Want to manage multiple worlds on the same server, for example a main world and a separate test world? In this article, we explain how this works.

How does this work?

Valheim stores each world under its own name (the world file). Which world your server loads is determined by the configured world name in the server settings.

Switching worlds

1. Log in to the Game Panel and select your server.
2. First make a backup of your current world via Backups → Create Backup.
3. Go to Startup.
4. Change the value of the world name setting to the name of the world you want to load. If this world does not exist yet, the server will automatically create a new world with that name on startup.
5. Restart the server.

Note: Make sure to use the exact, existing world name if you want to go back to an earlier world. A different name (even a small typo) will cause a new, empty world to be created.

Finding old world files

1. Go to Files in the Game Panel.
2. Open the .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local folder (the default save location).
3. Here you will find all world files, including the ones that are not currently loaded.

Troubleshooting

• Server loads a new, empty world instead of my existing world: check whether the world name matches exactly (including capitalization) with the name of the existing world file.
• Old world seems to have disappeared: the world has not been deleted, it is simply not currently loaded. Set the world name back to the original name.

Still stuck? Feel free to reach out via Discord or create a support ticket.