What is the Best Dedicated Server Hosting for Valheim?

So you’re tired of only playing Valheim when your friends are online, and you want to set up a dedicated server. Looking for the best dedicated server hosting for Valheim? I was in the same situation, so I did some research. Hopefully, this will save you some time!

What is Valheim?

Valheim is a co-op survival game that came out of pretty much no-where and has been breaking records. It came out a couple of weeks ago it’s already in the top 5 most-played games on steam, with over 5 million copies being sold. I have close to 70 hours in the game, and… I’m starting to think I might have a problem.

But you probably already know all that. You’re here because you want to set up a dedicated server so that you and your friends can play on it whenever without the host being online. Before we get into the list, let me answer the question that’s been on your mind.

Can You Transfer a Local Valheim World to a Dedicated Server?

Yes, you can. To transfer a local world in Valheim to a dedicated server you need to upload two files in (\appdata\locallow\irongate\valheim\worlds) to the server, the database file (map name), and the .fwl. The two files should have the same name. Next change the server settings to match the world name, start the server, and you should be able to connect.

Best Dedicated Server Hosting for Valheim:

Here are my top dedicated server hosting recommendations with prices and server locations:

1. Citadel Servers (My Favorite)

Selling Point: Lots of Hardware Customization Options

Price Per 10 Slots:Min SlotsMin Duration:Refunds:
$17.711030 DaysFull within 7 Days

What’s cool about Citadel Servers is they not only have lots of server locations, but the ping and connection speed is very good too. You can also customize a lot of server options right on the registration page, such as how much RAM (min 4GB, Max 32 GB), CPU Priority, Cloud Backup, and many others.

Citadel Server Locations:

  • Seattle
  • Dallas
  • New York
  • Singapore,
  • LA, France
  • London
  • Germany,
  • Amsterdam
  • Tokyo
  • Sydney

While Citadel Servers offers good performance, it is a bit more expensive than other dedicated hosting companies. It’s not THAT much more expensive, but some services have an extra fee, like making the server Public costs $1.5 when other platforms can do it for free.

As far as performance goes, it’s pretty good. They also offer support for tons of multi-player games, not only Valheim. And they have tons of server locations! They also offer full refunds and the UI is very easy to use and navigate. They make it really easy to upload your custom Valheim map to the dedicated server.

For those reasons, Citadel Server is my favorite dedicated hosting for Valheim servers.

2. Survival Servers

Price Per 10 Slots:Minimum Slots:Min Duration:Refunds:
$141030 DaysNo refunds.

Survival Servers is another good option. They don’t have as many server locations as Citadel though or support as many games. Survival Servers also don’t offer refunds (unless in extreme cases) which is a bit bothersome.

Survival Server Locations:

  • Seattle
  • New York
  • Singapore,
  • LA
  • France
  • Germany

Regardless, from what I could tell, the performance is decent. The control panel is easy to use too, and they have a detailed Wiki with walk-throughs. You can also upgrade at any time from within their dashboard, there are lots of add-ons to choose from.

I think this company would be great if they added some more Asia datacenters. Overall though the performance is good too.

3. G-Portal

Best Feature: 3-Day Servers, Great for Testing Servers!

Price Per 10 Slots:Min Slots:Min Duration:Refund:
$14103 DaysUnclear, No Policy

Initially, I went with G-Portal because it has a good server location near where I live and the 3-day servers make it easy to test the service.

Unfortunately, the ping was not very good, even though the server location was in my city. It was even worse for a friend, who’s also in the same city. I was getting an average of 100ms and he was getting 280, which is weird when the server is supposed to be next door.

G-Portal Server Locations:

  • Washington D.C
  • Dallas
  • Singapore,
  • LA
  • London
  • Germany
  • Moscow,
  • Tokyo
  • Taipei
  • Sydney

To compare, when I host on my computer, he gets 50ms, so it’s clearly something on G-portal’s end. Sadly, even though it technically has the best server location for me, I ended up closing my server with G-portal because the lag was too bad for both of us. Have you ever tried fighting Deathsquitos with bad lag? Not fun!

