Port Forwarding for a Valheim Server

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Port Forward Staff
May 25, 2022 (Last Updated: ) | Reading Time: 1 minutes
Valheim game art showing players looking across a valley.
Valheim game art showing players looking across a valley.

You might need to forward some ports in your router when you use Valheim Server. A port forward allows incoming connection requests from the internet to go straight to Valheim Server.

Routers do not generally allow incoming connection requests from the internet. Forwarding ports can work around this limitation.

Before Forwarding a Port Checkoff This To Do List

You need to know the following things before you can forward a port:

Use a VPN Instead

Have you considered using a VPN instead of forwarding a port? For most users, a VPN is a much simpler and more secure choice than forwarding a port.

We use and recommend NordVPN because not only is it the fastest VPN, it includes a new feature called Meshnet that makes forwarding a port no longer necessary for most applications. With NordVPN Meshnet, you can connect to your devices from anywhere in the world, completely secure, over a highly encrypted VPN tunnel.

When shopping for a VPN, make sure that they meet the following criteria:

This is the list of requirements that we used when we were shopping around for a VPN provider. There are lots of free, shady VPN providers out there that we looked at and dismissed.

Based in Panama, using diskless servers, and with over 6,100 servers in 61 countries, we can safely say that NordVPN satisfies all of these requirements.

NordVPN is the fastest VPN!

Once you've set up your NordVPN account on multiple computers and enabled Meshnet, you can seamlessly access all of your devices as if they were on the same network. You don't even have to log in to your router. It's very simple.

Every time you click on one of our affiliate links, such as NordVPN, we get a little kickback for introducing you to the service. Think of us as your VPN wingman.

Find Your Router's IP Address

The easiest way to locate your router's IP address is to run our free Router Detector utility. Our Router Detector tool is free to use and is part of our Network Utilities software.

We have a guide you can follow Find Your Router IP Address if you don't want to run the software.

Setting Up a Port Forward for Valheim Server

You can use our Network Utilities software to automatically forward ports for you. Since Network Utilities allows you to both forward and un-forward ports easily you can keep your network security maximized, and then forward ports only when you need them.

You can also choose to set up port forwards manually. The step-by-step process for forwarding a port is:

Frequently you have to reboot your router for the changes to take effect.

You can choose your router from our list to see exactly how to forward ports for Valheim Server:

List of Routers - Customized for Valheim Server

Set Up a Port Forward for Valheim Server

The incoming ports that need to be forwarded for Valheim Server are:

Valheim Server - PC

  • TCP:
  • UDP: 2456-2457

Those are the steps for forwarding ports in your router for Valheim Server.

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