Set or find a Valheim dedicated server seed

A Valheim seed is the short code the game builds a world from: the same seed always gives the same coastline, biomes and starting island. On a dedicated server there is no box to type a seed into. Our Valheim server has no seed setting in the Startup tab, and when it starts with a World name it has no world for, it makes a brand new world with a random seed.

So the way to play a seed you've chosen is to create the world with that seed in Valheim on your PC, then upload it. This guide covers that, how to find the seed of a world you already have, and what you can and can't do if you only play on a console.

Play a seed you've chosen

You need Valheim on a PC for this part, because the seed is set when the world is created, and only a PC gives you the world files to upload.

1. Open Valheim on your PC, pick your character and click Start.
2. In the world list, click New world.
3. Give the world a short name using only letters, numbers, dashes and underscores, 20 characters at most. That's the most our server's World name field accepts, so a plain name now saves renaming files later.
4. Replace the random code in the Seed box with the seed you want. Want different difficulty settings as well? Click Modify and pick them now, since they're saved inside the world too (Change Valheim world settings on your server explains each one).
5. Start the world and wait until you're standing in the Meadows, so the game has saved it. Then log out to the main menu and quit Valheim.
6. Upload the world to your server: Upload your Valheim world to a dedicated server walks through the World Import tab, which installs the world and sets World name to it for you.
7. Start the server and wait for DungeonDB Start in the Console. Your crew now joins a world built from your seed.

Find the seed of a world you already have

A world on your PC. Open Valheim, pick your character and click Start. The world list shows each world's seed beside its name.

The world on your server. Bring a copy down to your PC, then read it the same way:

1. Quit Valheim on your PC. If your PC already has a world with the same name as the server's, copy that folder somewhere safe first, so nothing gets overwritten.
2. In the server's File Manager, open .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local. The world is the folder named after it (or a .db and .fwl pair on an older save).
3. Tick the folder and click Download. A folder arrives as a .zip.
4. On your PC, press Win+R and paste %userprofile%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local, then extract the zip there, so the world's folder sits directly inside worlds_local.
5. Open Valheim and look at the world list: the server's world is there with its seed beside its name.

Not sure which world your server is running? It's the one named in World name on the Startup tab, in the World card.

Change the seed of a world you're playing

A world's seed can't be changed after it's created: the terrain was generated from it. A new seed means a new world. You can keep the old one on the server as well, since a different World name loads a different world:

1. Take a backup in the Backups tab first (How to create and restore backups).
2. Make the new world with your seed on your PC and upload it, as above.
3. To go back to the old world later, stop the server, set World name back to the old world's name, press Save changes on the card and start the server again.

If you only play on PS5 or Xbox

Be clear on this before you plan around a particular seed:

• You can't pick the seed of your server's world. The server has no seed setting, and a world made on a console stays on that console, so there's no file to upload. Without a PC, your server's world gets a random seed when it's first created.
• You can't read your server world's seed yourself. The steps above need Valheim on a PC to open the world.
• You can still play everything else. Crossplay is on by default, so you join with the join code, and the world's difficulty settings are in the Startup tab. Run a Valheim server for PS5 and Xbox players covers what you can do without a PC.

If a friend in your crew plays on a Steam PC, they can create the world with your seed, zip it and upload it for you through the dashboard. You can give them access to your server without sharing your login: see How to give friends access to your server.

Common problems

1. The server made a world with a different seed. World name didn't match a world on the server, so it generated a fresh one. Check the name in the World card matches the uploaded world's folder exactly, letters and case included.
2. The world list on your PC doesn't show the server's world. The extracted folder is one level too deep. It must be worlds_local/YourWorld/, holding the _main files, not worlds_local/YourWorld/YourWorld/.
3. World Import says the name isn't allowed. The world's name has a space or other punctuation, or is over 20 characters. Create the world again on your PC with a plain name and the same seed, then upload that.