ValheimGame guides
Create a Valheim character
What the Valheim character creator offers, where your character file is saved on your PC, and how one character joins any world or server.
A Valheim character is not tied to any one world or server. You choose a name and an appearance, and the game keeps the character as a file on the device you play on. This guide covers what the creator offers, where that file lives and how it works with a hosted server.
Checked against Valheim 1.0.20 (patch of 15 October 2026), October 2026.
What the creator offers
You give the character a name and pick how it looks. Hair and beard styles are part of that. Before Valheim 1.0, some styles were only offered at the Barber Station in game. From 1.0 every hair and beard style is available in the character creator from the start.
The Barber Station, built with a Barber kit, offers hair and beard styles in game, so you can also change your look after the character exists.
Your character name appears in chat and in the player list, and since 0.220.3 Valheim filters it like other player-made text, so avoid anything it might block.
Where your character is saved
Your character is saved on your own computer or console, not on the server. When you play on someone else's server, or on one we host, the world is saved on the server and your character stays with you. Iron Gate's 0.217.14 notes include a fix for the world on the server and the character on the client falling out of sync, which is the same split.
On a Windows PC, a developer reply on Steam gives the local save folder as C:\Users\<username>\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim, and characters and worlds are kept in separate folders. With Steam Cloud on, cloud saves are stored under your Steam userdata folder, in a folder named 892970. With Steam Cloud off, the game uses characters_local and worlds_local in the same base folder as the old saves.
Iron Gate's 1.0 FAQ says save files do not sync across platforms, with one exception: an Xbox player can reach their saves from a PC if they launch the game from the Microsoft Store.
Using one character in any world
Because the character is separate from the world, you can take it into any world or server you join, including a new one. To copy a character as a backup, or to start over with a clean one, follow Back up and reset your Valheim character.
Using most console commands, such as spawn, puts a flag on your current character and on the world save, and Iron Gate says that flag permanently locks them out of achievements. The game asks you to confirm before you enter that state. If you want achievements, keep the commands for a throwaway character and world.
Joining your server
Start Valheim, pick the character, then join using the steps in How to make a Valheim dedicated server. Crossplay is on from the first boot, as that guide explains. Server plans are on the Valheim page.
Related guides
Valheim bosses and Forsaken powers
Where each Valheim boss lives, what it drops and which Forsaken power it gives, from Eikthyr to Fader, plus what is known of the Deep North's boss.
2 min readValheim biomes in progression order
The order to tackle Valheim biomes, from Meadows to the Deep North, with each biome's boss and drops and what the Mistlands and Ashlands added.
3 min readBack up and reset your Valheim character
Valheim characters live on your PC, not the server. Find the files, copy them somewhere safe, or move them aside to start a fresh character.
4 min read