How to Save a World on a Valheim Server

Last modified on Aug 10, 2023 in Valheim

By Dalton Whalen

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Overview

As you explore the beautiful world of your Valheim server, there is plenty to gather and build. While you can team up with other players, you may decide to move your world to your own computer. This can be beneficial to have extra backups or to import the world into your singleplayer game. Regardless of the outcome, moving your world is simple, as there are only a few files for each world. This is made even easier with the Apex Hosting FTP browser, which will allow you to locate and download your world quickly. We have created this tutorial to provide the necessary instructions to begin downloading your Valheim world.

Locating your World

Before you can start downloading your world file, you must first make note of the world’s name so you know which files to locate. Your current world name will be displayed on the panel, making this process very easy.

1. Navigate to the Apex Server Panel and log in.
2. Stop the server, then scroll down to the World section
   
3. Make note of the current world name.
4. In the left-hand menu, log into the FTP File Access.
5. Locate and enter the worlds_local folder.
   

 
Here you will find all of your available world files for your Valheim server.
 

Downloading the World Files

1. Ensure you are within the worlds_local folder from previously.
2. Locate the files that start with your current world name.
   
3. Using the checkbox, select all of the files.
4. Press the Zip button in the top-right.
   
5. In the prompt, choose a file name, then press Submit.
6. Find the newly-created .zip file, then use the Download button.
   
7. Save the file to a safe location on your computer, as it will be needed shortly.

Importing into Singleplayer

1. On your computer, press the Windows Key + R to open the run prompt.
2. Enter the following: %APPDATA%\..\LocalLow
   
3. Press Enter to open a file browser window.
4. Navigate to IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local.
5. Extract the file contents of the .zip into this folder.
   
6. Once you start Valheim, your world should now be available to play.

Conclusion

With that, you now know how to download your Valheim server world and import it into singleplayer. This is great for both a backup or to have the world to yourself. When on your own computer, you can use a large amount of console commands or just to advance the world on your own. Since Valheim allows you to use the same character across multiple save files, it’s extremely easy to continue where you left out without worrying about inventory. With this new knowledge, you are ready to download your server world and jump back into the action of Valheim!
 

Common Issues

I cannot download the world from the panel:
In some cases, the world .zip may be large enough that it cannot be downloaded directly off of the panel. In these cases, you will want to connect to the server using an external FTP program. This will allow you to easily download the entire .zip or even the individual files to your computer with ease. Once this is done, simply proceed with the steps as normal.

The worlds_local folder is not on my own computer:
An update to Valheim changed the default location from worlds to worlds_local on both servers and local games. If you do not have the latter, you can simply create the folder and add the world files as necessary. Otherwise, try creating a new world, which should automatically make the folder within your directory. If you are still encountering issues after this, ensure you are in the correct Valheim directory before searching for the worlds_local folder.
 

Helpful Links

How to Connect with FTP
How to Join a Valheim Server