Valheim Dedicated Server for 1.0 Deep North: Setup, Crossplay and Mods

A Valheim dedicated server keeps your Viking world online when the host logs off, and since 1.0 it can bring PC, Xbox, PS5 and Switch 2 players into the same world. This guide covers self-hosting, our Valheim server hosting, crossplay, moving an existing world and BepInEx mods.

• What 1.0 changed: Valheim left Early Access on 9 September 2026 with the Deep North biome, a new save format and full crossplay on PC, Xbox, PS5 and Switch 2.
• Self-hosting: install "Valheim Dedicated Server" from the Tools section of your Steam library, forward UDP 2456-2457, keep the PC on.
• Crossplay: start the server with -crossplay. Console and Game Pass players then join with a join code that changes at every restart.
• Players: Valheim is a game for 1 to 10 players per world.
• On 1up: Valheim needs at least 3 GB of RAM and we recommend 6 GB, so it starts on Starter. Pick Vanilla or BepInEx, and turn crossplay on in Settings.

1. What Valheim 1.0 changes for your server

Iron Gate released Valheim 1.0 on 9 September 2026. The headline is the Deep North, the last biome, with more than 10 new creatures, more than 40 new weapons, a grappling hook and a Jotun invasion, according to the 1.0 patch notes on Steam. Three changes matter for anyone running a server:

• New platforms. The official 1.0 FAQ lists Steam (Windows, Linux, Mac), the Mac App Store, Humble, the Microsoft Store, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2. PS5 and Switch 2 were added at 1.0 "with full crossplay between all the platforms".
• A new save system. The patch notes say 1.0 "splits world data across chunks" to save faster and survive a failed write. When the game first loads an old world in the new format it keeps a backup, which Iron Gate pointed players to in patch 1.0.15 after a conversion bug with item stands.
• Old worlds keep working, with a catch. Iron Gate's FAQ says your saves are untouched and old worlds get the new content, but the biomes only generate properly in areas nobody has explored yet. Their general FAQ puts that radius at about 500 metres around anywhere a player has been. For the best Deep North experience they recommend a fresh world.

Patches keep coming: 1.0.16 shipped on 25 September. Iron Gate notes that console builds can arrive a few days later, but crossplay keeps working while they roll out.

2. Self-host or hosting?

A dedicated server is a separate program that holds the world on its own, so nobody has to keep the game open for the others. The official wiki sums up the difference with in-game hosting: a world started from the client shuts down when that player exits, while a dedicated server stays up as long as the program runs.

Your three options:

• Host from the game: free and built in. The world only exists while the host plays, and the host's PC does the work for everyone.
• Self-host the dedicated server: free software and full control. Your PC stays on, you forward ports or rely on crossplay relays, and you install every patch.
• A hosted server: the world runs in a data centre, you manage it from a web panel, and nobody's PC has to stay on.

The wiki's unofficial requirements table asks for a quad-core CPU and 2 GB of RAM at minimum, 4 GB or more recommended, and notes that a fresh world already uses around 1.8 to 2.4 GB, plus 100 to 300 MB for each area where players are active. Our 3 GB floor leaves headroom over that idle use, and 6 GB keeps the server comfortable once a big base loads.

3. Installation: create a Valheim server on 1up

This is the route we built for groups that want to play tonight without touching a router.

1. Create an account and press Create server.
2. Choose Valheim. Pick a region, London or Paris; the wizard measures your ping and suggests the nearest one.
3. Pick a template: Vanilla (recommended) or BepInEx if you plan to add mods. There is one version, the latest: our image checks Steam at every start and installs the new build when there is one, because Valheim clients refuse a server on another version.
4. Set the number of players and a password, then create the server.
5. When it is online, the Overview shows the address and the port. The port is not 2456 on our nodes, so copy both from the panel.
6. In Valheim, pick your character, open Join Game, choose Add server and enter the address with the port, then the password.

The Settings tab holds five Valheim settings, each mapped to an official launch argument from Iron Gate's dedicated server guide. Every change applies on restart.

