How to Move Your Valheim World to a Dedicated Server (Including Since 1.0)

Where your world is

On Windows, in %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local. Since 1.0 each world is a folder with its name (for example, Vikings) and inside there are lots of files: the world is split into chunks and the game only rewrites the ones that change. You have to take the whole folder, leaving nothing behind.

If your world is from before 1.0 and you haven't opened it again, it's still two files with the same name: a .db (the world) and a .fwl (name and seed). Take both together: the game converts it to the new format the first time it loads it (what else changes with 1.0).

Ignore the folders and files with “_backup_auto” or .old: they're the game's automatic backups (what they're for). Your character (.fch) is separate and stays on your computer: with it you can join any server.

If you created the world with modifiers (difficulty, portals, no map...), it carries them with it: how they work on a server.

If your world is in the Steam cloud, go to “Manage Saves” in the game, pick it and click “Move to Local” to have it on your disk.

Moving it to the server

1. Compress the world

   On your PC, right-click the world folder → “Compress to ZIP file”. The panel won't let you upload whole folders, but it will take a .zip. If it's a world from before 1.0, put the .db and the .fwl in the .zip.

2. Stop the server

   Stop it from the panel. If you upload files while the server is running, its save can overwrite them.

3. Back up what's there

   If the server had already created a world, make a backup first in “Backups”: you're about to replace it.

4. Upload and decompress

   In “Files”, go into the server's worlds folder: worlds_local, inside .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim (it's a hidden folder). Upload the .zip there and, from its menu, choose “Decompress”. Check that the world folder ends up directly inside worlds_local, not inside another folder. If you can't manage it, open a ticket in “Help” and we'll do it for you.

5. Give the world the same name

   In the server's “Settings”, the “World” setting has to match your folder (or your .db and .fwl files) exactly, capital letters included. Save.

6. Start it and check

   Watch the console: it has to load your world, not create a new one. Join and check that your base is still where it was.

If a new world was created

It's almost always one of three things: the “World” setting doesn't match the folder name, part of the world is missing (you uploaded loose files instead of the whole folder, or only one of the two for an old world) or it ended up in another folder. Fix it with the server stopped and start it again. Your original world is still intact on your PC and in the backup you made.

When you move from hosting the game yourself to a dedicated server, the save on your PC stops being the “real” one: each one saves separately. Pick which one carries on and don't play on both.

Frequently asked questions