Valheim is an Early Access game focused on the exploration of a procedurally generated world called Valheim filled with banished monsters and PVE adventures to prove yourself to the Allfather, Odin himself. You can find our collection of articles that we’ve written about how to host Valheim on our platform below.
Getting Started with your Valheim Server
Finding your IP and Port
You can find your Valheim server's IP and Port by looking at it in the server list, looking at the server summary on the top left of the server's page, or by looking at the primary allocation in the Management → Allocations tab.
Change your Server Password
You can change your server password at any time by changing the 
Server Password startup parameter and restarting your server.
Name your server
The name of your server is displayed to players in their server list, both on Steam and in the in-game server list. You can make your server easier to find and differentiate by setting the Server Name startup parameter to a custom value then restarting your server.
Secure your server
Valheim offers a couple of ways to secure your server. By default servers are created with a Server Password that's required on log in to the server. You should change that password and can give it out to the players you want to join. Or, you can create a whitelist, or permit list, of players who you want to be able to join your server by editing the permitted list file. Any player on the permitted list will be allowed to join the server, but will still need to enter the password if one is specified, and any player not on the list will be treated as if they were banned.
Whitelist/Permit Players
Valheim has a built-in player whitelist known as a permitted list, and you can add your player's Valheim Player ID to the list to only allow the listed players onto your server.
You can find the permitted list file at .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/permittedlist.txt using the GCP File Manager or SFTP. After opening the file, you can add the Valheim Player ID of each player you want to be able to join your server to the file, each ID being on it's own line.
Only the players in this file will be able to join. All players, both on the list and not, will still be prompted for a Server Password, if you have one set, before they're either allowed in or told they're banned from the server.
Ban Players
Players can be explicitly banned from the server, regardless of their appearance on the permitted list by adding their character name or Valheim Player ID to the file located at .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/bannedlist.txt. You can edit the file using the GCP File Manager or SFTP and changes to the file will be immediate, resulting in players being prevented from joining the server if they're on the list.
Using the character name that a player uses on your server will result in only that character being banned, allowing the actual player to bypass the ban by creating a new character. You can ban the account that owns the game by using the player's Valheim Player ID.
Character names and Valheim Player IDs are case sensitive when used in admin commands!
Joining the Public Test Beta
Valheim pushes new updates to a "Public Test" beta branch before they're made live on the main release branch. Before moving over to the beta branch you should make sure you take a backup of your world and also enable Auto Update using your server's startup parameters. You can then move your server to the Public Test Branch by changing the Beta Branch startup parameter to public-test and the Beta Password startup parameter to the current password yesimadebackups.
The Steam Community page and Valheim Discord Server are great sources for the latest patches made to the main release branch and the beta branch, as well as where you can get updates on changes to the password or branch name.
Admin Players
Players on the admin list have the ability to run the Admin Commands. You can add a player to the admin list by opening the file located at .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/adminlist.txt using the GCP File Manager or SFTP and adding the player's Valheim Player ID to the file. Each Valheim Player ID should be placed on a new line and changes to this list require a server restart.
Admin Commands
Being a Valheim server admin comes with a few basic commands. These can be run through the in-game console, which can be accessed by pressing F5 after activating it using the Steam Launch Parameter -console.
Kick
/kick <Character Name|Player ID>
You can kick a player that is currently online off the server by running the above kick command with either their Valheim Player ID or their character name.
Character names and Valheim Player IDs are case sensitive when used in admin commands!
Ban
/ban <Character Name|Player ID>
Players can be banned from joining the server by either editing the banned list manually, or running the ban command in-game. You can use either the player's Valheim Player ID or their character name, but using a character name allows for the player to create new Valheim characters to bypass the ban. If you use the player's Valheim Player ID it bans the account that owns the game instead of that specific player.
Character names and Valheim Player IDs are case sensitive when used in admin commands!
Unban
/unban <Character Name|Player ID>
Players can be un-banned from joining the server by either removing them from the banned list manually, or running the unban command in-game with their character name or Valheim Player ID.
Make sure you un-ban a player the same way that they were banned! If they were banned using their character name, un-banning their Valheim Player ID won't do anything!
Character names and Valheim Player IDs are case sensitive when used in admin commands!
Banned
/banned
This prints a list of currently banned/permitted players using the method that they were banned/permitted with, either their character name or Valheim Player ID.
Startup Parameters
The WinterNode Game Control Panel provides a few easily configurable options under the Configuration → Startup Parameters tab on your server page. These options make use of common command line arguments and are needed for the server to function as expected, but may be changed as needed using the fields provided in the modals.
Server Name
The name of your Valheim server in the server list.
Server Password
The password required for players to join your server. Can be left blank for public servers.
World Name
The name of your world, used as the file name.
Auto Update
Whether or not your server should update on start. Defaults to true. Setting this to 1 enables auto update and 0 disables it.
Enable Crossplay
Whether or not your server should support crossplay with platforms other than Steam. Defaults to true. Setting this to 1 enables crossplay and 0 disables it.
📄️ Backing up your Valheim Server
How to take and manage backups of your Valheim server.
📄️ Find and Join your Valheim Server
How to locate and join your Valheim server using the Game Client or Steam Connect.
📄️ Getting a Player ID
how to find a Valheim Player ID needed for moderation and server management.
📄️ Import Valheim World to your Valheim Server
How to import a Valheim World into your Valheim Server.
🗃️ Modding your Valheim Server
2 items