How to Play Valheim: Solo and With Friends

Valheim can be a quiet solo survival run or a chaotic ten-player Viking party, and you decide every time you load in. Here is how to create your character and world, start playing solo, and pull your friends into the same world across PC and Xbox.

Create Your Character and World

Everything starts with two things: a character and a world. They are saved separately, so the same Viking can travel between different worlds.

1. From the main menu pick Start Game, then New to create a character. Name them and confirm.
2. Choose Select World, then New to roll a world. Give it a name and a seed (leave the seed blank for a random map).
3. Hit Start and you spawn at the Sacrificial Stones in the Meadows.

Playing Solo

Solo is the simplest way in. Create a world, leave it set to private, and play. Nothing else is required, and you can invite people later by switching the same world to a co-op session whenever you want.

New to the game? Head straight for the first boss once you have a bow and some armor. Our progression guide lays out the whole run, and the Eikthyr page covers that first fight.

Playing With Friends (Steam Co-op)

The quickest way to play together is to host the session yourself while you play. Up to 10 players can share a world.

1. When you start your world, set it to be joinable (Friends or Community visibility).
2. Your friends open Valheim, go to Select World, and choose the Join tab.
3. They can find your game through their Steam friends list (right-click your name, Join Game) or by browsing the community list.

Crossplay: Play Across PC and Xbox

Valheim supports crossplay, so PC and Xbox players can share a world using a join code.

1. Turn on Crossplay for your world when you start it.
2. The game shows a Join Code. Share it with your friends.
3. They pick Join then Join by Code, type the code, and drop into your world.

See the crossplay guide for the full breakdown and troubleshooting.

Want to Add Mods?

Once you and your friends are comfortable with the base game, mods can change everything from inventory size to whole new biomes. Every connected player needs the same mods installed. Start with our Valheim mods guide.