How to install

1. Install the .NET 5.0 Desktop Runtime if you don't have it already.
2. Download the latest version of Valheim Server Warden (VSW).
3. Unzip the VSW app files wherever you want.
4. Run Valheim Server Warden.exe

How to use

Valheim Server Warden simplifies the process of hosting a dedicated server on your Windows PC. Rather than editing batch files and keeping a console window open constantly, VSW provides a GUI to manage one or more server instances, minimizes to the system tray to get out of your way, and provides information about the status of the server.

When you first start the .exe, the app will attempt to location an existing installation of Valheim dedicated server. If it is unable to locate an installation, it will ask if you want to install the dedicated server. If VSW detects steam is installed, you'll have the option to install the dedicated server via Steam, SteamCMD, or just skip installation and set your dedicated server installation location manually. If you use the SteamCMD method, you'll be given the opportunity to either location an existing installation of SteamCMD or download and install it to a folder of your choosing.

Once you've installed the dedicated server (or opted to set the location manually), you'll be presented with the main window:

Right-click the empty server list, and click "Add" to add your first server. A new server with some default values will be added. You can change those default values from this screen if you want. Make sure you set up port forwarding with your router! With the server selected, there are some additional options enabled in the context menu:

If you click "Details", a new server details window opens:

The server details window displays information about the status of your server and allows you to edit all the server settings. The Status tab shows whether the server is currently running, when the server was started, a list of events that have occurred since the window was opened, and a list of players currently connected to the server. If you right-click a player, you can copy their SteamID.

At the top of the window is a row of buttons. The start and stop buttons will start and stop the server. The log button is available if you've enabled logging in the Settings tab.

The "Connect" button to the left of the view log button allows you to connect to the server if you're running the client and the server on the same computer. If you right-click the Connect button, you get the options to copy a Steam join link to the server that you can share with others or to check external connectivity for the server to verify that you've set up port forwarding correctly.

To the right of the Connect button, there's the Discord button (discussed below) and possibly a SteamCMD button. The SteamCMD button is only visible if you installed the dedicated server via SteamCMD and allows you to update the dedicated server via SteamCMD.

The Discord Webhooks button allows you to send messages to a Discord text channel when certain events occur on the server. Clicking the button brings up this window:

The top box is where you paste your webhook URL. You can customize the text of any message by editing in the boxes below. If the webhook URL is left blank, webhooks are disabled. If the message for a particular event is blank, no message will be sent for that event. Be sure to click "Save" when you're done to retain your changes.

On the Settings tab of the server details window:

The top group of options are the standard Valheim dedicated server options that are used as command line parameters when starting the server. Specifying a Save Folder is optional; if you leave it blank, the dedicated server uses the default path of %userprofile%/appdata/locallow/irongate/valheim.

The installation settings are for specifying where valheim_server.exe is located and the method used to install the dedicated server. If you choose SteamCMD as the method (and you've set up a SteamCMD install in the main app settings), you can choose any folder for the server path and then right-click the server path box and select the install option to install the dedicated server to that location using SteamCMD.

The management settings give you some additional functionality. If you enable Autostart for a server, it will automatically start when the application is started. If you enable the logging option for a server, a log file containing all the regular server console window output will be created in the same folder as the VSW executable. You can view a server log by clicking the log button at the top of the details window or through the context menu of the main window. If you enable the "Restart every X hours" option, the server will automatically restart after that much time has passed unless any players are connected. If one or more players are connected, the server will automatically restart once the last player disconnects.

Back at the main window, the settings tab contains the settings for VSW:

This is where you can manually set the default location of valheim_server.exe. If you plan to install/update servers using SteamCMD, you can set the path for SteamCMD here as well. You can disable checking for VSW app updates if you want to. You can also choose between the light and dark themes for the app.

Finally, the Log tab of the main window just shows a running list of events related to the VSW app and any running servers:

I've tried to squash as many bugs as I can prior to release, but there are probably still some lingering. It might be a good idea to also run Valheim Save Shield to make sure you don't lose any data due to a save corruption.

How to update

When you download a new version from the releases page, put all the files from the .zip archive in the same folder you currently have VSW installed, overwriting all existing files. Installing to a different folder will likely reset all your settings to default.