How to Change Max Players on Your Valheim Server
Set the player limit on your Valheim dedicated server, including how to bypass the vanilla 10-player cap with ValheimPlus.
Vanilla Valheim has a hard cap of 10 players per server. To go higher, you need the ValheimPlus mod.
Vanilla Servers (Up to 10 Players)
The 10-player limit cannot be raised without mods. There's no startup parameter for it.
Modded Servers (More Than 10)
To support more than 10 players:
Install ValheimPlus
Use the panel Mod Manager to install ValheimPlus. See Install ValheimPlus.
Edit valheim_plus.cfg
After installation, click Files in the sidebar and find BepInEx/config/valheim_plus.cfg.
Set MaxPlayers under [Server]
Find the [Server] section and set:
[Server]
enabled = true
maxPlayers = 20Restart the server
Go to Console and restart for the change to apply.
All players must have ValheimPlus installed to connect to a server using the higher player limit.
Performance Considerations
| Players | Notes |
|---|---|
| 1–10 | Vanilla — no performance issues on standard plans |
| 10–20 | Requires ValheimPlus. Solid performance on most plans |
| 20–32 | Performance starts to degrade. Needs strong CPU |
| 32+ | Not recommended — Valheim's networking wasn't designed for this scale |
Valheim's networking model sends every player full updates of nearby players' actions, which causes exponential bandwidth growth at higher counts. See Server Performance for tuning tips.
Related Guides
How is this guide?
How to Install Mods on Your Valheim Server
Install BepInEx mods on your Valheim dedicated server using the built-in panel Mod Manager — no manual file uploads required.
Configure Portal Settings on Your Valheim Server
Control what items can be transported through Valheim portals using world modifiers or ValheimPlus.