Valheim Server Config Generator
Build a working start_server.bat (or Linux start_server.sh) plus the three admin-list files for your Valheim dedicated server. No INI gymnastics — Valheim's whole config surface is launch-script flags and three Steam-ID lists. Vanilla only — modded territory (Valheim Plus, BepInEx) lives in its own config and isn't pretended-at here.
Server Identity
Name, password, browser visibility. Three things, but two of them have annoying Valheim-specific rules — the password has to be at least five characters and can't appear inside the server name, or the server refuses to start.
The name players see in the in-game browser. Whatever you pick, your password cannot be a substring of it — Valheim treats that as a security risk and won't boot. Keep it short and don't sneak the password into a "clever" name.
Required, minimum five characters, must not be a substring of the server name. Don't leave it blank — Valheim won't start, no exceptions. Use something memorable but not "password" because everyone tries that first.
On = listed in the community server browser. Off = private (still joinable via IP + password if friends know the address). Modded or whitelist-only servers usually go private.
World & Network
World file, network port, save directory. The world name must match the actual .db / .fwl save files on disk — Valheim creates them on first launch if they don't exist. Port-wise, Valheim uses three consecutive UDP ports starting at the one you set (so port + the next two).
Name of the world file (without extension). Valheim creates a new world with this name on first boot if one doesn't exist; on later boots it loads the existing WorldName.db + WorldName.fwl from your save directory. Changing this on a live server boots into a fresh empty map — don't.
Base UDP port. Valheim actually uses three: this port, port + 1, port + 2 (so default opens 2456–2458). Make sure all three are forwarded on your router and open on your firewall. Change only if you're running multiple Valheim servers on one box.
Custom path to store world saves. Leave blank to use Valheim's default (%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\ on Windows; ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/ on Linux). Override only if you specifically need a different location.
Difficulty & World Modifiers
World modifiers are Iron Gate's official difficulty knobs (added with the Ashlands update's optional menu). The preset applies a bundled set in one go (Casual or Hard). Custom modifiers below override whatever the preset would have set — so if you pick "Hard" preset and then set combat to easy separately, combat ends up easy.
Iron Gate's bundled modifier packs. none = vanilla (default). casual = friendlier combat, lighter death penalty, easier resources. hard = harder combat, heavier death penalty, more raids. Custom modifiers below win any conflict.
How hard combat is — covers enemy damage, enemy aggression, and how forgiving your blocks/parries are. Default = vanilla. Most casual servers drop to "easy" so a wandering troll doesn't wipe a low-level base party.
Skill loss and tombstone behavior on death. casual = minimal penalty. hardcore = permadeath skill loss + no tombstone (your gear is gone forever). Most communities sit at default or easy — hardcore is for a specific crowd.
Multiplier on resource drop quantity. more / muchmore speed up the early game and reduce farming grind. less / muchless punish careless crafting and push players to recycle gear.
How often biome raids happen at your base. none disables them entirely (popular on creative/build-focused servers). muchmore turns the server into a constant tower-defense event. Default is vanilla pacing.
How portals behave. casual lets you transport ores through them (huge convenience). hard = vanilla rules (no ores). veryhard blocks more items entirely. Casual is the most-requested community modifier.
World Features
Optional feature flags — each is a single command-line switch. Off = vanilla behavior. On = the feature is changed (these flags mostly disable things). Crossplay is the friendly exception: on = Xbox+PC can play together.
Lets Xbox and PC players connect to the same server. Required if your community has players on both platforms. Has zero downside for PC-only servers but adds nothing useful either — leave off if everyone's on Steam.
Disables the in-game map entirely for everyone. Hardcore-immersion flag — players have to navigate by landmarks, written notes, and pure suffering. Surprisingly popular on small group servers; brutal on large public ones.
Disables the Forsaken Powers you get from defeating bosses (Eikthyr speed, Bonemass resistance, etc.). Niche — used on servers where the team feels the powers trivialize later biomes.
All hostile creatures ignore players. Creative/build-test flag — turn on to wander through Yagluth's plains without dying. Don't ship it on a survival server.
Portals don't work at all. Sailing-or-walking-only — the "true Viking" preference. Pairs naturally with hardcore presets; brutal on solo servers because every long trip is a full sail.
