MINECRAFT HOSTING
GAME SERVERS
Game Panel
by A Valheim server needs 4 GB of RAM and a fast CPU core, and that is true whether two people play or ten. Vanilla Valheim is hard-capped at 10 players, so there is no tier above that to size for. What actually decides whether your server feels good is single-core clock speed, because Valheim generates terrain as people explore, and that work happens on one thread.
How much RAM a Valheim server actually needs
| Setup | RAM | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Official minimum | 2 GB | Runs, but leaves nothing for the world to grow into |
| Vanilla, up to 10 players | 4 GB | Comfortable for the full player cap |
| Modded (BepInEx, overhauls) | 8 GB | Mods load at startup whether anyone is online or not |
The player cap is the part most guides get wrong. Vanilla Valheim allows 10 players per server and this cannot be raised without mods: it is a limit in the game's networking, not a setting in a config file. Any guide offering hardware advice for 20 or 30 players is describing a server that does not exist unless everyone installs a mod first.
Our Valheim plan is 4 GB with the full 10 slots, which is the shape the game actually takes. The same single-thread logic decides sizing in Terraria and Minecraft: clock speed sets the ceiling, memory only stops you hitting it.
CPU matters more than RAM here
Valheim's world simulation runs on a single thread. That means:
- Clock speed beats core count. A fast four-core chip outperforms a slow sixteen-core one for this workload.
- Exploration is the expensive part, not idle time. Terrain generates as players sail into unseen map, which is why a server feels fine at base and stutters during a voyage.
- More RAM does not fix a CPU-bound stutter. If the world is generating faster than one core can keep up, memory is not the constraint.
Mods: BepInEx, and what it means for everyone joining you
Almost every Valheim mod runs on BepInEx, and this is where groups come unstuck: installing a mod on the server is only half of it. For most mods, every player needs the same mods at the same versions on their own machine.
Valheim does not sync mods to clients. There is no download-on-join. If one person is a version behind, they are usually the only one who cannot connect, and the error rarely explains why.
Two causes account for most "cannot connect to modded server" reports:
- A version mismatch between server and client for the same mod.
- A missing dependency the player did not realise was separate.
The practical fix is to stop managing it by hand. Most groups use a mod manager such as r2modman to keep one shared profile, so everyone installs the same list in one click. Agree the mod list before you start the world, not after twenty hours of play. Factorio enforces the same match at join, which is why its modpack size matters so much.
What to do before you buy
- Distance is the one thing you cannot tune away. We run in Frankfurt today. Valheim tolerates moderate latency, but building and combat both degrade with distance.
- Decide the mod list first. Adding an overhaul to a 100-hour world is where saves get damaged.
- Back up before any mod change. Ours run automatically and restore from the panel.
- A dedicated server is not the same as hosting from your game. It stays up when you log off, which is the whole point: the world keeps its state and your friends can play without you.
If you want the server without the setup, our Valheim server hosting runs the 4 GB tier with the full 10 slots, and BepInEx goes on over SFTP with the same file access you get on every plan.
What we would tell you not to buy
If four of you play twice a week and never leave the meadows, you do not need a dedicated server at all. One person hosting from the game client is enough, and it is free. A dedicated server earns its cost when people want to play at different times, or when the world is large enough that losing it would hurt.
