How to Setup a Crossplay Server in Valheim

Overview

Valheim’s community leans heavily toward PC, which leaves console players stuck outside the world their PC friends built unless the server itself bridges the two platforms. Setting up a Valheim crossplay server on your Apex Hosting panel solves that with a single toggle once the server is running, letting you and your friends build, fight, and explore together no matter which platform anyone is on. Valheim’s own dedicated server documentation confirms the crossplay backend, PlayFab, admits players on any supported platform, while the standard Steam backend limits the server to Steam users only. This guide covers creating a Valheim server on your panel, turning crossplay on, and fixing the two problems that most often keep players from connecting.
 

Getting Started

Before touching any settings, you need an active Valheim server on your account. Once you’ve picked a plan through our Pricing page and the server is running, enabling crossplay itself only takes a few clicks, most of which is spent waiting for the game file to install rather than digging through menus. The sections below cover creating the server first, then turning crossplay on.
 

Creating the Valheim Server

If Valheim isn’t already your server’s active game file, follow the steps below to get one running. If you already have a Valheim server set up, skip ahead to Enabling Crossplay. Anyone wanting to customize the world further before inviting friends should look at our other Valheim guides for that instead.

1. Head towards your Apex server panel, then locate the “Game File” section down below.
2. Click on the currently selected option, revealing its dropdown menu.

1. Proceed to enter “Valheim Standard” in the text box, then press it once found.
2. Continue to click Change Version, Create New World, and Restart Now.
3. Wait for everything to load, then remain on the main panel for later configuration.

 
Valheim Plus servers cannot support crossplay. Enabling crossplay switches your server to PlayFab networking, which stops BepInEx, the mod loader Valheim Plus depends on, from loading at all, so console players can never install or interact with Valheim Plus mods no matter what your mod list looks like. If you want crossplay, run Valheim Standard instead.
 

Enabling Crossplay

With your Valheim server active, turning on crossplay is one checkbox away. If you’d rather bring over a world you’ve already been playing solo instead of starting fresh, you can upload your existing world before continuing. Otherwise, follow the steps below to open the server to console and PC players alike.

1. While on the panel, click Customizations on the left-hand side of your screen.
2. Once there, locate the “Crossplay” option under the Server Settings category.
3. Upon finding it, click on the checkbox to enable this functionality.

4. Afterward, return to the main panel and “Restart” the server to apply the changes.

5. When everything is finished, join your new crossplay world to enjoy Valheim.

Common Issues

Unable to Join the Server

Valheim’s dedicated server documentation lists three ways into a crossplay world: by IP address and port, by join code, or by browsing the in-game server list, and none of them need port forwarding once crossplay is on. The IP address and port sit near the top of your Apex server’s main panel; copy that pair and send it to everyone joining, then have each player enter it through Valheim’s in-game join screen. Players who prefer the join code or server list can use either instead, since the crossplay backend accepts all three without any extra panel configuration. If only your console players cannot connect while everyone on PC joins fine, this could mean the server wasn’t properly configured for crossplay, so double-check that Crossplay is actually toggled on under Server Settings.
 

Crossplay Isn’t Activated

If nobody can join across platforms, return to Customizations and confirm the Crossplay checkbox under Server Settings is actually checked, then restart the server from the main panel to apply the change. Once the server finishes loading, console players should connect without further trouble. When the problem persists after confirming the setting and restarting, the cause is often related to the affected player’s own connection, whether that’s their router or settings on their console rather than the server itself. In that case, reach out to our 24/7 Support Team so they can help track down what’s blocking the connection.