Getting a dedicated server ready for Valheim 1.0

Client and server versions must match, so the moment 1.0 goes live, players on updated clients can't join a server still running the old build. Plan to update the dedicated server as soon as the patch lands (steamcmd app 896660, or restart a server with auto-update enabled). Also plan for a hotfix within days: Bog Witch got patch 0.219.14 the day after release and Ashlands had quick follow-ups, so a launch of this size will almost certainly see the same. If your host panel pins versions, unpin for launch week.

Copy the world files off the machine before updating. On Linux they live in ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local, on Windows in %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local. Each world is a .db and .fwl pair; back up both, a .db without its .fwl won't load. The game keeps rolling automatic backups in the same folder, but those sit on the same disk as the originals, so they don't protect against a bad update or a full drive. One manual copy on September 8 costs a minute and covers the worst case.

Deep North content only generates in terrain nobody has explored. That includes exploration by anyone on the server, so one player who sailed north out of curiosity in 2024 can lock a chunk of the biome into its old empty state for everyone. Between now and launch, keep players away from the far northern edge of the map. If the north is already explored, decide now whether the server rolls a fresh 1.0 world; announcing it early goes down better than a surprise wipe on patch day. Old and new worlds are both valid: saves carry over, only unexplored generation differs.

For PS5 and Switch 2 players to join, the working assumption is a crossplay-enabled server: today that means launching with the -crossplay flag, which switches networking to the PlayFab backend so console players can connect via join code. Without the flag, a dedicated server is Steam-only. Iron Gate hasn't published updated server documentation for 1.0 yet, so whether PS5 and Switch 2 connect exactly like Xbox does now isn't confirmed. If your group expects console players on launch day, test the -crossplay flag ahead of time and watch the official FAQ for server-specific guidance closer to release.

Server-side mod stacks (BepInEx and friends) broke on patch day, as they do on every patch; there is no official mod support and updates take time, so run a vanilla window and re-add mods as they catch up. Iron Gate never ran a public test branch for 1.0, unlike Mistlands, Ashlands and Bog Witch, so patch day was the first time anyone outside the studio saw the build. The full game is about 4.3 GiB on most platforms; the patch delta for an existing install was not published.