Valheim hosting is available to all MaximusHost accounts, including Standard accounts. You do not need Founder or Premium membership to create a Valheim server. The live creator shows the available resources, location and current credit estimate.

Choose a server and resources

Open My Servers → Create New Server, select Valheim, and choose the location where your group will play. Enter a recognizable server name and a server password. Valheim requires a join password; keep it private instead of sharing your account login.

The creator recommends 4–8 GB RAM and 2–4 vCPU as a starting range. Your actual options and cost estimate are displayed in the creation form. Valheim on MaximusHost uses shared networking and does not require a purchased dedicated IP.

Review the estimated running cost and the one-time 50-credit creation fee before submitting. Stopped-server storage can still incur charges. You can review costs in Billing and Credits.

Wait for provisioning

After confirming creation, the server passes through its setup stages. Open My Servers and wait for it to become ready. Initial installation or world generation can take longer than a normal restart.

Open the Valheim Server Manage page, go to Console, and start the server when appropriate. Wait for the game startup and connection service to become ready. Do not assume that a server in the provisioning state is already available to join.

Find the connection details

The manager shows the server's address and allocated UDP game/query ports. Use the displayed values, not an address copied from another server.

The supported Valheim installation uses crossplay. You may also see a PlayFab join code after the game establishes its lobby. A join code can change between sessions, so retrieve the current one rather than treating it as permanent.

Open Valheim's server browser or join flow and connect with the address or current join code available for your client. Enter the current server password. If the server is configured as private, it may not appear in public discovery, but a supported direct join method can still work.

For more detail, read Connection and Passwords.

Configure the world before inviting players

The Worlds tab is for world discovery, creating another world, and selecting which saved world starts next. Stop the server before world creation or selection.

When creating a fresh world, choose a random seed or a supported custom seed. A custom seed is a case-sensitive string of 1–10 letters and numbers; names of custom-seed worlds must be 1–20 letters, numbers, underscores, or hyphens. Valheim creates the world data on its next start.

The Settings panel controls server listing, world difficulty and modifiers, passwords, and save intervals. Settings currently apply to the server's selected world at startup rather than being stored as separate profiles per world. Configure special initial world keys before generating a new world whenever possible.

See Worlds and Settings before experimenting with saved-world rules.

Start, join, and verify persistence

With your first world selected, start Valheim and let it finish loading. Join with a compatible client, build a small structure, and allow the world to save. Disconnect, reconnect, and confirm the structure is still present.

If your group cannot join, compare the manager's actual server state, address, password, and crossplay/join-code information with what you shared. If the password changed, check whether the owner enabled automatic password rotation in Overview.

For help with resource choices, see Valheim RAM and CPU and Valheim dedicated server setup.

Protect the first successful world

Before importing another world, changing major settings, or trying a different seed, use Backups to create a recovery point. Confirm that the backup has completed, and consider an independent world-only export where supported. A backup should be tested for recoverability before you rely on it.

Read Backups and Recovery for the distinction between server backups, Valheim's automatic backup copies, and world-only transfers.

Once you have tested a successful join and world save, your server is ready for normal sessions with your group.