Admin & Permissions
Three separate files Valheim reads at startup. Each takes one identifier per line. Use the 17-digit SteamID64 for Steam-only servers; crossplay servers may need the platform-prefixed form (Steam_76561198… or Xbox_…). The files live next to the world saves and Valheim regenerates them empty if missing.
Full admin permissions — kick, ban, save world, teleport, no-clip. Add yourself first. Becomes adminlist.txt in your server's save directory. One SteamID64 per line.
Players blocked from connecting. Becomes bannedlist.txt. One per line. Bans you issue in-game via the ban command also write here once you run save.
If this file has any entries, only those Steam IDs can connect — everyone else gets bounced. Leave empty for an open server (public password still applies). Becomes permittedlist.txt.
Launch Script Options
Boilerplate around the actual valheim_server call: restart-on-crash loop, optional SteamCMD update pre-launch, optional log redirect.
Wraps the script in a restart loop. Recommended — Valheim's server occasionally hits a desync or memory leak that the player base will absolutely notice if you're not running this. Off if you're using systemd / pm2 / your host's auto-restart instead.
Runs steamcmd +app_update 896660 before each launch so the server stays current with patches. Requires steamcmd on PATH (or beside this script). Off for fixed-version dev/test servers.
Redirects all server output to server.log in the install directory instead of the console window. Useful for unattended servers and after-the-fact crash diagnosis. The file is overwritten each restart — rotate it yourself if you want history.
About the Valheim Server Config Generator
Valheim doesn't have an INI file. Iron Gate kept the dedicated server's config surface minimal: everything lives on the command line of start_server.bat (or the Linux equivalent start_server.sh), plus three plain-text files for admins, bans, and the whitelist. That's the entire server config story — no buried ServerSettings.ini, no panel-managed XML, no environment-variable game. Just five files this generator builds for you in one pass.
What the launch script controls
Server name, password, port, world file, save directory, public visibility, crossplay, and the world modifiers added with Ashlands (combat / death penalty / resources / raids / portals, plus the casual/hard presets). Flag-only switches (-nomap, -nobosspowers, -passivemobs, -noportals) only appear in the output when you turn them on — toggling them off doesn't leave a stray -flag false behind that the parser would get confused by.
The three list files
adminlist.txt— full admin permissions (kick, ban, no-clip, teleport). Add yourself first.bannedlist.txt— players blocked from connecting. Bans you issue in-game via thebanconsole command also write here once you runsave.permittedlist.txt— if it has any entries, only those Steam IDs can join. Leave it empty for an open server.
All three live in the same save directory as your world files. Valheim regenerates them empty if missing, so you can drop fresh ones in any time. One identifier per line, no comments.
The password rules that catch every new admin
- Minimum 5 characters. Shorter = server refuses to boot, no error message, just dies.
- Password cannot be a substring of the server name. "Bob's Server" + password "Bob" = server refuses to boot. Valheim flags this as a security risk and quits.
- Password cannot be blank. No "open passwordless server" option — pick something easy if you want effectively-open access.
Ports — there are three, not one
Valheim uses three consecutive UDP ports starting at the one you set with -port. Default 2456 actually opens 2456, 2457, and 2458. All three need to be forwarded on your router and open on your firewall. Forgetting the +1 and +2 ports is the #1 reason a freshly-set-up server doesn't appear in the browser even though everything else looks fine.
Where the dedicated server lives
- Install via Steam: app 896660 ("Valheim Dedicated Server"). Free, doesn't require owning the game on the same account.
- Run the script. It sets
SteamAppId=892970(the game's app ID — that's intentional, not a typo) so the server can verify ownership properly. - Save directory:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\on Windows;~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/on Linux. Override with-savedirif you need a specific path.
What's NOT in here (and why)
- Valheim Plus / BepInEx mods — modded server configs live in
BepInEx/config/, not in the launch script. Each mod ships its own config file with its own format. Trying to mash them in here would be lying. - Custom maps / world seeds beyond Valheim's vanilla generation — Valheim picks its own seed from the world name. Some seed-management tools exist in the modded ecosystem; not in vanilla.
- Backups — Valheim auto-backs up world files when the server boots. Beyond that, take real backups via your own cron job / Task Scheduler.
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