How to Upload Your Own World to Your Valheim Server (Valheim 1.0)

Since Valheim 1.0, a world is saved as a folder, not just a .db and .fwl file. Most guides online are out of date. You must upload the whole folder, including all the .chunk files. If you upload only some files, the server will create a new world and overwrite yours.

Step 1: Find Your World Folder

Close Valheim, then open this folder on your computer:

• Windows: press Win + R, paste %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local, press Enter
• Linux / Steam Deck: ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local

Open the folder with your world's name, for example Midgard. Inside you should see:

• _main.1.db2 — world data
• _main.1.fwl2 — world info and seed
• _main.1.chunks and _main.1.ok
• Many files ending in .chunk, for example 00_00__0_1.chunk

The number after _main. may be different on your world. That is normal. Skip any folders or files with backup or old in the name.

If you only see Midgard.db and Midgard.fwl and no folder, your world is from before Valheim 1.0. See Old World (Before Valheim 1.0) below.

Step 2: Prepare the Server

1. In the game panel, Stop your server and wait until it is offline.
2. Open the Files tab and go to .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local
3. If a folder with the same name as your world is already there, rename or delete it. Otherwise the server will keep loading that one instead of yours.

Step 3: Upload the World Folder

Upload the whole world folder into worlds_local:

• Small worlds: zip the folder on your computer, upload the .zip in the Files tab, then right-click it and choose Unarchive. Delete the .zip afterward.
• Large worlds (over 100 MB): use SFTP. See How to Upload Files to the Pterodactyl Game Panel.

When done, the files must sit directly inside your world folder, like this:

worlds_local/Midgard/_main.1.db2
worlds_local/Midgard/_main.1.fwl2
worlds_local/Midgard/_main.1.chunks
worlds_local/Midgard/00_00__0_1.chunk
...

Not worlds_local/Midgard/Midgard/.... If unzipping created a double folder, move the inner folder up one level.

Step 4: Set the World Name and Start

1. Open the Startup tab.
2. Set World Name to the exact folder name. It is case-sensitive: Midgard and midgard are different worlds. If it does not match, the server creates a new world under that name.
3. Start the server and join to check your world.

Old World (Before Valheim 1.0)

If your world is still the two files Midgard.db and Midgard.fwl:

1. Follow Step 2 above.
2. Upload both files directly into worlds_local (not inside a folder).
3. Set World Name to Midgard (the file name without the extension).
4. Start the server. It converts the world to the new folder format on first start. Large worlds can take a few minutes.

Troubleshooting: I Got a New, Empty World

• World Name does not match the folder name exactly, including capital letters.
• Files are missing, usually the .chunk files.
• Double folder after unzipping (Midgard/Midgard/).
• An old folder with the same name was still on the server.

Stop the server, fix the issue, and start it again.