Valheim Server RAM: How Much You Need in 2026
Published
Short answer: for vanilla Valheim, 4 GB is right for most groups of 2 to 5 players. Go to 6 GB for a full 10-player crew on a world you've played for months, and 8 GB for mega-builds or a map explored edge to edge. A brand-new world for 1 to 3 friends runs on 3 GB.
| Your world | Players | RAM |
|---|---|---|
| New world, first biomes | 1-3 | 3 GB |
| Normal bases, a few biomes explored | 2-5 | 4 GB |
| Months old, big shared base, portals everywhere | up to 10 | 6 GB |
| Mega-builds, most of the map explored | up to 10 | 8 GB |
Vanilla Valheim allows 10 players per server, so there's no "20-player" row. What changes the number is the world, not the head count.
Why world age matters more than player count
Iron Gate doesn't publish a RAM requirement for the dedicated server. The 8 GB / 16 GB figures on the Steam store page are for the game client, which renders the world. The server doesn't.
What the server does hold is the world's state: every building piece, chest, item on the ground, tamed animal and explored zone. That state only grows. A fresh 1.0 world idles at about 1.3 GB: ConnectHosting measured 1.34 GB on build 1.0.7 for a newly generated world, and about the same after a restart into it. Everything above that is what your group builds and explores.
So the realistic pattern is:
- Week 1: well under 2 GB, whatever the player count.
- Month 2-3: a real base, a portal hub, a few biomes explored. 4 GB has comfortable headroom.
- Month 6+, 10 players: several large bases, farms, item piles, most of the Mistlands and Ashlands explored. This is where 6 GB earns its keep.
The quickest gauge of how big your world has become is the size of its .db file. It grows as you explore and build, and an old world's file is many times the size of a new one. Size the server for where the world will be in a few months, not for launch day.
How to tell if your server is short on RAM
Look before you upgrade. Lag in Valheim is often not memory:
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Server stops or restarts on its own, console ends abruptly | Out of memory | Memory graph sitting at the limit just before the stop |
| Long freeze every 30 minutes | The world save | World saved ( … ms ) lines in the console; big numbers on an old world |
| Everyone lags near one big base | Too many objects in that area (CPU), not RAM | Memory well under the limit while it happens |
| One area rubber-bands for everyone | The player who "owns" that zone has a bad connection | Lag follows one player around |
That last one surprises people: Valheim hands the physics of each area to one of the players in it, so a friend on weak Wi-Fi can make an area lag for the whole group. More server RAM won't fix it.
On Packyard, the panel's console page shows live memory use next to CPU. If memory sits near your plan's limit while the group is online, move up a size. If it's at half and you still lag, look at the base or the player.
Save and backup settings that affect RAM and stutter
The dedicated server takes these launch options. On Packyard they're fields on the Startup page of the panel, so you don't edit a command line:
| Option | Panel field | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
-saveinterval | Backup Interval | 1800 (30 min) | Seconds between world saves. Lower means less lost in a crash but more frequent save stutter |
-backups | Backup Count | 4 | How many rolling world backups the game keeps |
-backupshort | Backup Shorttime | 7200 (2 h) | Age of the first backup |
-backuplong | Backup Longtime | 43200 (12 h) | Gap between the later backups |
Leave the defaults unless the save freeze bothers you. On a busy, old world, a 900-second interval saves more often, so each save has less to write. These in-game backups sit next to the world on the same disk. Packyard also takes a daily backup off the server, and you can make your own in the panel (your server → Backups → New backup).
Mods and crossplay
BepInEx mods add their own memory on top of the world. Big content packs add the most, a handful of small tweaks barely any. Packyard runs the vanilla Valheim dedicated server for PC on Steam, with no mods and no crossplay, so Xbox and Game Pass players can't join. If you need either, pick a host that offers them.
Move your existing world to a server
Your world is two files with the same name, MyWorld.db and MyWorld.fwl. You need both.
- Find them on your PC:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local. Very old worlds can be in aworldsfolder next to it. If the world is saved in Steam Cloud, move it to local first from the Manage saves screen in Valheim's start menu. - Stop the server, then upload both files over SFTP (login details are in the panel) to
.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local/. The folder name starts with a dot, so turn on hidden files in your SFTP app. - Set World Name on the Startup page to the file name without the extension (
MyWorld). It must match exactly. - Start the server. If it generates a fresh world instead, the name doesn't match or the files are in the wrong folder.
Skip the .old files: they're the game's own backups. To make yourself admin once the world is up, add your Steam ID to adminlist.txt. Our Valheim console and admin commands guide has the steps. To run the server on your own PC instead, how to make a Valheim server covers both routes.
Valheim on Packyard
A Valheim dedicated server on Packyard comes in 3 to 8 GB, with 4 GB preselected for groups of 2-5. It's $1.50 per GB of RAM a month with a $5 minimum, so 3 GB is $5, 4 GB is $6 and 8 GB is $12 (USD, plus applicable taxes).
- Your own password-protected world, online 24/7.
- A permanent address with a name and port, like
yourserver.games.packyard.ca:30000. No port forwarding, and your home IP stays private. - Daily backups, backups you make yourself, the same web panel as our Minecraft servers, SFTP, and sub-users so a friend can help run it.
- PC on Steam only, vanilla, no crossplay. Open in the US and Canada (outside Quebec), servers in US West.
Start a Valheim server, from $5 a month
Valheim belongs to Iron Gate and Coffee Stain. Packyard is not affiliated with them.
FAQ
Is 2 GB enough for a Valheim server?
It will start, because a fresh world idles around 1.3 GB, but there's little room left once you build and explore. 3 GB is a sensible floor for a new world, and 4 GB for most groups.
How much RAM for a 10-player Valheim server?
Start at 4 GB on a new world and plan for 6 GB once it's a few months old with big bases. 8 GB is for mega-builds or a fully explored map. Vanilla caps the server at 10 players.
Does Valheim 1.0 and the Deep North need more RAM?
A fresh 1.0 world idles at about 1.3 GB (measured on build 1.0.7), so the starting point is still low. The Deep North adds to memory like any biome: as you explore and build there, the world grows.
Will more RAM fix lag near my base?
Usually not. Lag around a big base is mostly the server processing lots of objects, and rubber-banding often comes from the player who controls that area having a poor connection. Check the memory graph first.
Can I keep my world if I move to a bigger server?
Yes. The world lives in the .db and .fwl files, not in memory. Copy both files to the new server's worlds_local folder and set the same world name.
Can Xbox players join a Packyard Valheim server?
No. Packyard's Valheim servers are PC on Steam only, with crossplay off.
More guides and posts on the Packyard blog.