Valheim Game Pass world files: find them and upload to a server

The Game Pass and Microsoft Store versions of Valheim on PC keep worlds in Xbox cloud storage by default, tied to the Microsoft account, inside a container you cannot usefully copy files out of. To get one onto a dedicated server, open the game, go to Manage Saves, select the world and use Move to Local. That writes it as ordinary files into the same worlds_local folder the Steam version uses, under %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\, and from there it uploads like any other world. A world started on an Xbox console reaches a server the same way: sign in to the Game Pass version on a PC with the same Microsoft account, and the console's cloud world appears there to be moved local. What you should not do is try to dig the files out of the Xbox app's save container by hand.

The upload itself is the same as for a Steam world, covered in how to upload a Valheim save to a dedicated server. This post is about the part that is different for Microsoft's versions: where the world is, how to get it out, and what changes once Game Pass players are joining a dedicated server.

Which version you have, and why it matters#

Valheim is sold through several storefronts and they keep saves differently.

The Microsoft Store purchase and the PC Game Pass subscription install the same build through the Xbox app, so for this post they are the same thing. If you are not sure which you have, the launcher tells you: the Steam version starts from Steam, the Microsoft version from the Xbox app or the Start menu entry it creates.

The difference matters because the Microsoft version uses the platform's own cloud save system. Games that do this keep their saves in a per-app container under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\, with file names that are identifiers rather than world names. The files there are not a .db and .fwl pair you can rename and upload, and editing them by hand risks the cloud sync overwriting your world or the game rejecting the container. Valheim's own Manage Saves screen is the supported way out, and it produces normal files.

Getting a Game Pass world onto your PC as files#

1. Start Valheim from the Xbox app, signed in to the account that owns the world.
2. From the main menu, choose Manage Saves.
3. Find the world. Cloud worlds and local worlds are marked differently in the list.
4. Select it and choose Move to Local. Wait for it to finish before quitting.
5. Quit the game completely.
6. Open %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local\ in File Explorer. Paste the path into the address bar - AppData is hidden by default.

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local\

What you find there depends on the game version. On builds before Valheim 1.0, a world is two files with the same name: Name.fwl (a few hundred bytes - name, seed and keys) and Name.db (everything else). Since 1.0, released in September 2026, a world is a folder named after it, holding several files. Either way the rule is the same: upload all of it. Half a pair, or a few files out of the folder, does not load, and the server quietly creates a fresh world under the same name instead.

Moving to local means the world stops syncing to the cloud. That is the right state for a world that is about to live on a server: from now on the server's copy is the real one, and a cloud copy on your account would just drift out of date. If you want to keep a copy on your PC as an archive, keep it in a folder outside worlds_local so you do not open it by accident and confuse the two.

Worlds from an Xbox console#

There is no way to copy files off an Xbox to a server directly. The console keeps worlds in the same Microsoft cloud storage the PC version uses, so the route is through a PC:

1. On the Xbox, play the world once and quit normally so the cloud copy is current.
2. On a Windows PC, install Valheim through the Xbox app or PC Game Pass, signed in to the same Microsoft account.
3. Start the game. The console's cloud worlds should appear in Manage Saves.
4. Move the world to local and upload it as above.

This depends on the platform syncing saves between console and PC for the same account, which is how Valheim's Microsoft versions are set up, but it is outside the game's own control. If the world does not show up on the PC, give the sync time and check the Xbox app is not reporting a sync problem before you assume the world is lost. Hosting providers report the same route; none of them can do it for you, because the save lives in your Microsoft account rather than on any machine they can reach.

Once the world is on the server, the Xbox player keeps playing it by joining the server - the console never needs the file back.

Uploading the world to a dedicated server#

From here the process is the same as for any Valheim world.

1. Stop the server. Never upload over a running world; its next save overwrites what you put there.
2. Back up what is on the server already, even if it is an empty test world.
3. Upload the world - the .db and .fwl pair, or the whole world folder on 1.0 - into the server's worlds_local. Over SFTP or a panel file manager this is drag and drop; SFTP and the file manager has the connection details.
4. Set the world name on the start line or the Startup tab to the world's name exactly, capitals included, without any extension.
5. Start the server and watch the log for the world loading by name. If it says it is generating a new world, the name did not match.

Where worlds_local is on the server depends on how it was started. On Linux the default is ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local/; with -savedir, it is worlds_local inside that path. Hosted servers usually set -savedir so the world sits inside the server's own folder. Savedir and file locations covers both.

A large world folder uploads more reliably as one archive. Zip it on your PC, upload the zip, and unpack it in place - many panel file managers, RE:NODE's included, unpack archives where they are. Check that unpacking gives you worlds_local/Name/... or worlds_local/Name.db, not an extra folder level in between.

The dedicated server does not care which version made the world#

There is one Valheim dedicated server. It is a free Steam tool, app id 896660, downloaded with SteamCMD using an anonymous login, so you do not need to own the Steam version of the game to run it. It loads worlds made by any PC version once they are plain files, because the world format is the same across storefronts.

