There are a few very commonly asked questions we get from clients regarding Valheim Early Access - we'll address some below:
I can't see my server in the in-game browser - why?
At this point in development the in-game browser for Valheim isn't picking up every server, and sometimes it picks up none at all. We recommend using the Steam Server Browser instead (Open Steam, click the View menu, select Servers, and then head to the Favourites menu. Down the bottom right click Add A Server, and then enter in your IP and Query Port (Not the game port - Steam doesn't connect over this). With a few refreshes you should see your server! Now add it to your favourites, and connect with no issues.
I changed my World Name and Password in the control panel, and the server won't start - why is this happening?
Valheim servers require the following to be true, otherwise they won't start:
The password entered must be above 5 characters in length,
The world name, server name and password must not be similar (Don't be making the world name chicken, and the password chicken for example)
I uploaded my world to the server, and its not the same map.
Make sure you are copying the .db and .fwl files exactly as you found them. Do not change their names at all, or else you'll throw your map away with all your progress. Also make sure that you have set the -world parameter to whatever your .db and .fwl files are called (For example, if I uploaded chicken.db and chicken.fwl then my -world parameter would be -world "chicken")
I uploaded my world to the server, and it's the same map but no buildings exist anymore! Where did they go?
Again, make sure you are copying the .db and .fwl files exactly as you found them with the same filenames. Do not change their names at all, otherwise if you do, and you try to load the world, you'll have nothing! You have the potential to have either the correct world seed, but no buildings, or the incorrect world seed with your buildings scattered everywhere (even underground).
My world is laggy when I get some of my friends on, why?
Valheim at this point in time utilises P2P networking to a degree (Thats Peer to Peer networking, real old-school) - this means that unlike most dedicated servers of today, your ping to the server alongside all your nordic friends impacts the performance more than it should. So if you have 3 friends in Australia, but 1 in Japan, your Japanese friend will be making the server lag, desync and just feel outright sloppy with their 200-300ms ping compared to your <40ms ping. Unfortunately until the netcode gets some love, we won't see this improve anytime soon. The easiest solution is to have the server be closest to the majority of players, as while you can't escape the P2P mayhem, a dedicated server helps to an extent.
