Valheim 1.0 Is Out: What Shipped and What It Changes For Servers

Valheim 1.0 is out: what shipped and what it changes for servers

Valheim 1.0 launched on 9 September 2026 at 12:55 UTC, ending five years of Early Access. It brought the Deep North, added PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2, and turned on crossplay between every platform. This page is the short version: what actually shipped, and what each part of it means if you run a dedicated server.

Last verified: 10 September 2026, against the official Valheim 1.0 FAQ and the release-date announcement. Everything below is first-party; where the developers have said nothing, this page says so rather than guessing.

What actually shipped

The 1.0 release notes cover more than the Deep North: over 40 weapons, four armour sets, more than 80 building pieces, ten or more creatures, twenty or more foods, a grappling hook, frozen water, a Jotun invasion event, alternate versions of earlier biomes at the outer reaches of the world, inventory capacity upgrades, cinematics, and a Unity engine upgrade with faster world generation and terrain networking, audio and memory optimisations.

Two of those matter more than the headline features if you host: the engine upgrade is what breaks the mod stack, and the alternate biome variants at the map edges are a second reason to consider a fresh seed beyond the Deep North itself.

What is confirmed

• Released: 9 September 2026, build 25185644 (l-1.0.7). Current is 1.0.12 on Steam and 1.0.10 on the other platforms, both from 11 September 2026.
• The update focuses on the Deep North biome, Valheim's final biome, alongside the 1.0 milestone itself.
• Crossplay: "Yes, Valheim will support crossplay between all platforms." True at launch and still true for PC, Xbox and PS5. Switch 2 is temporarily cut off after the 11 September hotfix, see the note above.
• Your existing worlds keep working: "Your old saves will still be where you last left them, and you can continue to play with them if you like."
• But new biome content only generates in unexplored ground: "biome generation will only work properly on areas that have not yet been explored."
• Iron Gate recommends starting fresh anyway: "we always recommend that you start the game over from scratch to get the best possible experience."

Where you will be able to buy and play it

1.0 widens the platform list considerably. Per the official FAQ: Steam for Windows, Linux and Mac; the Mac App Store; the Humble store for Windows, Linux and Mac; the Microsoft Store for Windows; plus Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2.

PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 arrived with 1.0. Crossplay covers all of them, so a PC-hosted dedicated server can take console players.

Every platform at 1.0

Crossplay spans all of them. Save sync does not, which is the distinction most platform questions actually turn on.

What 1.0 does not change

A 1.0 label on a game people have played for five years is a milestone, not a rebuild. Worth being clear about what stays the same: the game is still bought once with no subscription, dedicated servers are still self-hosted or rented rather than official matchmaking, and there is still no first-party mod support, which is exactly why the FAQ will not vouch for mods.

Save sync is narrower than crossplay

Crossplay and save sync are two different things, and the FAQ separates them: "If you are playing on an Xbox, you will be able to access your saves from a PC, provided that you launch the game from the Microsoft store. Beyond this, there will be no cross platform sync."

So a PS5 or Switch 2 player cannot carry a local single-player world to PC. A dedicated server sidesteps the whole question, because the world lives on the server rather than on any one player's console, which is the practical reason mixed-platform groups end up renting one.

Mods: the one that will bite modded servers

The FAQ is blunt: "Since we don't have any official mod support, we cannot guarantee that any mods will be functional when 1.0 releases."

What actually happened is more mixed than "everything breaks". BepInEx itself published its 1.0 build 25 minutes before the game went live and Jotunn followed the same evening, so authors were never blocked on the toolchain. Some mods with no new build are working untouched; some that did publish were still failing hours later. Treat every plugin as unverified rather than broken, and check the 1.0 mod compatibility tracker for the current state before you rebuild a modded server.

One trap worth naming: empty your mod-added equipment and quick slots before removing an inventory mod. Gear left in them disappears when the game loads without the mod, and players lost armour that way on launch day.

