Valheim’s proceduarlly generated world is teeming with challenges that you’ll have to overcome as you strive to vanquish all of its bosses. But while its brutal opponents can switfly put and end to your character’s life, the “Incompatible Version error” is a much more devious foe, stopping you from playing the game altogether.
The Incompatible Version error tends to affect Valheim players around the time when updates are pushed to its servers, and for good reason. Being in Early Access, things change rather often, whether it be through smaller updates that just tweak different elements or major content drops, as detailed in the game’s roadmap.
Valheim’s Incompatible Version error might not go away entirely in the near future, but fixing it isn’t overly complicated, although it does require some work. On one hand, it pops up when the player’s game version isn’t identical to that of the server that they’re trying to join. On the other, you’ll also encounter it if your server isn’t running the latest version of Valheim.
The fix for the former case is rather easy. If your game is set to automatically update, simply check your downloads queue, as Steam might schedule it for a later time. If that’s the case, press the small arrow on the right side of the screen and the download should get going.
Your settings might tell the game to only update when launched, so double check by booting it up. You can see your settings by going to your library, right-clicking on Valheim, and selecting Properties. Go to the Updates tab on the left and the two sections in the center of the window should spell things out.
If you’re running a Valheim server, fixing the Incompatible Version error requires a few more involved steps. First, it’s a good idea to backup your save files. You’ll find them in the savedata folder inside Valheim’s main directory. Start by downloading SteamCMD, installing it, and keeping its directory in mind. You’ll need it later.
Head to your Valheim folder create an Update.bat file using Notepad. Also take note of your Valheim directory. Edit the file using Notepad and type in “(Your SteamCMD directory) + login anonymous + force_install_dir (Your Valheim installation folder path) + app_update 896660 validate + exit”.
Remember to insert the actual paths of both SteamCMD and your Valheim installation, but also remove the quote marks and brackets.
Save your file, run Update.bat, and your server should be forced to update to the latest Valheim version which, in turn, should get rid of the Incompatible Version error. For more help with the title, also check out our guides on the Abyssal Harpoon and Death Penalty.
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