Valheim

Table of Contents

• Valheim
  • Running on a Bare-Metal Linux Server
    • From Release
    • From Source
  • Running with Docker
    • Download Locations
      • DockerHub
      • GitHub Container Registry
    • Environment Variables
      • Container Env Variables
      • Auto Update
      • Auto Backup
  • Docker Compose
    • Simple
    • Everything but the Kitchen Sink
  • Bundled Tools
    • Odin
    • Huginn HTTP Server
  • Feature Information
    • BepInEx Support
    • Webhook Support
  • Guides
    • How to Transfer Files
  • Additional Information
    • Discord Release Notifications
    • Versions
  • Sponsors
  • Contributors ✨
    • External Guides

Running on a Bare-Metal Linux Server

From Release

1. Navigate to the latest release
2. Download the bundle.zip to your server
3. Extract the bundle.zip
4. Make the files executable chmod +x {odin,huginn}
5. Optional: Add the files to your PATH.
6. Navigate to the folder where you want your server installed.
7. Run odin configure --password "Your Super Strong Password" (you can also supply --name "Server Name", --port "Server Port", or other arguments available).
8. Finally, run odin start.

More in-depth How-to Article: Running Valheim on a Linux Server

From Source

This repo bundles its tools in a way that you can run them without having to install Docker! If you purely want to run this on a Linux-based system, without Docker, take a look at the links below:

• Installing & Using Odin: Odin runs the show and does almost all the heavy lifting in this repo. It starts, stops, and manages your Valheim server instance.
• Installing & Using Huginn: Huginn is an HTTP server built on the same source as Odin and uses these capabilities to expose a few HTTP endpoints.

Using the binaries to run on an Ubuntu Server, you will have to be more involved and configure a few things manually. If you want a managed, easy one-two punch to manage your server, then look at the Docker section.

Running with Docker

This image uses version 3+ for all of its compose examples. Please use Docker engine >=20 or make adjustments accordingly.

Guide to get started

Mod Support! It is supported to launch the server with BepInEx, but as a disclaimer, you take responsibility for debugging why your server won't start. Modding is not supported by the Valheim developers officially yet, which means you WILL run into errors. See Getting started with mods

Download Locations

DockerHub

GitHub Container Registry

Environment Variables

See further down for advanced environment variables.

Variable	Default	Required	Description
PORT	2456	TRUE	Sets the port your server will listen on. Take note it will also listen on +2 (e.g., 2456, 2457, 2458)
NAME	Valheim Docker	TRUE	The name of your server! Make it fun and unique!
WORLD	Dedicated	TRUE	This is used to generate the name of your world.
PUBLIC	1	FALSE	Sets whether or not your server is public on the server list.
PASSWORD	<please set me>	TRUE	Set this to something unique!
ENABLE_CROSSPLAY	0	FALSE	Enable crossplay support as of Valheim Version >0.211.8
TYPE	Vanilla	FALSE	This can be set to BepInEx or Vanilla
PRESET	``	FALSE	Normal, Casual, Easy, Hard, Hardcore, Immersive, Hammer
MODIFIERS	``	FALSE	Comma-separated array of modifiers. EX: combat=easy,raids=muchmore
SET_KEY	``	FALSE	Can be one of the following: nobuildcost, playerevents, passivemobs, nomap
MODS	<nothing>	FALSE	This is an array of mods separated by comma and a new line. Examples. Supported files are zip, dll, and cfg.
WEBHOOK_URL	<nothing>	FALSE	Supply this to get information regarding your server's status in a webhook or Discord notification! How to create a Discord webhook URL
WEBHOOK_INCLUDE_PUBLIC_IP	0	FALSE	Optionally include your server's public IP in webhook notifications, useful if not using a static IP address. NOTE: If your server is behind a NAT using PAT with more than one external IP address (very unlikely on a home network), this could be inaccurate if your NAT doesn't maintain your server to a single external IP.
PLAYER_EVENT_NOTIFICATIONS	0	FALSE	Optional, if you have a webhook url supplied and turn this to one. It will post when a player joins/leaves the server.
UPDATE_ON_STARTUP	1	FALSE	Tries to update the server the container is started.
ADDITIONAL_STEAMCMD_ARGS	``	FALSE	Sets optional arguments for install
BETA_BRANCH	public-test	FALSE	Sets the beta branch for the server.
BETA_BRANCH_PASSWORD	yesimadebackups	FALSE	Sets the password for the beta branch.

