Valheim Dedicated Server Requirements
What a Valheim server needs in RAM, CPU, disk and bandwidth, measured on servers that are running right now rather than copied from the Steam page. Use the calculator for your group, then read the numbers behind it.
Vanilla caps at 10; mods can raise it.
The short version
| Resource | Iron Gate minimum | Works in practice | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| RAM | 2 GB | 4 GB vanilla, 8 GB modded or large | Idle is 1–2 GB; players and builds add on top. |
| CPU | 1 core | 2–3 fast cores | Simulation is single-threaded; clock speed beats core count. |
| Disk | ~2 GB | 10 GB NVMe | Install + world + automatic backups; NVMe keeps autosave stutter short. |
| Bandwidth | — | ~0.5 Mbps per player up | 10 players ≈ 5 Mbps sustained; any datacenter line is fine. |
| Players | 10 cap | 10 (mods raise it on PC-only servers) | Crossplay servers stay at 10. |
RAM: what the servers actually use
The numbers in the calculator come from HostSimple's own Valheim fleet, read off the servers in September 2026 with nobody online. A world created two days ago sat at 1.25 GB resident. A world a month old with an active group building every evening sat at 1.9 GB. Six-month-old worlds with little recent building were between 1.0 and 1.4 GB. The pattern: the server process itself costs about 1.2 GB, and everything built, dug and dropped in the world costs on top of that, permanently.
Players add memory while they are online because the server simulates the zones around each of them. Spread ten players across the map and ten separate areas stay loaded; keep them at one base and much of that overlaps. Around 150 MB per player is a fair planning figure, more if mods add entities.
Mods are the wild card. BepInEx plus a handful of quality-of-life plugins costs a few hundred MB. Valheim+ with content packs, extra creatures and larger build limits can double the server's footprint. That is the case for the 8 GB plan; for vanilla, 4 GB has comfortable headroom for the autosave spike every twenty minutes.
One thing more RAM does not fix: lag from terraforming. Every terrain edit is stored forever and re-sent to every joining player, so a heavily terraformed base makes joins slow regardless of hardware. Raise ground with build pieces where you can.
CPU and why clock speed matters
Valheim runs the world simulation on a single thread. A server with one fast core outperforms one with many slow cores, and adding cores beyond three does nothing for the game loop. What extra cores do help with is networking and the autosave, which run alongside the simulation; that is why a two- or three-core allocation feels smoother than a single core even at the same clock.
On an idle server the process still uses about 8% of a core just keeping the world ticking. Ten players in combat near a large base can pin a core, and that is when everyone sees rubber-banding. If a server lags with plenty of RAM free, CPU is the constraint, not memory.
Disk, backups and bandwidth
A fresh server install is roughly 2 GB. World files (.db + .fwl) start tiny and grow with exploration and building; a few hundred MB after a long campaign is normal, a couple of GB is extreme. Valheim keeps its own rolling backups next to the live world, so budget three to five copies. 10 GB covers all of that for one or two worlds. Storage speed shows up during the autosave: on NVMe the pause is a fraction of a second, on slow disks players feel it.
Bandwidth is modest. Valheim sends about 60 KB/s per player in the common case, so ten players is on the order of 5 Mbps upstream, well within any hosted server. Home connections struggle here mostly on upload, which is one of the reasons people move to a dedicated host.
Crossplay and 1.0
Crossplay (the -crossplay flag, a switch on HostSimple) does not change RAM or CPU needs. It routes traffic through PlayFab relays instead of direct Steam networking, which adds some latency for everyone, and it fixes the player cap at 10 with no server-side mods, because console players cannot run them. Details in the crossplay guide.
Valheim 1.0 (released September 9, 2026) added the Deep North. Its memory cost is in line with the Ashlands, so no plan change is needed. What does matter is version matching: the server must run the same build as the clients or players see "Incompatible version". HostSimple servers pull the latest build every boot, so a restart after the update is all it takes. See the 1.0 server guide for the update-day checklist.
Which HostSimple plan
| Plan | Specs | Good for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 4 GB RAM · 2 vCPU · 10 GB NVMe | Vanilla and light-mod groups up to 10, crossplay servers | $12.99/mo |
| Premium | 8 GB RAM · 3 vCPU · 25 GB NVMe | Valheim+, large long-running worlds, multiple worlds | $15.99/mo |
Both start with a 7-day $1 trial and you can move between them without losing the world. Full details on the Valheim server hosting page.
Frequently asked questions
How much RAM does a Valheim dedicated server need?
4 GB covers a vanilla server for a normal group. Measured on live HostSimple servers in September 2026, a fresh vanilla world idles at 1.0 to 1.4 GB of resident memory and a month-old world with active building sits around 1.9 GB before players join. Each connected player keeps their nearby zones loaded, roughly 150 MB apiece. A full 10-player vanilla group on an established world lands near 3.5 GB at peak, and heavy mod loads such as Valheim+ push past that, which is where 8 GB makes sense.
Is 2 GB enough for a Valheim server?
Iron Gate's stated minimum is 2 GB, and it does boot. In practice a 2 GB server hits its ceiling as soon as a few players spread out or the world accumulates builds, and the symptom is stutter during the 20-minute autosave and eventually a crash. 4 GB is the realistic floor for a server you intend to keep.
Does Valheim use more than one CPU core?
The main simulation runs on one thread, so single-core speed matters more than core count. Networking and saving use additional threads, which is why two or three cores feel smoother than one. A high-clock CPU with 2 cores outperforms a slow 8-core for Valheim.
How much disk space does a Valheim server use?
The server install is about 2 GB. World files start under 10 MB and grow with exploration and terraforming; a mature world after hundreds of hours is typically 100 to 500 MB, with automatic backups multiplying that. 10 GB is plenty for one or two worlds with backups.
Does crossplay change the requirements?
Not the RAM or CPU. Crossplay routes traffic through PlayFab relays instead of direct Steam networking, which adds a little latency for everyone, and it caps the server at 10 players and rules out server-side mods, since consoles cannot run them.
What changes with Valheim 1.0?
The 1.0 update adds the Deep North biome, which generates in unexplored parts of the map. Servers need the same build as clients or players see 'Incompatible version', so restart the server after Steam pushes the update. Memory use of the new biome is in line with the Ashlands; no plan change is needed.
Related: setting up a Valheim dedicated server · transferring an existing world · crossplay and join codes
Ready to play?
Valheim servers online in about a minute, 4 or 8 GB, US or EU, $1 for the first 7 days.