What I liked about G-portal is you make a server for only 3-days, and it only costs $4.95, a decent price to test out the service. Most dedicated server hosting companies only allow you to get a server for a minimum of one month.

The downside? Besides the poor performance, I didn’t like how they toggle auto payments and make it very difficult to disable them. I couldn’t even find the option, so I had to remove my payment option. Kind of annoying!

Do You Really Need a Dedicated Server Hosting for Valheim?

The main reason to get a dedicated server hosting for Valheim is to let multiple people play on the same server at any time without the host having to be online.

It can be a little bothersome when the map files are on a specific computer, but no one can play unless that computer is on. You can host servers for free on your own computer or even a separate dedicated machine, but it’s often easier to use a dedicated server.

Now you probably don’t need a dedicated server for Valheim if you only play with a couple of other people, or even solo. It’s best when you have a group of 5 or more people, who are online at different times, otherwise, it’s kind of a waste.

How to Move a Local Valheim World from Your PC to a Dedicated Server:

So you bought a dedicated server for your Valheim world, and you want to know how to move your map to the server, instead of having to restart from scratch.

As it turns out, it’s actually pretty easy, although the steps will vary slightly depending on the host you use. I’ll walk you through the basics below. Do note that most dedicated servers have tutorials on how to do this too.

I know, dealing with map files can be scary, especially if you spent many hours working on your progress. You definitely don’t want to lose all that work. But it’s actually fairly straightforward.

Important: Start the Server Once

Start the Valheim server once on your preferred dedicated host with default options. Open Valheim and connect to the server one time, it will create folders in the database that you’ll need for later. Disconnect from the server and shut it down. We’ll add the map now.

If you don’t do this first, you’ll notice the “save” folder is missing which contains the world files. This is where you need to upload the world file later. Starting the server and connecting to it with default settings will automatically create the folder, so make sure to do that first. Now turn off the server and let’s access the files.

Locate your dedicated server’s FTP login information, it’s usually in the dashboard, or you might get an email with it. Download an FTP program and install it, I like Filezilla. Once installed, open Filezilla and enter the FTP login from your host (I recommend clicking on “Save login details” on Filezilla for easy access).

If everything works, you should see a directory open on the right side, like below:

Open the Save folder, and you’ll see a Worlds folder, the default map should be there. What you want to do is replace that with the world file from your computer. Keep the Worlds server open.

You can actually delete all the files in that folder on the server because you’re going to add new ones soon, and the server will recreate the missing ones.

Where are Valheim World Files?

Valheim’s world files are location in this directory:

C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds

It might be hidden. An easier way to access them is to hit Windows Key + R, type in %appdata%, and hit enter, the folder will appear. Hit backspace to go back one folder, click on LocalLow, IronGate, Valheim, and finally Worlds.

In this folder you’ll see a few files. Like these:

You only need to copy two of these files, the Data Base File (it’s the biggest) and the FWL file, both of which should have the same name, the name of your world on Valheim. Select both and drag them into the FTP client and the World folder directory of the server, they should upload with no problems.

Next, enter the Valheim server’s configuration files, and change the World name to match the files you just copied over, make sure the name is an exact match. For example, if the files you uploaded were called “Map1” make sure the World name in the config is also Map1.

Start the server from your host’s dashboard, open Valheim, and connect to the server. If everything worked, you should be able to continue playing exactly where you left off on your local server with no problems.

To do the reverse; take the map from a dedicated server and move it back to a local machine, do the exact steps but in reverse. Download those two world files from the dedicated server through the FTP client and move them to the world folder in AppData.

Easy!

Interested in other gaming articles? Check out my Cyberpunk 2077 review.

Have you hosted your own dedicated Valheim server? How did it go? Leave a comment below to share your experiences!

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