Survival · Balanced
Run a Valheim Dedicated Server on Your Own Hardware
Host Valheim on your own Windows 10/11 or Linux computer. Swarm Hosts gives you a browser control panel to start, stop, monitor, and back up your server.
- Server Actions
- Guided settings
- Backups
Available in Early Access
Hardware and runtime
What Valheim needs
Minimum requirements are a starting point. World size, player count, content, and game settings can require more resources.
- CPU
- 2+ cores
- Memory
- 4 GiB minimum
- Player traffic
- UDP
- Backup coverage
- 4 saved data locations
Technical overview
Valheim uses a multi-port UDP layout. Swarm Hosts reserves the base game port and the next port together for normal play, and also reserves base+2 so crossplay can be enabled without changing the Swarm Server shape later.
Launch workflow
From host to running server
Use Settings → Valheim Settings to change the managed values after launch. Saving settings restarts or recreates the server and disconnects players.
- Open Launch and choose Valheim.
- Select a Swarm Host or Swarm Zone and set the resource limits.
- Set Server name, World name, and Server password.
- Review Public listing and leave Crossplay disabled unless you need non-Steam clients.
- Choose Launch Valheim and confirm the launch review.
Networking
How players connect
Players can join through Valheim's Join IP flow using the player address and base UDP port shown on the Swarm Server page:
text <PLAYERHOSTNAMEORIP>:<BASEPORT>
Managed shared relay when the game, host, and current relay path support it.
Server Actions
Manage your Valheim server
Available tools depend on the game, server status, and your permissions. The game guide explains any setup needed for Server Actions.
Server status
Read the local A2S server and player-count summary.
Access lists
View Valheim admin, banned, and permitted platform user IDs.
Add administrator
Add a platform user ID to the administrator list.
Remove administrator
Remove a platform user ID from the administrator list.
Ban player
Add a platform user ID to the banned list.
Unban player
Remove a platform user ID from the banned list.
Permit player
Add a platform user ID to the permitted list. The first entry enables an allowlist.
Remove permitted player
Remove a platform user ID from the permitted list; removing the last entry disables the allowlist.
Back up now
Signal the managed backup service and wait for a correlated, verified world archive.
Mods & Content status
Mods and custom content
Valheim plugins are untrusted executable code. Swarm Hosts records desired plugin packages only; install compatible files manually and restart the server. Managed provider resolution, updates, ordering, and rollback are not available.
Swarm Hosts does not currently provide a managed Valheim plugin installation workflow. BepInEx plugins require a compatible loader and can execute server code. Uploading plugin files through File Manager alone does not install that loader or make the plugins persist across server recreation.
Keep a backup of the world before experimenting with plugins. Plugin discovery, compatibility checks, dependency resolution, automatic updates, and rollback are unavailable.
Know before launch
Before you launch
- Host on Windows 10/11 or Linux with Docker Desktop in Linux-container mode on Windows, or Docker Engine or rootful Podman on Linux.
- Managed shared relay when the game, host, and current relay path support it.
Windows 10/11 + Linux
Ready to host Valheim?
Connect the Windows or Linux computer you already own, then follow the game-specific launch path.