$ steamcmd +force_install_dir /home/valheim/server +login anonymous \    +app_update 896660 validate +quit

The server and every client have to run exactly the same game version. The Microsoft Store and Xbox builds have, at times, arrived after the Steam build on patch days, because console certification can take longer. In that gap, either the Steam players or the Game Pass players cannot connect, depending on which version the server runs. On patch day, check every platform in your group has the update before you update the server. Updating the server and version mismatch covers the timing.

Joining a dedicated server from Game Pass or Xbox#

For Game Pass and Xbox players to join a dedicated server, it has to be started with -crossplay. Without it, the server only accepts Steam clients, and the Microsoft version will not see it.

With crossplay on:

• The join code. The server prints a six-digit code in its log on startup. Game Pass and Xbox players enter it under Join Game. The code changes on every restart.
• The community list. A public crossplay server also appears in the in-game list for the Microsoft versions.
• Steam players can still join by IP and port, or the code.

Session "Longship Crew" with join code 483920 and IP 203.0.113.10:2456 is active with 0 player(s)

Crossplay traffic goes through Microsoft's PlayFab relay rather than straight to the server's port, which adds a hop but means Game Pass players do not need anything forwarded on their side. Player IDs change too: on a crossplay server the list files use platform-prefixed IDs, such as Xbox_ for Game Pass and Xbox players and Steam_ for Steam players. The most reliable way to get a Game Pass player's exact ID for adminlist.txt or permittedlist.txt is to let them join once and copy the ID from the server log. Crossplay and Xbox players goes into the relay and the ID formats; the list files guide covers the files.

Characters, mods and what does not come with the world#

Characters are separate. A world upload moves the world, not the characters in it. Each player's character stays on their own machine and comes with them to any server. On the Microsoft version, characters use the same cloud storage as worlds; they do not need to be moved to local to play on a server, because the client loads them and the server never sees the file. Moving a character between the Steam and Microsoft versions is a different job, and not one the server can help with.

Mods. Valheim's mods run on BepInEx, and the Microsoft Store and Game Pass PC builds are awkward to mod at best; Xbox consoles cannot run mods at all. A server with mods that must be installed on clients is effectively a Steam-only server, whatever the crossplay flag says. If your group mixes Game Pass and Steam, keep the server vanilla, or use only server-side mods that clients do not need. Valheim mods with BepInEx on a server explains which mods are which.

In-game hosted worlds. A world the group played through the game's own Start server option lives on the host's machine like any other world. If the host was on Game Pass, it is in their Xbox cloud storage or worlds_local, and moves to a dedicated server with the same Move to Local step.

Moving a world back the other way#

Sometimes the server shuts down, or someone wants to keep playing a world alone. Taking a world off a dedicated server and into the Game Pass version is the reverse:

1. Stop the server so the world saves, and download the world - the pair or the folder.
2. With Valheim closed on the PC, copy it into %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local\.
3. Start the game; the world appears in the list as a local world.
4. If you want it in the cloud for an Xbox console, use Manage Saves to move it to the cloud from there.

The version rule applies here too: a world saved by a newer server build may not load in an older client, and a 1.0 world is not readable by pre-1.0 builds. Update the game before you open the world.

Troubleshooting#

`worlds_local` is empty after Move to Local. Check you are looking under LocalLow, not Local or Roaming, and under the right Windows user. Then re-open Manage Saves and check the world shows as local.

The world does not appear in Manage Saves on the PC. Wrong Microsoft account in the Xbox app, or the console's cloud copy has not synced yet. Sign in correctly and give it time.

The server generated a new world after the upload. The world name on the start line does not match the uploaded name, or only part of the world was uploaded. Fix it, delete the accidental new world, restart.

Game Pass players cannot find the server. The server is not running -crossplay, or they are using a join code from before the last restart. Read the current code from the log.

"Incompatible version" for only some players. The Microsoft build and the Steam build are on different versions. Wait for both to match before updating the server.

FAQ#

Do I need the Steam version to run a dedicated server for a Game Pass group?

No. The dedicated server is a free download through SteamCMD with an anonymous login, and it hosts Game Pass, Microsoft Store, Xbox and Steam players together with crossplay on.

Can I copy the files out of the Xbox app's save folder directly?

Not usefully. The container uses identifier names and is managed by the cloud sync. Use Manage Saves and Move to Local inside the game, which writes plain world files to worlds_local.

Will moving a world to local delete it from my Xbox?

It stops syncing that world to the cloud, so the console will no longer see it there. That is fine if the world is going to a server - the console then plays it by joining the server. Keep a copy on your PC if you want an archive.

Can a Steam player and a Game Pass player share one world without a server?

Yes, if the host starts the game's own server with crossplay enabled, but the world then exists only while the host is playing. A dedicated server keeps it available to everyone at any time.

Are Game Pass worlds different from Steam worlds once they are files?

No. Once moved to local they are the same format and load on any PC version and on the dedicated server, provided the game versions match.