How to upload, migrate or reset a Valheim world
Move a Valheim world between a single-player save, another host and a dedicated server by keeping the .db and .fwl pair together, transferring in binary mode, and setting World Name to match. Includes how to reset a world cleanly.
A Valheim world is two files, not one:
MyWorld.db
MyWorld.fwlThe .db holds the terrain, buildings and progression. The .fwl holds the
seed, the name and the world's identity. Every move, backup and restore has to
carry both.
Upload a .db without its matching .fwl and Valheim will not load it. It generates a brand
new world instead. The old data is still sitting on disk, but the server behaves exactly as if
your save had been wiped. This is the most common Valheim migration failure, and the fix is
simply to upload the missing .fwl.
Find the world you want to move
Press Windows + R, paste this, and press Enter:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_localOpen a terminal and change into:
cd ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_localIf the world is only in Steam Cloud, open Valheim, go to the world in Manage Saves, and move it to Local. Both files appear on disk afterwards.
Both files share a base name. That shared name is what you will set as World Name later. It is how the server picks which world to load.
Upload a world to berrybyte
Stop the server
Never copy world files into a running server. Valheim writes the world on shutdown and can overwrite what you just uploaded.
Open Files or connect over SFTP
Go to .config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local on the server.
Upload both files
Send MyWorld.db and MyWorld.fwl together. Over plain FTP, set the client to binary
mode. A text-mode transfer silently corrupts the .db.
Set World Name to match
Under Settings → Game Settings, set World Name to the shared base name, with no file
extension. MyWorld.db and MyWorld.fwl means MyWorld.
Start and verify
Join and check you are standing in the right world before anyone builds anything.
Bring adminlist.txt, bannedlist.txt and permittedlist.txt across at the same time if you
want admin rights and bans to survive the move. See admin and console
commands.
Download a copy
Stop the server
A world copied mid-save can be internally inconsistent.
Download the pair
Take both files from worlds_local. Grab any .old siblings too. They are Valheim's own
rolling backups, and a spare is worth having.
Keep them together
Store the pair in one folder. Splitting them up is what causes the failure above months later.
To restore from a .old file, stop the server and remove the .old suffix so the name matches
its partner again. Rename both halves of the pair, not just one.
Reset a world
Back up first
Use Backups or download the pair. A reset is not reversible.
Stop the server
Wait until it reports offline.
Delete the world files
Remove <WorldName>.db and <WorldName>.fwl, plus any .old copies of them. Leaving an
.old behind can bring the old world back.
Start the server
Valheim generates a fresh world using the current World Name. Set a different name first if you would rather keep the old world on disk and simply switch away from it.
Switching World Name between two pairs that both exist on the server is a clean way to run more than one world, a 1.0 world alongside a legacy one, for instance. Only the selected world loads and the other is left untouched.
Next steps
Whether the Deep North justifies a fresh world, and how to back up before updating.
Set up a Valheim serverWhere the save directory lives and which flags select a world.
Back up your serverSchedule snapshots so the pair is never at risk again.
Admin and console commandsRestore admin rights and bans after a migration.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my uploaded Valheim world generate as new?
The .fwl file was missing. Valheim reads world identity from the .fwl, so a .db uploaded on its own leaves the server with nothing to identify and it creates a fresh world instead. Nothing has been deleted - upload the matching .fwl with the same base name and restart.
Where are my Valheim single-player saves?
On Windows they are in %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local and on Linux in ~/.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local. If a world is stored in Steam Cloud you may need to move it to Local from Valheim's Manage Saves screen before both files appear on disk.
How do I reset a Valheim server world?
Stop the server, delete the world's .db and .fwl files along with any .old copies of them, then start it again. Valheim generates a fresh world using the name in World Name. Take a backup first - the reset cannot be undone once the old files are gone.