Why run a dedicated Valheim server
Valheim co-op has one catch: in a normal peer-hosted game the world only exists while the host is online. Friends cannot sail or build without you, and if the host crashes, everyone drops. A dedicated server keeps your world running around the clock on its own machine, so everyone plays on their own schedule and progress is always saved.
Hosting it yourself means a PC that never sleeps, port forwarding for UDP 2456 and 2457, and a stable address that survives your ISP rotating your IP. GHosting skips all of that. Your server is online in about a minute with a fixed address to share, and there is no CGNAT or router config to fight.
Renting a Valheim server versus keeping one at home
A spare PC in the corner can absolutely run Valheim, and for a couple of friends on the same evening schedule it works. The costs show up later. The machine has to stay awake and patched, UDP 2456 and 2457 need forwarding through a router you may not control, and a residential connection behind CGNAT often cannot accept inbound connections at all. Every time your ISP rotates the IP, everyone needs the new address.
Renting moves that to a machine built for it: a fixed address, a datacenter uplink, DDoS protection, and no electricity bill for a box running all night. The tradeoff is honest. You are paying for uptime and a stable address rather than raw hardware, and you give up the ability to reach into the operating system yourself.
How much RAM a Valheim server needs
Vanilla Valheim is light. Two to four players are comfortable on the entry plan. Memory use climbs as your world gets explored and built up, because the server keeps more of the map loaded, so a long-running world with large bases benefits from a step up.
- Small group, fresh world: the entry plan is plenty
- Large explored world or heavy building: mid tier
- BepInEx mods like Valheim Plus: add headroom on top
Mods and updates
GHosting runs the standard Valheim dedicated server, so BepInEx mods install the usual way and your saves stay intact. Settings include Steam or crossplay networking, world presets, save frequency, rolling backups, public visibility, and optional daily restarts. When a game update lands you restart from the panel, with no SteamCMD commands to remember.
Bringing an existing world with you
Most people arriving here already have a world they do not want to abandon. You do not have to start over. A Valheim world is a .db save and its .fwl metadata file, both sitting in the local worlds_local folder on whoever hosted last. Upload the pair through the Files tab, set the world name in Settings to match, and restart. The map, bases and boss progress come across intact.
Character progress is separate and always has been. Valheim keeps your skills and inventory in your own character file on your own machine, so every player brings their existing character to the server without doing anything.
Regions, and what prepaid actually means
Pick Europe or North America based on where most of your group plays, since ping is decided by physical distance more than anything on the invoice. Valheim is forgiving about latency compared to a shooter, but a European group on a North American host will notice it in combat.
Terms are prepaid and nothing renews on its own. When a term ends the server stops and your files are kept while you decide whether to renew, rather than the card being charged again quietly. That suits a game people play in bursts around each update. Renew inside the seven-day grace window and the same world comes straight back; leave it past that and the server is deleted, so download the save first if you plan a long break. Your first server is covered by a 72-hour money-back guarantee.