If your Valheim server is running but you cannot find it in the server browser, the first setting to check is whether the server is actually public.

Valheim uses the -public startup setting to control whether a dedicated server appears in the browser. Making your Valheim server public is straightforward, but networking, crossplay settings, or an incomplete server startup can also prevent it from appearing.

What Does The Valheim Public Server Setting Do?

Valheim uses two values for its public setting:

-public 1

This makes the server visible in the server browser and is the default setting.

-public 0

This hides the server from the public browser. According to Iron Gate's dedicated server documentation, a hidden server can instead be accessed through the Join IP option.

Making a server public does not remove its password. You can therefore have a server that appears publicly in the browser while still requiring players to enter the correct password before joining.

How To Make A Self-Hosted Valheim Server Public

If you are running a Valheim dedicated server yourself, the public setting is controlled through the startup arguments.

On Windows, find the .bat file you use to launch your server and open it with a text editor. Your startup command may look similar to:

start valheim_server -nographics -batchmode -name "My Valheim Server" -port 2456 -world "MyWorld" -password "MyPassword" -public 1

Make sure the command contains:

-public 1

Save the file and restart your server.

If the startup argument is set to -public 0, the server will remain hidden from the public browser. Iron Gate confirms that 1 makes the server visible while 0 hides it.

If you created a copy of start_headless_server.bat, make sure you are editing the same file you actually use to start the server. Changing a different copy will not affect your active server configuration.

How To Make A Valheim Server Public With Pine Hosting

With Pine Hosting, you do not need to manually edit your startup file or add the -public argument yourself.

Stop your server and open the Startup tab in the game panel. Find the public server option and enable it using the available toggle, then start the server again.

The panel applies the appropriate public setting when the server launches. This also means you can switch between a public and private listing without manually editing startup commands.

Your server name is what players will see when identifying it in the browser, so you can also change your Valheim server name from the Startup tab without changing your existing world. Pine's current server-name setup uses the same Startup area for the public-server toggle.

Why Is My Valheim Server Not Showing Up?

Setting the server to public is only one part of getting it into the server browser. If -public 1 is already enabled and you still cannot find the server, there are several other things to check.

Wait For The Server To Finish Starting

Do not search for the server immediately after launching it.

A dedicated server is ready once its console reports:

Game server connected

Until the startup process has completed, it may not yet be available to players.

The public server browser may also take a short amount of time to refresh after a restart or configuration change.

Check Your Server Name

Make sure you are searching for the name currently configured with the -name startup argument.

If you recently renamed the server, restart it completely so the new startup configuration is loaded. The old name can also remain visible temporarily while server listings refresh.

Check Whether Crossplay Is Enabled

Valheim can use either its Steam backend or the crossplay backend.

Adding:

-crossplay

runs the server using Valheim's crossplay backend. This allows supported players from different platforms to join.

Without -crossplay, the server uses the Steam backend, which means only Steam users can see and join it.

This is important if someone on another platform is searching for a server that was started without crossplay enabled.

Check Your Ports And Firewall

If you are self-hosting without crossplay, network configuration can prevent your server from being accessible even when -public 1 is enabled.

Valheim's Steam backend uses the configured server port and the following port. With the default configuration, these are UDP ports:

2456-2457

These ports need to be accessible through your network, which usually means configuring port forwarding on your router and allowing the Valheim dedicated server through your firewall.

If you use the crossplay backend, Valheim communicates through relay servers instead. Traditional router port forwarding is therefore not required for players outside your local network.

This is one reason crossplay can simplify networking on a self-hosted server.

Can Players Join A Valheim Server That Is Not Public?

Yes. A server does not need to appear in the public browser for players to use it.

Setting:

-public 0

hides the server listing rather than shutting the server down. Iron Gate documents hidden servers as being joinable through the Join IP option.

This can be useful for smaller groups that do not need strangers to discover their server.

If you want even tighter control over access, you can also use Valheim's built-in whitelist alongside your server password.

Public Valheim Server Still Not Appearing?

If your server still does not show up, work through the basic configuration in this order:

  1. Confirm the server is using -public 1.
  2. Restart it after changing the setting.
  3. Wait until you see Game server connected.
  4. Search using the exact server name.
  5. Check whether you need the Steam or crossplay backend.
  6. If using the Steam backend while self-hosting, verify UDP ports 2456-2457 and your firewall settings.
  7. Make sure the dedicated server is fully updated.

If players can connect directly but the server is not appearing in the browser, that also helps narrow the problem down to server visibility or listing rather than the server itself being completely unreachable.

Make Your Valheim Server Public With Pine Hosting

Self-hosting gives you control over Valheim's startup arguments, but it also means managing networking, firewall rules, startup files, and server availability yourself.

With our Valheim hosting, settings such as public server visibility can be managed directly through the game panel. You can enable the public-server toggle from the Startup tab without manually editing -public arguments, while the server stays online for your community without depending on your own PC.

That makes it easier to run either a public Valheim community or a private world and change how your server is listed whenever you need to.