Getting Started with Your Valheim Dedicated Server

So you've got a Valheim server with us — welcome! This guide will get you from "I just bought this" to "my friends are connected and we're playing" in about ten minutes.

Logging in to the panel

After you order, you'll get an email with your account details. Head to https://control.low.ms and log in. Your Valheim server should be on the dashboard. Click into it and you'll see your IP address, port and current status front and center — keep this page handy because you'll need the IP and port to connect.

Setting up your server name, password and world

Before you start the server for the first time, set the basics:

1. From your server's overview, go to Settings.
2. Set a Server Name — this is what shows up in the in-game browser.
3. Set a Password — Valheim requires at least 5 characters, and a small gotcha: the password can't contain the world name. The game silently rejects passwords that do, with no useful error.
4. Set a World Name — this picks which save file is loaded. If the world doesn't exist yet, the server will create one with that name.
5. Save and start the server.

The first start takes about 60-90 seconds while Valheim generates (or loads) the world. Don't try to connect right away — give it a minute.

Connecting to your server

There are a few ways in. Pick whichever is easiest for your group.

Direct connect via Steam

This is the most reliable.

1. In Steam, click View → Servers in the top menu.
2. Click the Favorites tab and then Add a Server.
3. Enter your server's IP and port in the format IP:Port, for example 92.118.16.100:27515.
4. Click Add this address to favorites, then double-click the server to join.
5. Enter your password when prompted.

Via the in-game browser

1. Launch Valheim and pick your character.
2. Click Start Game, then Join Game.
3. Either find your server name under the Community tab, or click Add Server and enter the IP and port directly.
4. Enter your password.

The Steam community browser sometimes takes a few minutes to list a newly started server, so if your name doesn't appear straight away, give it 5-10 minutes or use the direct-connect method instead.

Via Steam friends

If a friend is already on the server, you can right-click their name in your Steam friends list and select Join Game. Easiest method when one person is already in.

Enabling crossplay (if you need it)

If your group has a mix of Steam, Xbox and Game Pass players, you'll want crossplay on.

1. In the panel, go to Settings.
2. Toggle Crossplay on.
3. Restart the server.

When crossplay is enabled, the server will print a Join Code in the log on startup. You'll see a line that starts with Join code: followed by a short code. Share that code with your friends instead of the IP — they paste it into the same Join Game screen.

One important warning: crossplay and BepInEx mods don't work together. If you turn crossplay on, none of your server-side mods will load. If your group wants mods, everyone needs to be on Steam and crossplay needs to stay off. Pick one or the other.

Adding yourself as an admin

You'll want admin so you can manage the server in-game.

1. In the panel, open the File Manager and find adminlist.txt.
2. Add your Steam64 ID to the file, one ID per line. You can look up your Steam64 ID at steamid.io.
3. Save the file and restart the server.

Once that's done, you can press F5 in-game to open the console and use the admin commands listed in the Valheim Admin Commands article. A heads-up: Valheim's full devcommands set (god mode, fly, spawn, etc.) is intentionally disabled on dedicated servers by Iron Gate. The basic admin commands like kick, ban, save, noportals and lodbias work fine, but if you want the full cheat command set on a dedicated server you'll need the Server devcommands mod.

Uploading an existing world

If you've been playing locally and want to bring that world across to your dedicated server, you can.

1. On your PC, browse to %appdata%\..\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local\. The easiest way to get there: hit Win+R, type %appdata%, hit enter, then go up one folder to AppData and into LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local.
2. Find the world you want — there'll be two files for it: YourWorldName.db and YourWorldName.fwl. You need both.
3. Stop your server in the panel.
4. Upload both files via the panel's File Manager into the server's worlds folder.
5. In your server Settings, set the World Name to match the name of the uploaded world.
6. Start the server.

There's a more detailed walkthrough with screenshots here: Locate your Valheim Save and Upload it to LOW.MS.

What I'd do next

Once everything is up and your friends can connect, the things worth doing in roughly this order:

• Configure your world modifiers. Combat difficulty, portal restrictions, raid frequency — all in the Server Configuration Guide. The best server settings blog has profiles you can copy.
• Set up your admin list properly so multiple people can manage the server.
• Decide on mods early if you're going modded. Adding mods later to an established world is fine, but adding mods that change world generation or items can cause problems if the world has been played for a while. The Mod Installation Guide walks through the install.

If something isn't working

The most common issues at this stage are typos in the IP/port, wrong password, or the server still starting up. Double-check each of those before assuming something's broken.

If you're still stuck, the dedicated Can't Connect troubleshooting guide covers it in more depth, and the broader Valheim Server Troubleshooting Guide covers performance issues, world save problems, mod conflicts and the rest.

And of course — open a support ticket from the panel if you can't figure it out. We'd rather help you in the first hour than have you bounce off a problem you can't solve.