Valheim "Failed to connect" when joining a server (fix)
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Last checked
September 25, 2026
Joining a friend's world or a dedicated server ends in "Failed to connect", or sits on "Connecting" and never loads the world.
Also appears as: valheim failed to connect, failed to connect valheim, valheim failed to connect to server, valheim cant join friend, valheim can't connect to friend's server, valheim stuck on connecting, valheim cannot join server after 1.0, valheim connection failed
Valheim has no Iron Gate servers, so there is no studio server to be down: the connection runs to the person or company hosting the world. A December 2023 Steam Discussions thread has three players reporting "failed to connect" to a world that worked the day before; a Steam Community moderator (not Iron Gate staff) answered with the checks below, and the original poster had already reinstalled, verified files and opened the firewall without luck. A September 2026 thread from a player stuck on "Connecting" to a friend got no answer from Iron Gate. What Iron Gate itself has said: its Patch 1.0.14 notes (September 17, 2026) describe a cache bug that could leave players unable to join remote servers, and say the caching was turned off. Iron Gate has not said that bug is behind any particular "Failed to connect" report.
What to try
- 01Update the game, and ask the host to update theirs, to Patch 1.0.14 or later (1.0.16 is the newest as of September 25, 2026; notes at valheim.com/news). Iron Gate's 1.0.14 notes say it disabled biomedata caching to fix a cache that could get stuck in an invalid state and make joining remote servers impossible. The notes do not say this is the cause of every failed connection, and Iron Gate says a patch can take a few days to reach every platform.Confirmed
- 02If the server is a dedicated server on the Steam backend (started without -crossplay), its port range, 2456-2457 by default, has to be reachable from the internet, which means forwarding those ports on the router. Iron Gate's dedicated server guide says a crossplay-backend server needs no port forwarding.Confirmed
- 03If everyone in the group is on Steam, ask the host to start the world with crossplay turned off (the option sits next to the start button), delete the old server entry from your Favorites tab, and join through a Steam friend invite from the Friends tab. A Steam Community moderator gave this answer in the December 2023 thread; Iron Gate has not confirmed it and the original poster did not report back.Reported
- 04Test the link: the same moderator suggested running a buffer-bloat test (speed.cloudflare.com) and typing /ping in the Valheim chat once you get in, to see whether latency is high or unstable, and noted that Wi-Fi connections are more often problematic than wired ones.Reported
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