Stardew Valley players have long been awaiting a multiplayer aspect to the game. Today it has finally arrived on Steam and is in public beta that anyone can opt into. To access Stardew Valley multiplayer you’ll need to follow a few steps and the developers have told players to take precautions as it is still a beta after all.
First things first, here’s how to opt-in to the Stardew Valley multiplayer beta:
How to Access Stardew Valley Multiplayer Beta
- Head to your Steam Library
- Right Click Stardew Valley
- Select Properties
- Open Betas Tab
- Type jumpingjunimos
- Click check code
Once these steps are completed you’ll have the option to select the beta branch of the game which features multiplayer and Steam will begin updating the game.
The developers do say that since this is a beta that you should backup any important save files and that you’ll need to remove any mods for the game as they aren’t compatible with the beta release. You can use your existing save files in the beta.
From there, there are a few things that you’ll need to do to host your farm so that others can play with you. You’re going to need to have a home for each player on the farm, so you’ll need to build each of your friends a cabin to live in. You can have up to three cabins on your farm.
Once you’ve built the cabins and open the co-op menu you should be able to host your farm for others to join.
There are multiple options in Server Mode that allow you to play with Friends Only, Invite Only, or Offline.
How to Invite Friends in Stardew Valley Multiplayer
You can invite friends to play Stardew Valley in a couple of different ways on Steam and GOG. You can invite them through the co-op menu if your server is running. Your friends on GOG and Steam will be able to see you and join you through the co-op menu. For this functionality your server will need to be set to friends-only and your privacy settings on Steam must allow others to see your games.
Players can also join you through the Steam or GOG friends list if privacy settings allow to see your activity.
Hosts can also send invitations to other players through the settings menu in the game. Use the invite friend button and it will send an invitation, which once accepted will launch the game client on their end and connect them to your farm.
If a player is not on your friends list and you would like invite them you’ll need to use an Invite Code. To get an invite code you’ll need to go in the settings menu, scroll down to multiplayer and click the show Invite Code. A code will shown to you which you can send to the person you want to invite. The person being invited will need to go into the co-op menu and choose the Enter Invite Code option.