Container Env Variables

Variable	Default	Required	Description
TZ	America/Los_Angeles	FALSE	Sets what timezone your container is running on. This is used for timestamps and cron jobs. Click Here for which timezones are valid.
PUID	1000	FALSE	Sets the User Id of the steam user.
PGID	1000	FALSE	Sets the Group Id of the steam user.

Auto Update

Variable	Default	Required	Description
AUTO_UPDATE	0	FALSE	Set to 1 if you want your container to auto update! This means at the times indicated by AUTO_UPDATE_SCHEDULE it will check for server updates. If there is an update then the server will be shut down, updated, and brought back online if the server was running before.
AUTO_UPDATE_SCHEDULE	0 1 * * *	FALSE	This works in conjunction with AUTO_UPDATE and sets the schedule to which it will run an auto update. If you need help figuring out a cron schedule click here
AUTO_UPDATE_PAUSE_WITH_PLAYERS	0	FALSE	Does not process an update for the server if there are players online.

Auto Backup

Variable	Default	Required	Description
AUTO_BACKUP	0	FALSE	Set to 1 to enable auto backups. Backups are stored under /home/steam/backups which means you will have to add a volume mount for this directory.
AUTO_BACKUP_SCHEDULE	*/15 * * * *	FALSE	Change to set how frequently you would like the server to backup. If you need help figuring out a cron schedule click here.
AUTO_BACKUP_NICE_LEVEL	NOT SET	FALSE	Do NOT set this variable unless you are following this guide here
AUTO_BACKUP_REMOVE_OLD	1	FALSE	Set to 0 to keep all backups or manually manage them.
AUTO_BACKUP_DAYS_TO_LIVE	3	FALSE	This is the number of days you would like to keep backups for. While backups are compressed and generally small it is best to change this nu
AUTO_BACKUP_ON_UPDATE	0	FALSE	Create a backup on right before updating and starting your server.
AUTO_BACKUP_ON_SHUTDOWN	0	FALSE	Create a backup on shutdown.
AUTO_BACKUP_PAUSE_WITH_NO_PLAYERS	0	FALSE	Will skip creating a backup if there are no players. PUBLIC must be set to 1 for this to work!

Scheduled Restarts

Scheduled restarts allow the operator to trigger restarts on a cron job

Variable	Default	Required	Description
SCHEDULED_RESTART	0	FALSE	Allows you to enable scheduled restarts
SCHEDULED_RESTART_SCHEDULE	0 2 * * *	FALSE	Defaults to everyday at 2 am but can be configured with valid cron

Docker Compose

This image uses version 3+ for all of its compose examples. Please use Docker engine >=20 or make adjustments accordingly.

Simple

This is a basic example of a Docker Compose file. You can apply any of the variables above to the environment section below but be sure to follow each variable's description notes!

version: "3"
services:
  valheim:
    image: mbround18/valheim:latest
    stop_signal: SIGINT
    ports:
      - "2456:2456/udp"
      - "2457:2457/udp"
      - "2458:2458/udp"
    environment:
      PORT: 2456
      NAME: "Created With Valheim Docker"
      WORLD: "Dedicated"
      PASSWORD: "Banana Phone"
      TZ: "America/Chicago"
      PUBLIC: 1
    volumes:
      - ./valheim/saves:/home/steam/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim
      - ./valheim/server:/home/steam/valheim

