Valheim – Migrating Existing saved world to G Portal Dedicated Server Guide

Step by Step Guide

I just spent way too long piecing together other people’s guides on how to do this so I figured I would compile everything I found here for other people and maybe save them some time.

Step 1 – Set up your G Portal account, set up your basic server info (name, password, but don’t worry about the start the SavegameName field yet, we will fix that). Start the Valheim server so you can see that it is running. Copy the IP address of your new dedicated server

Step 2 – Add your new dedicated server to your Steam Favorites list (look under Steam Favorites here:

Valheim – How to join your Server

Basically in Steam go to View -> Servers then click Favorites tab, Add Server button, then paste your server IP followed but :2456. So basically “0000.0000.0000.0000.2456”. Click add to favorites.

Step 3 – Join your new server using the new favorite you just made (easier than trying to use server browser, this is how you will start the game every time from now on). Click the favorite and do connect (will ask for password). The game should start and bring you right to the character selection screen. Select whatever character and do Play (will ask password again). You should load in to a brand new world. Quit out of the game.

Step 4 – Turn off the server in G-Portal (need to do this to be able to switch the save file!! Took me forever to realize this)

Step 5 – Navigate to your Valheim save folder (C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim) and copy the “worlds” folder somewhere just to be safe (may want to even back up a copy in case you screw up uploading it somehow).

Step 6 – Install FileZilla https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?show_all=1

Step 7 – Connect to your dedicated server through FileZilla using the access data that is given to you on the main status page in G Portal under the usage data (host, username, password, port, all go in the fields at the top of the window). Click quickconnect. It will say that it doesn’t support TLS, just click OK.

Step 8 – You’ll now see all the files stored on the server on the right pane and all your local files on the left pane. On the left pane navigate to the copy of your worlds folder so you see your saved world .db and .fwl files. On the right pane navigate to .config -> unity3d->IronGate->Valheim->worlds. You should see the save file for the blank world that was made when you loaded in before. You can leave those files there if you want or delete them to ensure the server doesn’t try to use the old world (highlight, right click, delete).

Step 9 – Go back to the left pane and shift+click your saved world .db, .fwl, and unityplayer.so files (not positive you need the last one but doesn’t hurt) and right click them and choose upload from the dropdown list. It will take a minute to upload the files but once they are done click refresh in the top toolbar and you should see the new savefiles on the server now.

Step 10 – Repeat Step 8 and 9 but for the right pane navigate to Save->Worlds instead. (I’m not positive this is necessary of if the server just has two paths to get to the same place. If you see your copied savefile here already then you probably can skip reuploading it). Close FileZilla.

Step 11 – Back in G Portal (server should still be off!!) go to basic settings. Change the SavegameName field to match the name of the save game you just transferred over (no file extension, just the name). Click save. Turn the server back on and let it boot back up.

Step 12 – Back to the Steam favorite servers list, pick your character, and you should load into your old save now running on your dedicated server! Rejoice!

Step 13 – If everything worked correctly you probably want to create a backup of your server in G Portal just to avoid having to set it up again if something gets borked. Just click backup under administration and click make new backup.

Step 14 – To have friends join just have them add the server to their Steam favorites the same way you did and they should be able to drop right in.

Part of what I found tricky about this whole process was the fact that the server doesn’t actually make the worlds folder until someone has loaded in for the first time (which is why you did that). Once the worlds folder is made, you then need to turn the server off to properly upload the existing save file to replace the ones it just made when you loaded in. And the other challenge is actually getting into the dedicated server once it is running, which the server favorites fix works beautifully for.

I hope you enjoy the Guide we share about Valheim – Migrating Existing saved world to G Portal Dedicated Server Guide; if you think we forget to add or we should add more information, please let us know via commenting below! See you soon!