How to Join a Friends Game in Valheim

Lee Stanton October 20, 2022

What’s better than exploring the Viking afterlife in Valheim? Exploring it with friends. You can go it alone if that’s more your thing. However, if you want the camaraderie and support of friends in your Valheim world, co-op play is just a few buttons away.

Valheim lets you play with friends in your world or theirs, so one of the biggest questions you’ll have to decide is: your place or mine?

If you have more than one friend that wants to join in the adventure, Valheim has you covered. It supports 2-10 players in the same world if you’re playing co-op.

How to Join a Friend’s Game in Valheim

Joining a friend’s game in Valheim is a simple process. Follow the steps below to get started:

Launch the game.
Choose your character.
Select the tab, Join Game tab on the next screen.
Check the option Friends near the bottom of the window if you’re planning on joining a friend’s world or server. If you’re both going to a community server instead, check Community.
Choose a server from the friends/community list and highlight it.
Press the Connect button to jump into a game.
(Optional) Enter the server password if prompted before joining.

All the friends you’re planning on playing Valheim with must own a valid copy of the game on Steam. Also, they need to be on your Friends List on Steam, or you won’t see their server pop up in Valheim’s game options screen.

If you’ve never added friends to your Steam list or simply forgotten how there are a few ways to do it. Here is the easiest way, using the Steam app or browser website:

Launch Steam.
Hover your cursor over your username tab near the top of the screen.
Select Friends from the drop-down menu.
Press the green Add a Friend button located near the upper right corner of the screen.
Three ways to add a friend:
- Add your friend’s “Friend Code” in the first text box.
- Generate a friend link to share with your friend.
- Search for your friend’s profile via the search bar near the bottom of the screen.

All your available friends are listed on the Friends Management page mentioned above. If you don’t see your friend’s server on Valheim, double-check your Steam list to make sure they’re properly added.

Additional FAQs

How do I invite friends to my Valheim server?

Technically, you can’t invite friends to your server in Valheim. However, you can add their names to a newly created server. This is how to get started:

1. Start the game.

2. Select a world or create a new one.

3. Check the Friends circle near the bottom of the window. You can check the Community circle as well but doing so opens your server to strangers. If you’d like a private game, leave that circle unchecked.

4. (Optional) Enter a password in the password text box.

5. Press the Shift and Tab buttons at the same time to add your friends to the game.

6. Select the Start button in the bottom corner of the window to launch the game.

Keep in mind that you need to log in to the server first before your friends can join. When you do enter a server, you’ll receive messages about new players arriving in your world/server. You can host up to nine other players (not including yourself) for co-op play.

Everybody is connected to your server through you, though. Once you log out, everybody else still on the server is immediately disconnected.

How does multiplayer work in Valheim?

Are you worthy of Odin’s regard? You get to prove it by helping him reclaim forgotten territory in Valheim. Venturing into hostile environments may be bad enough, but you need to slay any monsters that stand in the way of your objective, too.

However, that’s where friends come in.

Rather than an online multiplayer game, Valheim’s more like an old-school solo adventure where you can play co-op with up to nine other adventurers. Instead of getting together in one place, though, Valheim allows you to co-op from a distance via their world server system.

If you’re expecting a PvP adventure that pits you against other players or “teams,” you’re in for a surprise. Although you can enable this feature in the Inventory screen, bashing each other over the head isn’t how you get ahead in this game.

Think of it as a Viking-themed open world wherein you’re tasked with reclaiming forgotten lands and taking on the Forsaken Ones for the glory of Odin.

Keep in mind, though, that the developers don’t keep official servers for a co-op endeavor. Instead, they facilitate a co-op session through an intricate web of links from one player to the next, so your connection is only as good as your weakest internet link.

Why can’t I join my friends in Valheim?

There may be a few reasons why you may not be able to join friends in Valheim. Check out the troubleshooting tips below to narrow down a possible solution.

Error: Failure to Connect

If you’re seeing this error, it usually has to do with an update that needs to be implemented. First, check your game in the Steam library and make sure your game is up to date. You can do this by:

1. Going to the Steam Library.

2. Right-clicking on Valheim.

3. Choosing the Properties tab.

4. Check the date of the last update.

You also need to check your server on the game, but the solution isn’t as simple. Of course, you can always wait for the game to auto-update on its own. However, if you’re feeling brave or simply can’t wait to play the game, check out these steps to force a server update:

1. Download and install Valve’s CMD software.

2. Find your Valheim folder.

3. Open Notepad and create a new text file.

4. Name the new text file Update.

5. Save the extension as .bat instead of “.txt”.

6. Open your newly created Update.bat file and type this command:

[SteamCMD folder address] + login anonymous + force_install_dir [Valheim folder address] + app_update 896660 validate + exit.

7. Save and exit the file.

8. Double-click on the Update file to run the new command and update your game server.

Don’t See Friend’s Server in the Join Tab

Many players have been experiencing issues where they don’t see a friend’s server listed on the server listed in the game. There are a few workarounds, but there are no official fixes for this issue yet.

You can:

· Join a game via Steam Friends instead of the Valheim server list.

· Ensure that the host selects Start Server in Steam before starting the game.

· Ensure that the host doesn’t have invisible/offline Steam settings enabled.

· Ask the host to exit Steam completely (including the Client Bootstrapper app) and restart it.

Keep in mind that Valheim is a relatively new game in Early Access, so the developers are still ironing out bugs.

Prove Your Worth to the All-Father

Adventuring in Valheim can get a little lonely and a lot dangerous. Fortunately, you don’t have to go it alone. Valheim’s developers have made it simple to jump into a friend’s game and share in the battles and glory from the comfort of your own home.

Do you play Valheim with friends? Do you use a private server or a community server? Let us know in the comments section below.