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

version: "3"
services:
  valheim:
    image: mbround18/valheim:latest
    stop_signal: SIGINT
    ports:
      - "2456:2456/udp"
      - "2457:2457/udp"
      - "2458:2458/udp"
    environment:
      PORT: 2456
      NAME: "Created With Valheim Docker"
      WORLD: "Dedicated"
      PASSWORD: "Strong! Password @ Here"
      TZ: "America/Chicago"
      PUBLIC: 1
      AUTO_UPDATE: 1
      AUTO_UPDATE_SCHEDULE: "0 1 * * *"
      AUTO_BACKUP: 1
      AUTO_BACKUP_SCHEDULE: "*/15 * * * *"
      AUTO_BACKUP_REMOVE_OLD: 1
      AUTO_BACKUP_DAYS_TO_LIVE: 3
      AUTO_BACKUP_ON_UPDATE: 1
      AUTO_BACKUP_ON_SHUTDOWN: 1
      WEBHOOK_URL: "https://discord.com/api/webhooks/IM_A_SNOWFLAKE/AND_I_AM_A_SECRET"
      WEBHOOK_INCLUDE_PUBLIC_IP: 1
      UPDATE_ON_STARTUP: 0
    volumes:
      - ./valheim/saves:/home/steam/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim
      - ./valheim/server:/home/steam/valheim
      - ./valheim/backups:/home/steam/backups

Bundled Tools

Odin

This repo has a CLI tool called Odin in it! It is used for managing the server inside the container. If you are looking for instructions for it, click here: Odin

Click here to see advanced environment variables for Odin

Huginn HTTP Server

Variable	Default	Required	Description
ADDRESS	Your Public IP	FALSE	This setting is used in conjunction with odin status and setting this will stop odin from trying to fetch your public IP
HTTP_PORT	anything above 1024	FALSE	Setting this will spin up a little HTTP server that provides two endpoints for you to call.

• /metrics provides a Prometheus-style metrics output.
• /status provides a more traditional status page.

Note on ADDRESS: This can be set to 127.0.0.1:<your query port> or <your public IP>:<your query port> but does not have to be set. If it is set, it will prevent Odin from reaching out to AWS IP service to ask for your public IP address. Keep in mind, your query port is +1 of what you set in the PORT env variable for your Valheim server.

Another note: Your server MUST be public (e.g., PUBLIC=1) for Odin+Huginn to collect and report statistics.

Feature Information

BepInEx Support

As of March 2021, the TYPE variable can be used to automatically install BepInEx. For details, see Getting started with mods.

Webhook Support

This repo can automatically send notifications to Discord via the WEBHOOK_URL variable. Only use the documentation link below if you want advanced settings!

Click Here to view documentation on Webhook Support

Guides

How to Transfer Files

This is a tutorial of a recommended path to transferring files. This can be done to transfer world files between hosts, transfer BepInEx configs, or even to transfer backups.

Click Here to view the tutorial of how to transfer files.

How to Access Your Container in Docker

docker exec -it $CONTAINER_NAME gosu steam bash

How to Restore a backup

Click this link to see the guide for restoring a backup

Additional Information

Discord Release Notifications

If you would like to have release notifications tied into your Discord server, click here:

Note: The Discord is PURELY for release notifications and any + all permissions involving sending chat messages have been disabled. Any support for this repository must take place on the Discussions.

Versions

• 2.x.x (Stable): Mod support and cleaned up the code base.
• 1.4.x (Stable): Webhook for Discord upgrade.
• 1.3.x (Stable): Health of codebase improvements.
• 1.2.0 (Stable): Added additional stop features and SIG for stopping.
• 1.1.1 (Stable): Patch to fix arguments.
• 1.1.0 (Unstable): Cleaned up image and made it faster.
• 1.0.0 (Stable): It works!

Sponsors

Looking for sponsors!

Contributors ✨

Thanks go to these wonderful people (emoji key):

Mark 📖	Michael 🚇 💻 📖	imgbot[bot] 📖	Jonathan Boudreau 💻	Lukáš Hruška 📖	Julian Vallée 💻	Finomnis 💻
Justin Byrne 📖	Andrew Peabody 📖 💻	Jorge Morales 💻	Spanner_Man 📖	Cameron Pittman 📖	kodiakhq[bot] 🚇 📖 💻	Anders Johansson 📖
Imgbot 📖

This project follows the all-contributors specification. Contributions of any kind are welcome!

External Guides

• Hosting with Dokku? Check out this guide!
• Hosting Valheim on Rocket Pi X
• Valheim on AWS
• How to host a dedicated Valheim server on Amazon Lightsail
• Experience With Valheim Game Hosting With Docker
• AWS Cloudformation template using Elastic Container Service with a Spot Instance for cost savings