Valheim dedicated server backups, saves and updates

Where the data lives

• Worlds and the three permission files (adminlist.txt, bannedlist.txt, permittedlist.txt) are in the save folder. Defaults: Windows ../%USERPROFILE%/AppData/LocalLow/IronGate/Valheim, Linux ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim. The -savedir argument overrides it (official guide).
• In Docker, they live in the volume named by DOCKER_DATA_VOLUME (default valheim_server_data) (official guide).

Automatic saves and backups

The server saves the world every 1800 seconds (30 minutes) unless -saveinterval says otherwise. It keeps automatic backups: with -backups 4 (the documented example) the first uses the short interval (default 7200 s, 2 hours) and the rest the long one (default 43200 s, 12 hours), so by default one backup about 2 hours old and three 12 hours apart (official guide).

Our advice, not from the official guide. Automatic backups live in the same save folder as the world, so they do not protect you from losing the machine. Copying that folder elsewhere while the server is stopped is a sensible extra. Iron Gate does not document a manual backup procedure.

What an update does

• The original start script is reset every time it is updated in Steam, which is why the guide tells you to edit a copy (official guide).
• Patches may take a few days to reach every platform; crossplay keeps working meanwhile, according to the patch notes for 1.0.14, 1.0.15 and 1.0.16.
• The official guide does not say whether client and server versions must match to connect, so this page does not state it.

Valheim 1.0 and old saves

• Iron Gate says saves from before 1.0 stay where they were and can still be played (Valheim 1.0 FAQ).
• The 1.0.15 patch notes mention a backup made when a world is first loaded in the new save format, and give two workarounds for items that lost levels or variants on item and armour stands: restore that backup (losing progress since), or copy it, load it, move the affected items onto a character and return to the main world. Worlds converted after the fix in 1.0.12 convert correctly (patch 1.0.15 notes, summarised in our 1.0.15 entry).

Sources

• OfficialA Guide to Dedicated Servers (Iron Gate) - read on 29 Sept 2026; the page is dated April 11, 2024
• OfficialValheim 1.0 FAQ (Iron Gate) - read on 29 Sept 2026
• OfficialPatch 1.0.15 notes (Iron Gate) - read on 29 Sept 2026; September 18, 2026