Valheim Crossplay Guide
How crossplay works on Valheim dedicated servers: the PlayFab backend, the six-digit join code, and why a crossplay server is not joined by IP address.
What Crossplay Does
Crossplay uses Microsoft PlayFab as the online backend instead of Steam, so players who are not on Steam - Xbox and PC Game Pass - can join the same dedicated server as Steam players.
It also changes how everyone connects. On the PlayFab backend the server relays player traffic instead of accepting inbound connections, and it does not listen on its own game port at all. The six-digit join code PlayFab issues is therefore the connection method that works, for Steam players as much as for anyone else.
Crossplay is enabled by default on every GameGrid Valheim server. Turn it off in Settings if you want a Steam-only server that is joined by address.
The join code changes every time the server restarts, and there is a gap of about a minute between a start and PlayFab issuing one. Until it appears, the Crossplay Join Code row on the Overview tab is simply absent.
Enabling and Disabling Crossplay
To enable: open Settings, find Enable Crossplay under the Security category, make sure it is on, click Save Changes, and restart the server. The Crossplay Join Code appears in Connection Info on the Overview tab about a minute after the server comes up.
To disable: turn Enable Crossplay off, save, and restart. The server switches to the Steam backend, starts listening on its game port, and stops issuing a join code. Xbox and Game Pass players can no longer connect; Steam players join by address instead.
You cannot switch backends while the server is running. A restart is always required.
The Join Code changes on every restart with crossplay enabled. Take the current one from the Overview tab rather than reusing an old one.
Platform Compatibility
The platforms GameGrid supports for Valheim today are Steam, Xbox, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2. As of Valheim 1.0, the identifiers the admin, permitted and banned lists accept use single-letter platform prefixes: V_ (Steam/PC), M_ (Xbox/Microsoft), S_ (PlayStation), N_ (Nintendo). The old Steam_ and Xbox_ prefixes no longer work.
Steam: works on both backends. On a crossplay server, join by code; on a Steam-only server, join by address, community browser or Steam favorites.
Xbox (One and Series X/S): requires crossplay. Join by code. Cannot connect to a Steam-only server.
Game Pass (PC): requires crossplay. Join by code. Game Pass clients cannot switch to the Steam backend, so they can only reach crossplay servers.
Mac and Linux: supported through Steam, same as any other Steam client.
Important Crossplay Limitations
Game Pass players cannot disable crossplay on their end. They can only join crossplay-enabled servers. If you switch your server to Steam-only, any Game Pass players in your group will be locked out.
Switching to Steam-only also changes how everyone else joins: direct IP starts working and the join code stops existing. Tell your Steam players before you flip it.
Modded servers and crossplay: game-changing mods (like Epic Loot, Valheim Plus, or any mod that alters gameplay) can cause desync and crashes for Xbox and Game Pass clients, which cannot install BepInEx. If your group includes them, run a vanilla (unmodded) server for maximum compatibility.
The Join Code is per-server and changes on restart. Share the current code from your dashboard each time.
Console players cannot run a dedicated server. They can only join one.
Crossplay changes the networking backend, not the game. It does change how players reach the server, and it means the server's address has nothing listening behind it - see the Ports guide.
The GameGrid Bridge that powers the Game Tools page and the economy runs inside the server process, so every Game Tools feature works the same on both backends and nobody joining installs anything.
Finding Your Join Code
Open the server and look at Connection Info on the Overview tab. When crossplay is on and PlayFab has registered the server, a Crossplay Join Code row shows the six-digit code, and the Server Address row reads like "203.0.113.50:28000 (crossplay - join code 284005)".
If the row is not there, either crossplay is off or the server has been up for less than a minute or so. It appears on its own; the panel refreshes it alongside the player count.
Share the code with everyone joining, on any platform. They enter it from Valheim's Join Game screen rather than typing an address.