How to fix Valheim dedicated servers not showing up
Renting or setting up a dedicated server is a fantastic way to play Valheim with friends. Instead of relying on one person to be the host, your group can have a persistent world to build and explore that's easily accessible at any time. But a lot of players are struggling with the same problem: Their dedicated server isn't showing up in Valheim's in-game server browser. Even if you search for your server by name, there's a good chance that it just won't appear for your friends.
It's a frustrating but well-known issue in the community, and it appears to be caused by Valheim's in-game server browser not listing every available dedicated server. Until Valheim's developers find a better solution, there's fortunately a really simple fix you can try. Some of us at PC Gamer have been trying to play together on a dedicated server for a couple of days, and this was the fix that ended up working for us.
How to fix Valheim dedicated servers not showing up
At the risk of being cliche, the first thing you need to do is make sure your dedicated server is actually working properly. Whether you're renting one or hosting your own, it might be worth rebooting it and double-checking the name and password just to ensure it's not a simple error. Rebooting the game can also help because it'll cause the game to refresh the list of dedicated servers it shows, but that's very random.
The best method, right now, is to do the following:
- Open up the Steam client (It doesn't matter if Valheim is already running).
- Select the View menu on the top left and select the Servers option.
- This will open up a Steam server browser. Select the favorites tab.
- Press the add a server button.
- Enter the IP address of the dedicated server you're looking for with the port appended to the end after a colon (explained below).
- Your server should now appear in the list. Select it and press Connect. Enter the password.
- This will open Valheim (you may have to re-enter the password in-game) and it should automatically connect to your server.
- Enjoy playing with your buds!
The one part that might confuse you is that bit about the IP address. If you rented a server, your provider should give you an IP address that looks something like 99.99.999.999:99999 (except with random numbers). That's the number you want to paste into Steam's server browser.
Depending on your specific server provider, there might be additional steps you need to take. Nodecraft, for example, recommends subtracting 1 from the last digit in the address. It's worth visiting the forums for your specific provider and checking if other players have any tips specific to that provider.
From now on, though, you'll need to use Steam's server browser to connect to your Valheim server until the developers have a chance to improve the in-game browser.
Why do I want a dedicated server anyway?
The big benefit of a dedicated Valheim server (also called a community server) is that it creates a persistent world that your friends can join at any time. If you don't have one, one player will have to be the host and everyone will join their world, but they can only access it while that player is online and actively hosting a server. So if you build a sweet house on your friend's world and your friend isn't online, you won't be able to access it.
There are loads of different dedicated server providers to choose from and most will cost you around $15—the price of an MMO subscription—with a max limit of 10 players.
We're using G-Portal for our server, and it works pretty well so far.