Valheim is endless hours of fun for those wanting to experience mindless Viking slaughter and a bit of peaceful zen by building structures and other creations, but the fun can only go so far with just you and your circle of friends before the game feels a bit stale. There’s also the part where the possibility of your friends being unavailable to play with you is present, whether they have a family reunion to attend to, a master’s degree they wish to work on, or them just being hungover from their weekend bender. Should you be in the unfortunate situation where you want to play but don’t have people available to share your time with, then try branching out to the countless servers that Valheim’s community has created and developed for people to share around.
With countless ways that various servers implement things to make them stand out, the choice is yours. What’s great about the servers in this list is that they give experiences that often add on to what the base game offers, or rather, make up for the things the base game lacks. As Valheim is a relatively new game, only a few servers are large enough to make a massive following, but as time goes on, so does the server count available. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most popular servers that are currently available, gathering data from comments on various platforms about them, and taking everything good people found in the server to put into a comprehensive list, helping you decide if this server serves you right for your needs.
As with all Valheim lists, this was written at the time of the games’ latest version (Hearth and Home Update, version 0.205.5) with the list made from verified servers with data compiled from feedback from players through different sources channels. More servers may be added in future updates.
7. ValheimRPG.Online
What’s Great About This Server:
The great standouts for this server are the following:
- Servers and mods are available to download on their site
- WoW and Elder Scrolls setting for those wanting to play in that theme
- 2 maps are thematically connected
If you want to take your Valheim experience with a blend of those timeless games, then this is a worthwhile server you’d choose to take. It’s a nice way of merging the classics with the newness of Valheim’s gameplay, providing a new, but somewhat familiar experience for those joining.
6. XDRX Inneheim
What’s Great About This Server:
The great standouts for this server are the following:
- Vanilla gameplay keeps the game as original as possible
- No interview is needed for whitelisting
- Dedicated server for minimal downtime
This server’s big benefit has got to be the dedicated server as usually, game servers host a large number of games people play on, and having one specifically for Valheim should make things much better for you when wanting to get back after a disconnection, allowing for quick uptimes should something go wrong with it.
For other things they offer in-game, they do clans and guilds with gold-based economy, quests and have recently launched a roleplay server for those wanting to a little more extra. This server also is an unmodded one, with only a few quality-of-life mods being enabled such as increased people capacity, making this small server balloon up when many people join in.
5. Sunshine Alley
What’s Great About This Server:
The great standouts for this server are the following:
- 4 world choices for all kinds of skill level
- Helpful community for novices
- Mods allow for some extra depth to immersion
From novice to experienced Viking, Sunshine Alley has a world built for you to explore, with the best part being that all these worlds are cross-explorable. A lot of newbie players also have proximity to people (sorry, Vikings) that can assist anyone through the in-game chat, keeping you well informed on things you may not know of yet in the game.
For the mods part, this world has things like respawnable crypts, PvP zones, allowing you to build inside dungeons, and various more mods similar to the ones from previous listings that can take your experience to a new level. All sunshine and rainbows for those joining this server.
4. Valheim Roleplay
What’s Great About This Server:
The great standouts for this server are the following:
- Events are split as Seasons
- Quests are player-driven
- Age progression on to equalize progress
This server specializes in, you guessed it, roleplaying. Making your character isn’t enough here, but also acting out and speaking as your character is a must, and with the proximity chat enabled, anyone, can know your presence as you make your way through the town.
Another way to keep things balanced is that the server enforces an age progression, meaning no Viking will have an advantage with overpowered items off the bat and makes any campaign to get said items a joy to have.
3. Comfy Valheim
What’s Great About This Server:
The great standouts for this server are the following:
- Tons of active players online at the same time
- Creator shop also adds a few rare items that you can use
- Plenty of bespoke activities in different parts of the world seed
Being a large Valheim server, with a possibility of an impressive 127 people at the same time, activities are plentiful. From parkour runs to classic dungeon raids, this server utilizes every bit of real estate that Valheim’s generated world has and turns it into its digital hunting grounds. This is also a Vanilla server meaning all this is done from a once-stock world of Valheim, albeit with a few custom creator shop items that the server offers, which is impressive given the growth it has achieved since. Even with the said creator shop, the items from it are usually in the game already, just not accessible through any common means.
For a surefire way to be with your fellow Vikings from across multiple lands, Comfy Valheim is one of the choices you should take.
2. Alfheim
What’s Great About This Server:
The great standouts for this server are the following:
- Currently barren and contentless areas are now extra adventure areas
- Mods offer a whole lot more weapons and items to fight mobs
- Increase of 60 player slots
Alfheim is content galore with mods making every bit of the map a lot more challenging, and if you’re into that punishment, then by all means join the server to whack a few dead all while having a theoretical 60 people with you for the new harder bosses added to the barren areas like the Deep North and Ashlands. It takes a good progression towards the end game and goes beyond. The content they added has been so diverse that the current final boss of the game, Yagluth, doesn’t exactly feel like the end of the road, and when you have more Vikings into the mix, it makes you feel like you’ve only crossed a starting chapter. Putting those aside, a community like this that actively has these changes and new content is bound to be endless hours of enjoyment all around.
I guess the best way to sum it up is Alfheim is a server where you want to go beyond the game’s current content and test yourself alongside others in facing the new dangers within.
1. Jotunheim
What’s Great About This Server:
The great standouts for this server are the following:
- Extensive server backups for the seed
- Custom admin mods for reverting changes should it see fit
- Great community builds that active staff can help preserve
For a game experience similar to your unmodded rundown, Jotunheim is a choice you’d want as enhancing the fundamentals is what makes the server great. With community trading and some events keeping it a bit different than the regular game, everything else is geared towards the people joining in, doing their thing, and having people responding to you relatively quick when requiring some help and/or offer trades. Jotunheim feels more of an extension, rather than a massive change in terms of how you play the game, and some people prefer that. No major mods needed to spice the game, no content that you must go and loot rare stuff, just you, your own time and effort, and a lot of people you can interact and play with. Simple and effective.
Conclusion:
Truthfully, for a game that isn’t even a year old, Valheim sure does get it right to have a dedicated player base create unique and amazing content from a game that continues to offer more in the future. While a lot of these servers require some chance for whitelisting to get in, once you do get in, you’d be treated with things that they can offer that may be like your current solo/party campaign or things that are entirely different that make it feel like you’re playing a different game. The things said here are from other players who have taken the chance to meet and explore these servers and found things they may or may not have found interesting to keep Valheim as fresh as the day they first played it.
My advice is for you to look around and see what’s best for you, with official channels like Reddit and Discord being available to enter to start your search. Even if you don’t find a server you may fancy joining, you can always think about opening your server and open the doors for those wanting to tag along with you and experience the same joy of playing the game as you did, in any way, shape, or form. The community created by Valheim is rich and growing, so whatever place you may choose to be, know that there will be more of them in the future.
