Cross-Play

0:03 Cross-play lets players on different platforms share one world of Valheim. Since the Valheim 1.0 Release on Sep 9, 2026 it has covered every version of the game: Windows, Linux and macOS through Steam, Windows through the Microsoft Store, macOS through the Mac App Store, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2. Iron Gate's 1.0 FAQ put it in one line: "Valheim will support crossplay between all platforms" (Iron Gate 1.0 FAQ). Playing together is a different thing from carrying progress across systems. With one exception, a character and its worlds stay on the platform where they were made.

Quick facts

How a mixed group plays

3:58 Iron Gate runs no official servers. A world is either hosted from inside the game by one player, as a peer-to-peer session that exists only while that player is online, or run on a dedicated server that stays up around the clock (Iron Gate FAQ). Up to ten players can be in a world at once, whatever mix of platforms they come from (allthings.how). The character lives on each player's own machine and the world lives with the host. A player who joins from another platform therefore brings their own Viking, with its gear and skills, and takes it home afterwards.

6:37 When everyone is on Steam, joining works through Steam as it always has. When anyone is on another platform, the session uses a join code instead (Iron Gate, patch 0.211.7). The host starts the world with the server option ticked and a password set, opens the pause menu, and clicks the code at the top of the screen to copy it. The friend then goes to Join Game, chooses Add server, pastes the code and enters the password (Iron Gate, Crossplay FAQ).

12:34 Consoles host the same way. In an interview published on the Xbox launch day in 2023, Iron Gate's Jonathan Smårs explained that a world hosted on an Xbox disappears for everyone when that console is switched off. Groups who want a persistent world rent or run a dedicated server instead.

Dedicated servers and PlayFab

1:13 A dedicated server uses the Steam backend by default, and on that backend only Steam users can see and join it. Launching it with the -crossplay argument moves it to the crossplay backend, Microsoft's PlayFab, "which lets users from any platform join" (Iron Gate, dedicated server guide). A crossplay server sends its traffic through a relay, so it needs no port forwarding. Players can reach it by public address and port, by join code or through the server list, but not by a local network address. Hosts running several servers on one port from the same machine give each a unique -instanceid so that each gets its own PlayFab identity. In the server browser, a "shuffle" icon beside a server's status marks one that supports crossplay.

10:12 The server prints a six-digit join code, which players enter under Join Game and Add server, and the code changes every time the server restarts (Iron Gate, patch 0.211.7; berrybyte). Only PCs can run one. Steam offers the Valheim Dedicated Server tool for Windows and Linux, and the Microsoft Store edition ships a StartHeadlessServer.bat in its Server folder. "You can't set up a dedicated server on an Xbox," Iron Gate says, though an Xbox can join one as long as both it and the server have crossplay enabled. Hosting guides say the same of the PS5 and Switch 2.

Platforms

Sources: NME; Iron Gate, Mac release; Iron Gate 1.0 FAQ. The game is also sold through Humble. Platform details are on Platforms and System Requirements.

Cross-progression

2:40 Crossplay means two players on different platforms in the same world at the same time. Cross-progression would mean one character moving between platforms, and Valheim offers that in only one case. The 1.0 FAQ says an Xbox player can reach their saves from a PC "provided that you launch the game from the Microsoft store. Beyond this, there will be no cross platform sync for your save files" (Iron Gate 1.0 FAQ). A Microsoft Store purchase also plays on Xbox and the other way round, but a Steam copy cannot be launched through the Microsoft Store (Iron Gate, Crossplay FAQ). A player who owns the game on Steam and on a PS5 therefore has two separate Vikings.

13:38 The same holds for worlds, which belong to whoever hosts them. Smårs described passing a world file from an Xbox to a friend as "a little bit complicated", but possible through the Xbox app on a PC, where the saves can be reached (XEP interview). On PC, world and character files can simply be copied by hand.

Mods, versions and player IDs

2:25 The console versions cannot load mods. Iron Gate's FAQ says "there will be no mod support for consoles for 1.0", so a server that requires mods shuts console players out, and hosts who want mods usually leave crossplay off (Console Commands, Cheats and Mods). Every player must also run the same version of the game (Iron Gate, patch 0.211.7).

The first 1.0 hotfixes, on Sep 11, 2026, show how Iron Gate handles uneven releases. Patch 1.0.10 went to all platforms, where Xbox lists it as 1.0.11. Patch 1.0.12 reached Steam first, and Iron Gate called its fixes "fully crossplay compatible". It also repaired server ban and permitted lists, which had accepted only the new style of player ID (such as V_123456789) and not the older platform-prefixed ones (such as Steam_123456789) (Iron Gate, Hotfix 1.0.10 & 1.0.12). Server admins identify players in those files by this "[Platform]_[User ID]" form, which appears in the server log or the in-game F2 panel (Iron Gate, dedicated server guide).

The same post apologized "for the delay with the patch for Switch 2", after which all platforms could play together again. Since then every patch, from 1.0.14 on Sep 17 to 1.0.17 on Oct 6, 2026, has reached Steam first and the other platforms a few days later because of what Iron Gate calls "internal restrictions", each time with the assurance that cross-play keeps working in between. Fixes that would break that, such as one for items wrongly marked as cheated, are held back until they can ship on every platform at once (Iron Gate, Patch 1.0.14; Iron Gate, Patch 1.0.15; Patches Since 1.0). Players still reported trouble: Nintendo Life found cross-play uneven on Switch 2, and Siliconera's Switch 2 copy, on version 1.0.10, kept disconnecting when joining other players' servers (Nintendo Life; Siliconera).

