Can't connect to your Valheim server? Check these nine things

1. It's still starting

The first start generates the world, which took over a minute in our tests, and the server can't be joined until it finishes. On a home server, Iron Gate's guide says to wait for the line Game server connected in its window. On our servers the panel shows the server as running once the console prints Opened Steam server. Until then, joining fails and the server isn't in the list.

2. It never started: the password

When the password breaks one of Valheim's two rules, the server stops before it opens, so this shows up as “my server never appears”. Look in its console for a line that starts Error bad password.

The rules are the server's own: at least five characters and, while the server is listed, a password that doesn't appear inside the world name or the world's seed. The server name doesn't matter. Our panel checks the length, and the world name while the server is listed; if the console still says Error bad password, the seed holds it, so pick another password.

3. The address or port is wrong

Friends join with Join Game, then Add server, and type the address and the game port, for example 203.0.113.10:2456.

• On a home server, that's your router's public address, not your PC's home address (those start 192.168. or 10.). The port is the one in your start script's -port, 2456 unless you changed it, not the one after it.
• On our servers, copy the address and port the panel shows. Our servers use three UDP ports in a row, 2456 to 2458 by default, and the panel shows the one to type.

4. The ports aren't forwarded (home servers)

Valheim uses the port you set and the one after it, so forward both, 2456 and 2457 by default, to the PC that runs the server. In our tests both were UDP. On Windows, the server also has to be allowed through the Windows Firewall: tick every box when it asks on the first start.

If the forwarding is right and nobody outside can join, compare the address your router shows for its internet connection with the one a “what is my IP” site shows you. If they differ, your provider shares one public address between many homes and forwarding can't reach you. That's general networking, not something Valheim's guide covers. Iron Gate say a crossplay server needs no port forwarding, which is one way round it; see check 7.

Joining from the same house as the server? Try the server PC's home address and port, for example 192.168.1.20:2456, because many routers won't loop a connection back to their own public address. This doesn't work with crossplay on: Iron Gate say a crossplay server can't be reached by a local address.

5. It isn't in the server list

A server started with -public 0 is hidden on purpose: it's joined by address only. With -public 1, the default, it should be listed, but the list is the slow way in. Add server with the address and port doesn't depend on the list at all, so use that first. If that works, there's nothing to fix.

6. Valheim updated

Your game and the server must be on the same version. Players' games update on their own, so after a Valheim patch they see Incompatible version until the server catches up. Restart the server so it installs the new build: on a home server, let Steam update the tool or run the SteamCMD command again; ours check for an update every time they start. If you're worried about the patch, download a copy of your world from the panel's Files page first.

The same message can come from a mod that changes the game's version: see check 9.

7. Crossplay is on for one side and not the other

Without -crossplay, only Steam players can see and join a Valheim server. A friend on Xbox, PlayStation 5, Switch 2, Game Pass or the Mac App Store needs a server started with -crossplay, and crossplay switched on in their own game. Iron Gate say players reach a crossplay server by public address and port, by join code or from the server list.

On our servers crossplay is off by default. When we turned it on in our own test, the server stopped listening on its address and port. If your group is all on Steam, leave it off.

8. The permitted list or the ban list keeps them out

permittedlist.txt, in the server's save folder, is an allow list: Iron Gate say that adding anyone to it locks out everyone who isn't on it. If one player gets in and the rest can't, check it, and check bannedlist.txt too. Each line is one player ID, platform first, and the IDs are case sensitive.

On our servers the lists are in the panel's game settings. The game reads them when it starts, so a change applies at the next start.

9. A player's game has mods

Valheim has no official mod support. Some BepInEx mods must run on the server as well as in every player's game, and a mismatch can look like a version error or a disconnect. If a player can join only with their mods turned off, a mod is the cause.

Still stuck?

On a home server, read the last lines of the server's window: the error is usually there. Our Valheim server setup guide covers the start script, ports and lists from the beginning.

On our Valheim servers, press Copy the last 200 lines above the console, then open Help in the panel and paste them into your message. A message holds up to 5,000 characters, so if it's too long, keep the end. A person reads it, not a bot.