Valheim With Xbox, PlayStation 5, Switch 2 and Steam on the Same Server (Crossplay)

Who can join and how

With crossplay enabled, the server accepts players from Steam (Windows, Linux and Mac), Microsoft Store / Game Pass on PC, Mac App Store, Xbox One and Series, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2. Before 1.0 (9 September 2026) it was only PC and Xbox. The limit of 10 players at once is the game's, wherever they come from.

Steam players can join by IP (with the server's port) or by code. Console players join with the code: that's the way Iron Gate explains in its crossplay guide. Consoles can't host a dedicated server, but they can join one.

A dedicated server turns it on by starting with -crossplay. With that, you also don't need to open ports on your router (why). If it's your own game opened from inside Valheim, you turn it on when loading the world: it's covered in how to play Valheim with friends.

The join code

Anyone already in sees it in the pause menu; clicking it copies it. A dedicated server also writes it to its console when it starts. Everyone else pastes it in “Join game” → “Add server”, the same place where you type an IP.

The code changes when the server restarts, so if a console friend says they “can't get in any more” after an update or a restart, the first thing to do is send them the new code.

With NapNodes

1. There's nothing to turn on

   NapNodes Valheim servers are created with crossplay enabled: Steam players join by IP and everyone can join by code. The switch is in “Settings” → “Crossplay (Xbox and Game Pass)”, and it covers all consoles.

2. Find the code

   Join the server and look at the pause menu, or open the panel's “Console” with the server online and look for the code it writes when it starts.

3. Send it to your friends

   In the game: “Join game” → “Add server”, and they paste the code. They'll also be asked for the password: you'll find it in “Settings” → “Password to join”, with “Copy”.

4. After every restart

   Check whether the code has changed and, if it has, send it again.

The limit: mods

You can't install mods on console. If the server has mods that the player also needs, Xbox, PlayStation 5 or Switch 2 players won't be able to join. “Server-side” mods (the ones installed only on the server) don't affect them. If your group mixes PC and console, choose server-side mods or play without them: a lot of what people look for in mods, like taking metals through portals, is already done by world modifiers, which work on every platform.

Some mods also don't work with crossplay even if everyone plays on PC: ServerSideMap, for example, as its author says. They're flagged in Valheim mods for playing with friends.

When a patch reaches one platform late

Iron Gate releases patches on all platforms at once when it can, but sometimes one takes a few days longer. Crossplay usually keeps working; when it doesn't, they say so in the patch notes (with 1.0.20, for example, Mac App Store players couldn't play with everyone else until they got it).

If players on one platform suddenly can't join after an update, check the patch notes before touching anything on the server.

Frequently asked questions