What it means if you run a dedicated server

The FAQ does not cover dedicated servers at all. No statement about server binaries, config changes, or update ordering. So the honest advice is the boring kind rather than anything specific to 1.0:

• Take a verified backup before you update, verified meaning you restored it somewhere, not that the file exists.
• Decide your world plan in advance. Keeping the veteran world is supported, but the Deep North will only appear in ground nobody has walked. A fresh seed is what the developers recommend.
• Expect the mod list to be the long pole, not the server build.
• Do not update the server and the clients at different times if you can avoid it. Version mismatches were the single most common launch-day failure, and on a rented server a restart is what triggers the update.
• Check your allow list after updating. Linux admins reported needing platform prefixes on permittedlist.txt entries after 1.0. If players are refused rather than mismatched, that is where to look. Community-reported, not documented by Iron Gate.

Coming back after a long break

1.0 is the update most likely to bring lapsed players back, and a returning group has a different set of questions from one that never left. The short orientation, using only what is confirmed above:

• Your old world is still there. Nothing in 1.0 removes or converts saves. If the server has been off for a year, the world file is exactly as it was.
• Whether to use it is a real decision. The Deep North fills only unexplored ground, and Iron Gate recommends a fresh start. A group returning together often prefers one anyway. Work through start a new world or keep your old one before launch day.
• Your mods are almost certainly broken. Anything installed before the break will not be built for 1.0. Come back vanilla first; see the mods section above.
• Everyone can join now. Crossplay across all platforms went live with 1.0, so a group that split across PC and console can play on one server again. Save sync is narrower than crossplay, covered above.
• Run the readiness checklist on Valheim 1.0 server readiness before you announce a return date.

Common questions

Is Valheim 1.0 out?

Yes, it released on 9 September 2026 as build 25185644, reported in game as 1.0.7. The current version is 1.0.12 on Steam and 1.0.10 on the other platforms, both shipped on 11 September 2026.

Why does my server say incompatible version?

Because the server and the client are on different builds. The error names both, for example a server on 0.221.12 (network version 36) against a client on 1.0.7 (network version 39). Restart the server so it pulls the update. The full fix is here.

My world folder looks empty after updating

1.0 stores each world as a directory rather than a .db and .fwl pair, and the conversion happens the next time the world is saved, not when the game updates. An empty folder next to your intact legacy files is normal. The save format guide covers it.

Does Valheim 1.0 wipe my world?

No. "Your old saves will still be where you last left them, and you can continue to play with them if you like." The catch is that the Deep North only generates in ground you have not explored, so a heavily-travelled world will show less of the new biome.

Should I start a new world for 1.0?

Iron Gate says yes: "we always recommend that you start the game over from scratch to get the best possible experience." On a server that is a decision to make before launch day rather than during it, because both options are defensible and switching later costs the group its progress. The full decision, including the one fact that settles it for most servers, is on start a new world or keep your old one.

Will my Valheim mods work on 1.0?

Some do, including several that never published a 1.0 build, and some that did publish still fail. The FAQ says only that with no official mod support Iron Gate "cannot guarantee that any mods will be functional". Check each one rather than assuming either way; the compatibility tracker carries what players have actually tested.

Is Valheim on PS5 or Switch 2?

Yes. Both launched with 1.0 on 9 September 2026, and both have crossplay with PC and Xbox.

Can a PS5 player join a PC dedicated server?

Yes. Crossplay across all platforms went live with 1.0, so mixed-platform play on one dedicated server is the intended result. A local single-player world still cannot move onto PC, because save sync exists only between Xbox and the Microsoft Store PC build, which is the practical reason mixed groups rent a server.

Go deeper

• Start a new world or keep your old one for 1.0?: the decision itself, with the checklist.
• 1.0 server readiness: backup and update checklist
• Will Deep North break already-explored areas in my world?
• Deep North server prep: backup, staging and update steps
• Deep North base planning and 1.0 server prep
• Deep North vs Ashlands: which biome is harder?
• Hildir's Request and the Deep North
• Best Valheim mods in 2026
• PS5, Switch 2 and crossplay setup

Want launch day handled for you? Valheim server hosting takes a backup before every game update, so a 1.0 world that goes wrong is a restore rather than a loss, plus managed updates, world imports and crossplay configuration.