• Server password → -password. At least 5 characters and not part of the server name; the panel refuses anything else. Leave it empty for a private server.
• World name → -world. "Dedicated" by default. A new name creates a new world, or loads an existing world with that name.
• Show in the server browser → -public 1. Only available with a password. Without one, the panel keeps the server unlisted and friends join by address.
• Crossplay → -crossplay. Off by default. Section 5 explains when to turn it on.
• World preset → -preset. Normal by default, or Casual, Easy, Hard, Hardcore, Immersive and Hammer, the same values Iron Gate lists. Pick it before the first boss, since it changes combat, death penalty, resources and raids for everyone. The 1.0 FAQ warns that Hammer mode counts as a temporary cheat and blocks some achievements.

The guide also documents finer world modifiers (-modifier, -setkey) that our panel does not expose yet. Our upcoming world modifiers post will cover what each one does.

4. Installation: self-host the official dedicated server

If you prefer to run it yourself, this is the official route from Iron Gate's guide.

1. In your Steam library, tick Tools in the dropdown, find Valheim Dedicated Server and install it. Microsoft Store owners have the server in C:\XboxGames\Valheim\Content\Server, according to the Crossplay FAQ.
2. In the install folder, copy start_headless_server.bat (Linux: start_server.sh). Steam resets the original at every update, so edit the copy.
3. Edit the launch line with your settings, for example -name "My server" -port 2456 -world "Dedicated" -password "Secret" -public 1, and add -crossplay if non-Steam players will join.
4. Without crossplay, forward the UDP port range 2456-2457 on your router to the server PC. The game uses the port you set and that port plus one. With -crossplay, the guide says no port forwarding is needed because traffic goes through a relay.
5. Start the script and allow it through the Windows Firewall. When the console prints Game server connected, the server is ready.
6. Stop it with Ctrl+C in the command window. Iron Gate warns that closing the window with the X may leave the server running in the background.

On Linux, the guide lists three extra packages, libatomic1, libpulse-dev and libpulse0, and requires GLIBC 2.29 or newer. On an older system, the docker_start_server.sh script that ships with the server builds a container for you.

Other launch arguments worth knowing: -savedir moves the worlds and permission files, -saveinterval sets the autosave (1800 seconds by default), and -backups, -backupshort and -backuplong control the automatic world backups (by default one at 2 hours and three more 12 hours apart).

The weak spots of self-hosting are the usual ones: your upload speed, a dynamic IP, a router you cannot configure and a PC that must stay awake. The wiki adds one specific to Valheim: behind carrier-grade NAT, crossplay registration fails if another customer of your ISP already hosts Valheim on the same public IP and port, so choose an unusual port.

5. Crossplay: PS5, Switch 2, Xbox and Game Pass

A Valheim dedicated server runs on one of two backends, as the official guide explains:

• Without -crossplay: the Steam backend. Only Steam players can see and join the server, directly by address and port.
• With -crossplay: the crossplay backend (PlayFab), which "lets users from any platform join": Steam, Microsoft Store and Game Pass on PC, Xbox, PS5, Switch 2 and Mac.

On a crossplay server, players connect with the public address and port, a join code or the server list. Connecting through a local or loopback IP does not work, because the server talks to players through a relay. The join code shows in the pause menu once you are in the server, and one click copies it, says the Crossplay FAQ. Iron Gate's crossplay patch notes add that the code "is regenerated whenever the server is restarted", so share a fresh one after every restart.

Crossplay has a cost. The wiki warns that the relay adds an extra hop, so players are more likely to see lag, timeouts and disconnects. If your whole group plays on Steam, leave crossplay off.

On 1up, turn on Crossplay in Settings and restart. The switch is called «Crossplay (every platform)» and lets PS5, Switch 2, Xbox, Game Pass and Mac players in. Console players need their platform's online subscription: PlayStation Plus on PS5 and a Nintendo Switch Online membership on Switch 2.

If a code is refused or a friend on console cannot get in, our join code troubleshooting guide goes through every error. If the server does not show up in the list at all, our upcoming community list guide will cover the fixes.

