community list covers the fixes.

8. Common mistakes

If something looks wrong after the first start, find the symptom in this table: most failed uploads come down to one of these causes.

9. Which plan for a moved world

A moved world is usually an explored one, with big bases. With prices from our pricing page:

• Casual (€3/month): 2 GB of RAM, 20 GB of disk, 6 slots and 1 backup, online 24/7. Fine for a young world and a few players.
• Starter (€5/month): 4 GB of RAM, 20 GB of disk, 10 slots and 3 backups. Enough for a small group on a vanilla world.
• Pro (€10/month): 8 GB of RAM, 60 GB of disk, 30 slots, 5 backups and, from Pro up, a daily automatic backup. Our recommendation for a long-running world with large bases.

Paid plans can be refunded on request within 3 days.

Tested on Valheim 1.0.16 with our server image (folder upload and World name), 2026-10-04; steps re-checked against patch 1.0.17 and the panel on 2026-10-07.

Change log

• 2026-10-07: first version.
• 2026-10-20: Valheim now runs on Free and 24/7 from Casual (2 GB).
• 2026-10-26: current Starter (€5, 4 GB) and Pro (€10, 8 GB, 60 GB, 30 slots) figures; the daily automatic backup comes with Pro and above.