docker-valheim-server

Dedicated server for Valheim.

Docker image available at https://hub.docker.com/r/noblekangaroo/valheim-server

About

A simple dedicated server Docker image for Valheim without any unnecessary dependencies (Rust, Odin, etc). This image contains everything you need to run a Valheim dedicated server, either as a standalone Docker container or using docker-compose. The image will install and use steamcmd to download the dedicated server and keep it up to date.

Environment variables

There are four environment variables you can configure:

Variable	Default	Description
SERVER_NAME	Valheim Server	The name displayed in the server list
SERVER_PASSWORD	secret	The password required to join the server. Cannot be blank!
SERVER_PORT	2456	The first of the three sequential ports the server will use
SERVER_WORLD	Valheim	The name of the world file (e.g. Valheim.fwl and Valheim.db)

Network

Many of the Valheim dedicated server Docker images have SERVER_PORT as an argument, however they don't handle it correctly so the port doesn't actually get exposed. A result of this is that all of the Docker images I've found cannot be modified to run on alternate ports. I'm unaware of a way to do something like:

EXPOSE ${SERVER_PORT}/udp
EXPOSE $((${SERVER_PORT} + 1))/udp
EXPOSE $((${SERVER_PORT} + 2))/udp

Therefore in this Docker image, I have removed all EXPOSE declarations and instead require you to specify the ports as a publish - either with Docker CLI (with -p) or in docker-compose.yaml (with the ports: section) - which will result in Docker doing an implicit EXPOSE for those ports. You MUST publish the ports, or they will not be accessible from your host. See the usages below for an example of how to change the ports.

Volumes

There are three volumes which are mounted:

• /opt/steamcmd - The steamcmd installation. If not mounted, steamcmd will be fully reinstalled every container restart.
• /opt/valheim/server - Valheim dedicated server files. If not mounted, the Valheim dedicated server will be fully reinstalled every container restart.
• /opt/valheim/data - Your worlds directory and admin/ban/permit lists. If not mounted, the data for your worlds will not persist between container restarts.

Usage

Using this Docker image is easy. Follow one of the examples below to get started.

Docker Compose (recommended)

---
version: 3.0
services:
  valheim-server:
    container_name: valheim-server
    image: noblekangaroo/valheim-server
    environment:
      - SERVER_NAME=My Super Cool Server
      - SERVER_PASSWORD=somethingrandom
      - SERVER_PORT=2456
      - SERVER_WORLD=Qk4hdQK3Yj
    volumes:
      - /path/to/steamcmd:/opt/steamcmd
      - /path/to/server:/opt/valheim/server
      - /path/to/data:/opt/valheim/data
    ports:
      - 2456-2458:2456-2458/udp
    restart: unless-stopped

Docker Compose with different ports

---
version: 3.0
services:
  valheim-server:
    container_name: valheim-server
    image: noblekangaroo/valheim-server
    environment:
      - SERVER_NAME=My Super Cool Server
      - SERVER_PASSWORD=somethingrandom
      - SERVER_PORT=2466
      - SERVER_WORLD=Qk4hdQK3Yj
    volumes:
      - /path/to/steamcmd:/opt/steamcmd
      - /path/to/server:/opt/valheim/server
      - /path/to/data:/opt/valheim/data
    ports:
      - 2466-2468:2466-2468/udp
    restart: unless-stopped

Docker CLI

docker run -it --rm \
    --name valheim-server \
    --env SERVER_NAME="My Super Cool Server" \
    --env SERVER_PASSWORD="somethingrandom" \
    --env SERVER_PORT=2456 \
    --env SERVER_WORLD=Qk4hdQK3Yj \
    -p 2456-2458:2456-2458/udp \
    --volume=valheim_steamcmd:/opt/steamcmd \
    --volume=valheim_server:/opt/valheim/server \
    --volume=valheim_data:/opt/valheim/data \
    noblekangaroo/valheim-server

While running Docker Compose or Docker CLI interactively (not -d mode), you can simply press CTRL+C once to gracefully stop the server.

Issues

If you encounter any issues, feel free to open a Github issue. As I do this on my free time, please bear with me while I work through the issue.

Shoutouts

I'd like to take a moment to thank the owners of the following images I looked to for inspiration:

• Respawner: https://github.com/respawner/docker-steamcmd
• CanadaBry: https://github.com/CanadaBry/ValheimDocker
• Nopor: https://github.com/nopor/docker-valheim