Upload a Valheim worldMoving your existing world onto the server

Published on September 2, 2026 · last updated on October 21, 2026

Two files - that is all

Every Valheim world consists of a pair:

• The .db holds the actual content: terrain, buildings, items, chests, everything you have built.
• The .fwl holds the metadata: the name of the world and its seed.

Both files carry the same name and belong together. If you only upload one of them, the server cannot do anything with it.

What you do not need to move are the characters: in Valheim, they are always stored locally with each player and travel with them from world to world - including equipment and skills.

Where the files are

On the computer of whoever has hosted the world so far, you will find them in the Valheim folder in their own documents - in a subfolder for local worlds. Every world is listed there under its name.

Next to the two files, there are often backup copies that Valheim creates itself: the same names with an appended marker and a timestamp. You do not need them for the move - but they are a good way back if something goes wrong during the upload.

Uploading

1. Stop the server. If it is running, it overwrites your freshly uploaded world when it saves.
2. Connect. Via WebFTP in the browser or with an SFTP client.
3. Go to the world folder. That is where the server's world files are.
4. Upload both files. .db and .fwl together.
5. Enter the world name. Your server settings must contain exactly the name the files carry - without the extension.
6. Start the server and check in the game that your base is there.

The most common mistake is in step five: if the name you entered differs by even a single character, Valheim creates an empty new world - described in Start a new world.

Do not forget the mods

If the world was played with mods - for example with extra building pieces - the server needs the same mods; otherwise parts of the base are missing or the world does not load cleanly in the first place.

So install the mods before the first start with the new world, as described in Mods via BepInEx. And remember that all players need the same mods in the same version.

Why the move is worth it

As long as a world is hosted from inside the game, it depends on one computer. If its owner is not online, the adventure stands still - and everyone else struggles with the latency of their connection. For a group that meets spontaneously in the evening, that is the biggest obstacle.

On a dedicated server, this problem disappears: the world runs around the clock, everyone can keep building whenever they have time, and the ping is the same for all. On top of that, the world no longer sits on a private computer, but in one place from which you can back it up in an orderly way.

The move itself is deliberately unspectacular: two files, one world name, done. That is exactly why it is worth doing early - the bigger the world gets, the longer the upload alone takes.

After the move

Once everything runs, there are two things to do. First: do not delete the old local world, but keep it as a backup - at least for a few weeks. Second: tell everyone that from now on they join the server instead of the local session, see Join a server.

And because the server now runs around the clock, a habit that was not needed before pays off: download the world files regularly. How that works is explained in Create backups.

When the world does not appear

• Empty world at startup. The world name you entered does not match the file names.
• Only one file uploaded. .db and .fwl belong together.
• The server was running during the upload. Then it overwrote the files when saving - upload them again, this time with the server stopped.
• Building pieces are missing. The mods that were used for building are missing.

Frequently asked questions