Valheim Game Server

A self-hosted Valheim dedicated server you can set up in five minutes and trust with your world.

git clone https://github.com/MrGuato/valheim-game-server.git
cd valheim-game-server
./valheim setup
./valheim start

When the log says Game server connected, players join with your.public.ip:2456.

Why this one

I host a Valheim world for my family and friends. This is the setup it runs on, built so I could stop worrying about it.

Your world comes first. Shutdowns wait for Valheim’s world save before the process is killed. ./valheim backup writes verified tarballs with retention, and ./valheim restore puts one back. Valheim 1.0 world folders with broken permissions are repaired on every start, so the server doesn’t quietly create an empty new world.

Set it up once. One CLI covers setup, status, logs, updates, backups and restores. The image ships only SteamCMD and patches the game on every start, so a restart is a game update. Watchtower pulls new images once a night.

Safe by default. The server runs as an unprivileged user. GitHub has no way into your host. The image is built in public and scanned on every change (hadolint, shellcheck, CodeQL, gitleaks, Trivy). The optional BepInEx pack is pinned and checksummed. See Security.

Pairs with a dashboard. Longhouse, a separate project, adds a live web page with who’s online, boss progress, leaderboards and player profiles.

What you get

./valheim CLI for setup, lifecycle, status, updates, backups and restores (make works too)
SteamCMD validates and updates the game files on every container start
Runs as PUID/PGID 1000 by default. Root is optional
The world is saved before the container stops (STOP_TIMEOUT)
Valheim’s password and world-name rules are checked before the server starts
Presets, modifiers and world keys from .env
Crossplay for Xbox and Microsoft Store players
Opt-in BepInEx for server-side plugins
Healthcheck, log rotation and nightly Watchtower updates
Versioned releases you can pin (IMAGE_TAG=2.1.0)

Pages

Page	What’s in it
Installation	From a fresh Ubuntu host to your first login
Configuration	Every variable, presets, modifiers, player lists, volumes
Updates	Game patches, image updates, pinning a release
Backups	Local, scheduled and off-host backups, restoring
Mods (BepInEx)	Server-side plugins, and keeping players’ achievements
Dashboard (Longhouse)	The companion web dashboard
Security	What the image does to protect you, and how to report a problem
Troubleshooting	Common errors and fixes

Requirements

Component	Minimum
OS	Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 12+
Docker	24.x or newer
Docker Compose	v2 (`docker compose`)
CPU	2 cores (Valheim leans on one thread, so clock speed matters more than cores)
RAM	4 GB (8 GB recommended for 5+ players or large worlds)
Disk	6 GB free (2.2 GB of game files; worlds are tens of MB)
Network	UDP 2456-2457 forwarded to the host (2458 too for crossplay)

Source

github.com/MrGuato/valheim-game-server, MIT licensed. Valheim is a trademark of Iron Gate AB. This project isn’t affiliated with Iron Gate or Coffee Stain and doesn’t redistribute game files.