Setup · 6 min read

Upload your Valheim world to a dedicated server

Move a Valheim 1.0 world to a dedicated server: find the world's folder in worlds_local, zip it whole, put it on the server and set the world name.

Last checked 13 November 2026

Short answer

Since Valheim 1.0 a world is a folder. Yours is in %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local, named after the world. Stop the server, copy the whole folder into the server's own worlds_local, set -world to the folder's name and start it. A world from before 1.0 is two files, <name>.fwl and <name>.db, and they move together.

What a Valheim world looks like on disk

The two ways Valheim keeps a world on disk
World	What you'll find	What to take
Saved in Valheim 1.0 or later	What you'll findA folder named after the world, with files like `_main.1.fwl2` and `_main.1.db2` in it	What to takeThe whole folder, with everything in it
Last saved before 1.0	What you'll findTwo files with the same name: `<name>.fwl` and `<name>.db`	What to takeBoth files. Leave the `.old` copies behind

The number in the file names changes as the game saves. Whatever numbers yours has, take the folder as it is.

Find your world

A world lives on the PC of whoever hosted it. If a friend started the world, the folder is on their PC.

Close Valheim, so the latest save is written and nothing is using the files.
Press Windows + R, paste %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local and press Enter.
Find the folder with your world's name, or the two files with it.

Where Valheim keeps its worlds
Where you played	Folder
Valheim on Windows	Folder`%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local`
Valheim on Windows, older Steam Cloud worlds	Folder`%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds`
A dedicated server on Windows	Folder`worlds_local` inside `%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim`
A dedicated server on Linux	Folder`worlds_local` inside `~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim`
Another host	FolderThe `worlds_local` folder, downloaded with their file manager or over SFTP

Copy the world and leave the original where it is. It stays on your PC, so you can still play it there while you set the server up.

Put it on a dedicated server

Stop the server.
Copy the world's folder into the worlds_local folder in the server's save folder (the two server rows in the table above). For a world from before 1.0, copy its two files there.
Set -world in your start script to the world's name: the folder's name, or the file name without .fwl.
Start the server.

The name has to match exactly. When the name in -world differs from every folder in worlds_local, the server creates a new world with that name, and your friends arrive in that one.

Three things to check before the first start

World modifiers. A -preset on the start line replaces the modifiers your world already has. To keep the world as you played it, leave -preset off the line. The Valheim launch command builder writes the line either way.
The password. While the server is listed, the password has to stay out of the world's name and its seed, and your world brings its own seed with it. If the log says Error bad password, choose another one.
Characters. They live on each player's own PC, so everyone brings theirs with them.

Common problems and their fixes

Problems after moving a Valheim world to a dedicated server, and what to do
What you see	Likely cause	What to do
The server starts a new, empty world	Likely causeThe name in `-world` differs from the folder's name	What to doPut the folder in `worlds_local` itself and set `-world` to the folder's exact name
The world is there but its difficulty changed	Likely causeA `-preset` on the start line	What to doTake `-preset` off the line and set the modifiers you want one by one
The server stops with `Error bad password`	Likely causeThe password is under five characters, or sits inside the world's name or seed	What to doChoose a different password
Friends get an error when they join	Likely causeThe address, the ports or a version difference	What to doWork through the nine connection checks

Uploading a world to one of our servers

On our Valheim servers the panel places the world for you.

Zip the world's folder with everything in it. On Windows, right-click it, then Send to, Compressed (zipped) folder. For a world from before 1.0, select its two files and zip them together.
To keep the difficulty settings your world already has, open the panel's game settings and turn on Keep this world's own settings. Do this first: the server applies its own preset at every start.
Open Files & SFTP and use Bring in a world. Send the .zip. The panel checks it and shows what it found, where it goes and what it replaces, before anything is put in place.
Press Import, then confirm in the box that opens (it reads Replace the world when the server already has a world). The server stops while the world is put in place, then starts again if it was running.

Your world loads under the server's own world name. The world it replaces is kept on the server for 7 days, and Undo puts it back until then. Friends join with the same address and port as before.

The server loads your world at its next start, and it is the same world, with the same seed. The first save after that is numbered one higher: _main.1.fwl2 and _main.1.db2 become _main.2.fwl2 and _main.2.db2. That is the game saving, and the number moves on by itself.

If the panel says the world is missing its .db2 or .fwl2 file, the zip held only part of the folder. Zip the whole folder and send it again. Keep your own copy: download your files from the panel's Files page, as one .zip or over SFTP.

Checked against Valheim 1.0.21 and our own servers on 13 November 2026.