6. Upload your world to the server

Already have a world from playing on your PC? The official wiki gives the save folders:

• Windows: %UserProfile%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local
• Linux: ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local

Before 1.0, a world was two files, <World>.db with the progress and <World>.fwl with the seed and name, and the wiki stresses that you need both. Since 1.0's new save system splits the data into chunks, a world is a folder named after it: on our test server, worlds_local/<World>/ held _main.<n>.db2, _main.<n>.fwl2, _main.<n>.chunks and _main.<n>.ok. Copy everything in worlds_local that carries your world's name, files and folders alike.

To move it to 1up:

1. Stop the server and take a backup in the Backups tab.
2. Open Files and go to save/worlds_local. For a 1.0 world, create a folder with your world's exact name, open it and upload the files from your world's folder. A pre-1.0 world's <World>.db and <World>.fwl go straight into worlds_local. The file manager does not unzip archives, so upload the files themselves; for many files, the SFTP details on the same page let you use any SFTP client.
3. In Settings, set World name to your world's exact name and save.
4. Start the server. When it finds your world, the Console shows ZNet.LoadWorld: <World> (<World>), save number <n>. If it shows missing …/<World>.db instead, the name does not match and the server is generating a new world, so stop it and check the folder and the setting.

Never run the same world in the game and on the server at the same time; the wiki warns that critical errors may follow. Our upcoming step-by-step world transfer guide will cover seeds, backups and the most common mistakes.

7. Mods with BepInEx

Iron Gate has no official mod support. Its 1.0 FAQ says it cannot guarantee that mods work after an update, and that consoles get no mod support at all. That last point matters for crossplay: a PS5, Switch 2 or Xbox player cannot install a mod, so a server that needs client-side mods is effectively PC only.

The community standard is BepInEx, packaged for Valheim as BepInExPack_Valheim on Thunderstore (version 5.4.2351, uploaded on 24 September 2026). On 1up:

1. Create the server with the BepInEx template.
2. At every start, the server installs the newest BepInExPack_Valheim from Thunderstore when a new version is out.
3. Upload each mod's .dll and files to server/BepInEx/plugins in Files, then restart. Configs live in server/BepInEx/config.
4. Check each mod's page to see whether players also need it, and share your modlist with the same versions.

Our backups keep BepInEx/plugins and BepInEx/config, so a restore brings your mods back with the world. After a Valheim patch, wait for mod authors to update before restarting a modded server. Our upcoming list of the best server mods for 1.0 will cover what is worth installing.

8. Admins, bans and the permitted list

Valheim has no remote console. Administration happens in-game and through three text files in the save folder: adminlist.txt, bannedlist.txt and permittedlist.txt, with one platform ID per line. The official guide says the ID follows the format [Platform]_[User ID] and appears in the server log or in the game's F2 panel. Patch 1.0.12 confirmed that the ban list and whitelist accept both the new 1.0 IDs (like V_123456789) and the older Steam_ ones.

• Admins open the console with F5 and can use kick, ban, unban and banned.
• The permitted list is a whitelist. Iron Gate warns that adding one person bans everyone else.

On 1up, the Players tab shows who is online from the server log and lists the three files; you can also edit them in Files under save/.

9. RAM and plans for Valheim

Valheim on 1up starts at 3 GB of RAM, and we recommend 6 GB once the map is explored and the bases grow. With prices from our pricing page:

• Starter (€7/month): 3 GB of RAM, 20 GB of disk, 10 player slots (the game's cap) and 3 backups. Fine for a small group on a vanilla world.
• Pro (€12/month): 6 GB of RAM, 40 GB of disk and 5 backups. Our recommendation for a long run with large bases or a BepInEx modlist.
• Studio and Ultra: more RAM and room for several servers.

Tested on Valheim 1.0.16 (1up image sha256:08fece41), 2026-10-04.

Change log

• 2026-10-04: first version, after patch 1.0.16.
• 2026-10-05: the crossplay switch now reads «Crossplay (every platform)» in the panel.