Valheim is a Viking survival game developed by Iron Gate Studio and published by Coffee Stain Publishing. It launched into Early Access in February 2021 and became one of the fastest-selling survival games on Steam, with millions of copies sold in its first months.
The game drops you into the tenth Norse world as a fallen warrior tasked with hunting the Forsaken, a set of bosses scattered across distinct biomes. The loop runs from chopping wood and forging gear to sailing the open seas, raising a longhouse, and gearing up for the next boss. Each biome ups the difficulty, so progression always feels earned.
Most players run Valheim co-op with a small crew, building a shared base and tackling the Forsaken together. Sessions tend to stretch long, with sailing expeditions and base projects shaping the pace. On a private dedicated server, your world stays live around the clock so any crew member can log in and keep building without waiting for a host.
Valheim has a deep modding scene built on the BepInEx framework. Popular mods like Valheim Plus, Epic Loot, and Better Archery change everything from build limits to combat and loot tables, and most run server-side so the whole crew gets the same experience.
On the hardware side, Valheim uses CPU for terrain physics and biome simulation, while large bases and active player count drive RAM use. NVMe storage keeps world saves and biome loading fast. A 4 GB plan handles small crews of two to four players; large co-op worlds with heavy bases benefit from the 10 GB plan.
| Server type | RAM needed | Players | Recommended plan |
|---|
| Small crew (1-4 players) | 4 GB | Up to 4 | 4 GB plan |
| Standard co-op world (5-8 players) | 7 GB | Up to 8 | 7 GB plan |
| Large modded world (8-10 players) | 10 GB | Up to 10 | 10 GB plan |
Running Valheim on a dedicated server means your world persists between sessions, builds stay intact, and admin tools give you control over difficulty modifiers, world seed, and player slots. No player has a connection advantage because there is no local host holding the session.
PingPlayers pairs dedicated hardware with Ping AI, which handles server setup, mod installs, and troubleshooting so your crew spends time hunting the Forsaken and building longhouses rather than wrestling with server files.