Parental controls and accounts

Console account settings can block crossplay before the game is involved. Iron Gate's advice is that "if you can't find the option to enable crossplay, you might need to adjust your parental control settings" (Iron Gate, Crossplay FAQ). On Xbox, the account must be allowed to play with people outside Xbox. On PlayStation 5, communication with other players and user-generated content must be allowed. On Switch 2, Parental Controls must permit online communication with other players (berrybyte). Console players also need their platform's online subscription to play with others, though single-player works offline. On the Mac App Store version, online play requires being signed in to Game Center (Iron Gate, patch 0.221.10). Since 1.0, playing online also means accepting an end-user license agreement (Iron Gate).

History

0:44 Valheim launched in early access on Feb 2, 2021 on Steam alone. The crossplay code reached the public test branch as patch 0.211.4 on Sep 14, 2022 and went live as 0.211.7 on Sep 27. The port studio Piktiv made sure the game "looks and feels the same regardless of what platform you're using". A "default_old" branch kept the previous Steam build playable for servers that had not yet updated (Iron Gate, patch 0.211.7). Two days later the game arrived on PC Game Pass and the Microsoft Store (NME), followed by the Xbox consoles on Mar 14, 2023. Iron Gate explained that the Microsoft and Xbox ports came from two outside companies, Piktiv and Fishlabs, while its own staff kept making new content (Iron Gate, Crossplay FAQ).

Later patches filled gaps. Xbox gained keyboard and mouse support in patch 0.217.38 in December 2023, and patch 0.217.46 in April 2024 let players find Xbox and Microsoft Store friends from the server browser. The Mac version, on Steam and the Mac App Store, launched on Jun 10, 2024 with "full crossplay with other platforms". The Switch 2 release was announced in February 2026 with the promise that it "will of course support crossplay with all other platforms", and the game does not run on the original Switch (Iron Gate; Iron Gate). PlayStation 5 was announced in September 2025 (Iron Gate), and both consoles launched with 1.0, completing the set (Development History).

Frequently asked questions

Does Valheim have cross-play? Yes, between every version of the game since the Valheim 1.0 Release. Iron Gate's 1.0 FAQ puts it in one line: "Valheim will support crossplay between all platforms."

How do you join a Valheim crossplay server? With a join code. The host ticks the server option, sets a password, opens the pause menu and copies the code at the top of the screen; the friend chooses Join Game, then Add server, pastes the code and enters the password. A dedicated server prints a six-digit code that changes at every restart.

Can you move a Valheim character between platforms? Only between Xbox and the Microsoft Store version on PC. Beyond that there is no save sync, so a player who owns the game on Steam and on a PS5 has two separate Vikings.

Can a console host a Valheim dedicated server? No. Only PCs can run one, though an Xbox, PS5 or Switch 2 can join one as long as both it and the server have crossplay enabled. A world hosted from an Xbox disappears for everyone when the console is switched off.

Why can I not find the crossplay option? Usually console account settings. Iron Gate's advice is to check parental controls: Xbox must allow play with people outside Xbox, the PS5 must allow communication and user-generated content, and Switch 2 must permit online communication with other players.

Sources

• Crossplay FAQ, Iron Gate Studio (first published September 2022)
• A Guide to Dedicated Servers, Iron Gate Studio
• Valheim 1.0 FAQ, Iron Gate Studio, 2026
• Frequently Asked Questions, Iron Gate Studio
• Patch 0.211.7 – Crossplay!, Iron Gate Studio, Sep 27, 2022
• Valheim is now on Mac!, Iron Gate Studio, Jun 10, 2024
• Word From the Devs: We Fight On!, Iron Gate Studio, Sep 18, 2025
• Valheim Is Coming to Switch 2!, Iron Gate Studio, February 2026
• Word From the Devs: Looking to the Future, Iron Gate Studio, Feb 25, 2026
• Five Years of Valheim (patch 0.221.10), Iron Gate Studio, Feb 2, 2026
• Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate Studio, Sep 9, 2026
• Hotfix 1.0.10 & 1.0.12, Iron Gate Studio, Sep 11, 2026
• Patch 1.0.14 and Patch 1.0.15, Iron Gate Studio, Sep 17 and 18, 2026
• Valheim review (Switch 2), Nintendo Life, Sep 18, 2026
• Valheim Doesn't Feel Ideal Just Yet on Switch 2, Siliconera, Oct 3, 2026
• 'Valheim' patch adds 'full cross-play support' ahead of Game Pass debut, NME, Sep 28, 2022
• Valheim 1.0 Is Here: What the Deep North Update Adds, allthings.how, Sep 9, 2026
• How to join a Valheim server on PS5, Switch 2, Xbox and PC, berrybyte Wiki
• Valheim on Xbox: Iron Gate's Jonathan Smårs on Survival, Biomes & Crossplay, The Expansion Pass, YouTube, Mar 14, 2023