Valheim is Iron Gate's Viking survival game, published by Coffee Stain. It entered early access in February 2021 and became one of that year's surprise hits, then left early access with version 1.0 on September 9, 2026. The launch added the final biome, the Deep North, and brought the game to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 alongside PC and Xbox, with crossplay so one world can hold players from every platform.

Valheim is built for small groups who explore, build and fight bosses together, and a dedicated server keeps that shared world running when the host logs off. Community servers give you a longhouse full of other Vikings without having to gather a group of your own, and their settings decide how hard and how social the game will be.

A Viking Afterlife Built for Co-op

Odin sends you to Valheim, the tenth world, to prove yourself worthy of Valhalla by defeating the Forsaken. Each biome, from the Meadows through the Black Forest, Swamp, Mountains, Plains, Mistlands and Ashlands to the Deep North, has its own dangers and a boss whose defeat unlocks the next tier of tools and materials. Food gives buffs rather than filling a hunger bar, and skills improve as you use them.

Building is a game of its own, with structural support that makes a good longhouse an engineering problem. Portals cannot carry metal, so ore has to travel by cart or by ship, and sailing between islands with a full hold is where a lot of teamwork happens.

What to Look For in a Valheim Server

Vanilla or a Mod Pack

Vanilla servers play the game as Iron Gate built it. Modded servers add new creatures, gear, building pieces and quality-of-life tools, but every player needs the same mods, and Iron Gate could not guarantee that any mod would work at the 1.0 launch. Check that a modded server's mod pack has been updated, and expect modded play to stay on PC.

Crossplay and Platform

Since 1.0, a dedicated server can host PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch 2 players together, but only when it is run with crossplay enabled. If you play on console, make sure the server supports it. Crossplay servers are generally vanilla, since client mods and crossplay do not mix.

Fresh World or Existing World

The Deep North only generates in parts of the map nobody has explored yet, and Iron Gate recommends starting a new world for the full 1.0 experience. Some servers started fresh for 1.0; others kept long-running worlds with years of builds. A fresh world means everyone starts in the Meadows together; an old one means a ready-made village and a long road already traveled.

World Modifiers and Rules

Servers can tune combat difficulty, the death penalty, resource rates, raids on bases and portal rules. A server with relaxed portals and higher resources plays very differently from one on the hardest settings. Player-versus-player combat is a toggle most servers leave off, so read the rules on PvP, building near others and claiming land.

Admins, Backups and Population

A Valheim world is years of work, so ask whether the server keeps regular backups. Look for admins who answer on Discord and handle griefing quickly, and check the player count at your hours, since Valheim servers are usually small and every active player matters.

Getting Started

Choose vanilla or modded and check your platform first, then pick a fresh or an established world. Read the rules, join the Discord and ask where new players settle, then build your first shelter close to your spawn. The ranking below lists the Valheim servers players vote for here. Vote for the server your Vikings call home - rankings start again every month, so the list follows where players are sailing now.