We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Stardew Valley co-op - plus a bonus coop guide

Team up your friends to make a beautiful farm in Stardew Valley co-op, and build yourself a neat little coop with this handy guide.

With this handy Stardew Valley Co-op guide we will teach you everything you need to know about multiplayer in this chill game. Since its release in 2016, Stardew Valley has grown to become a legend in the simulation RPG genre. With its massive fanbase, the ability to play the game with friends has been in high demand for some time. Well now, you can! Build your own farm with up to four friends or have them join your existing save file through local or online co-op.

We also have a heap of other Stardew Valley guides for you – whether you’re wondering how to woo the mysterious Stardew Valley Sebastian, or you’re looking to maximize your skills and profits with a day of catching Stardew Valley fish guide, we’ve got you.

If you ended up here while on the search for a Stardew Valley coop guide and are simply looking for a fancy place to store your fine fowl and fearsome dinos, then scroll to the bottom for a bonus guide about how to build and upgrade your own coop.

How do I play online co-op in Stardew Valley?

If you want to create a new online multiplayer world, just follow these simple steps.

  • On the title screen, select ‘co-op’
  • Click ‘host farm’, then ‘host new farm’
  • Ensure there are enough cabins for each person playing
  • You then get the option to choose a profit margin, and whether players will share a wallet or have their own. Profit margins cannot be changed after this point without save editing, but wallet sharing and building/demolishing cabins can be done at any time
  • Now you can have your friends join your brand new farm!

If you want to have people join an existing farm, you can simply choose to host the world. This will allow the other players to join through your mutually chosen platform. For example, on Switch, players can join remotely through Nintendo Switch Online, by going to the in-game ‘join’ tab.

The Stardew Valley mobile multiplayer menu showing the four leaves

How do I play Stardew Valley multiplayer on mobile?

As of update 1.6, mobile players can actually play together, though the method is hidden. You can activate the multiplayer mode on iOS and Android, but not through the Apple Arcade version of Stardew.

You can find all the information here, but the simplest way to activate it is as follows:

  • Open up the game
  • On the title screen, there are four leaves on the Stardew logo. Click the leaves in the following order:
    • Top right, top right, bottom left, bottom left, top left, bottom right, top left, bottom right
    • Then hit the ? icon in the bottom right of the screen
    • Exit the ? menu

A co-op button should appear on the screen, and then you can begin playing.

Are there any restrictions to playing Stardew Valley in multiplayer?

Multiplayer mode has a couple of drawbacks. As is standard, if you want to play co-op online, all players need to have a copy of the game, an internet connection, and if playing on Switch – a subscription to Switch Online.

You cannot have both remote and local players join you at the same time, and, on Switch, split screen is limited to two players who must both have two joy-cons or a dedicated controller each. Cross-platform play is also not supported.

How do I play split-screen co-op in Stardew Valley?

Here are the steps to start playing Stardew Valley in split-screen co-op.

  • First, create or load your save normally
  • Build a cabin for each new player while in single-player mode
  • Connect a controller for each extra player
  • Open the in-game menu and go to options
  • Head to the multiplayer section and select ‘Start local co-op’
  • Have the new player press ‘start’ on the connected controller
  • Enjoy playing Stardew Valley together

You can have up to four players on a farm but are limited to two players in Switch local split-screen co-op.

YouTube Thumbnail

Tips for starting a co-op farm in Stardew Valley

Here are some tips to help you get the best out of your Stardew Valley co-op farm.

Pick the right map

The Four Corners map is the best option for multiple players, as it was specifically designed with a few players in mind – the layout consists of four quadrants, perfect to house individual cabins. This presents a much easier layout that will help you separate your grounds and share out responsibilities, while still keeping you close and encouraging you to work together.

Make use of cabins

Each farm can have up to three cabins in addition to the base farmhouse. As mentioned above, every player must have a cabin in order to join. If you don’t start your farm with all three cabins, don’t worry – you can get Robin to build additional cabins for 100g each. Luckily, cabin building is instant, so your friends can join right away. Each cabin can be upgraded by its occupant by using the carpenter’s shop.

The host player is the only one with the power to demolish a cabin, which will remove the occupant from the game and put all of their possessions into a chest, situated where the cabin was.

Keep an eye on profit margins

You can set profit margins as you create a new game, and reduce the profit you make from specific goods by 25%, 50%, or 75%, or you can leave it at the default of 100%. These are intended to balance the economy a little as, naturally, with the extra hands on your farm you are bound to be rolling in the cash.

Lowering the profit margin makes it more difficult to make gold, as well as increasing the prices of items such as seeds, sugar, flour, and rice. We recommend you all level your skills equally if you want to try this out, which will allow you to work more efficiently and economically, as you can craft certain items instead of purchasing them.

Stardew Valley co-op marriage

To ensure there is still some level of immersion, of course, only one player can marry each NPC at a time, so if you all happen to want to wed Stardew Valley’s Haley, you’ll have to figure out who gets to pop the question. The 14-heart event can also only be completed once per game.

You can also marry each other and have your own children, as long as your house meets the requirements. To propose to another player, you can make your own wedding ring using a recipe purchased from the Traveling Cart. After the wedding, you will each receive a Stardrop, which will appear in a purple gift box beside your bed.

Multiplayer Stardew Valley features

Multiplayer in Stardew Valley is very similar to single-player but has a few extra features and a couple of rules you should probably know before you get to work.

Collaborative decisions

A big part of co-op in Stardew Valley is the focus on collaborative decision-making. Certain events rely on the input of all players, such as when to start a festival by entering the festival area, when to sleep by entering a bed, and whether to focus on finishing the Community Centre or buying a Joja membership. All players share the same farmland, but each player has a separate mailbox and can build their own separate cellar.

Money and finances

You can share money between all players, or split it through separate purses. You can set this at the beginning of a new game, or can change it in-game at the town ledger in the Mayor’s house. Toggling money sharing during the game will split all money across players equally, regardless of how much or how little you had. If it isn’t shared, you can also use the town ledger to send money to other players.

Game progress and questing

Players can help each other during quests, but progress is mostly individual to each player. Quest difficulty gets based on the highest-level player, so we recommend you try to keep up with each other. Crafting and upgrading tools also have to be done individually, as does recipe collecting, but nothing is stopping you from lending each other a helping hand.

Experience

Each player has their own experience points and bar, and XP is not shared. Whoever commits the action, gets the experience. Sounds fair, right? For instance, whoever interacts with an animal or crop gets the XP, and whoever lands the killing blow on a monster gets it. Crab pots are one to watch though, as whoever empties the crab pot gets the XP.

A list of Stardew Valley emotes

Stardew Valley chat commands, emojis, and emotes

What is multiplayer without a chat function? There is a selection of commands that you can run in the chat box, and you can see which ones are available by typing in /help. Some work for all players, whereas others only work for the host.

There are 195 emojis in the game, including the cute little pixelated faces of all your favorite Stardew characters and critters. You can use these by finding them in the game’s emoji menu or by going into the chat and typing any number from 1-195 in square brackets (i.e. [80] for a sweet bunny).

Finally, there are emotes, which you can activate by typing /emote into the chat, or press the emote menu key, which will differ depending on which platform you are using.

A screenshot of a Stardew Valley coop, with an action command stating 'select a coop to upgrade'

Bonus: Stardew Valley coop guide

Now for the thing you really came for – the Stardew Valley coop guide. A coop is a farm building that you can purchase and upgrade from Robin’s carpenter shop. It takes three days to construct, and an additional two days for each of the upgrades. But, it’s worth it for the chickens.

Stardew Valley Coop upgrade

Name Cost and materials Capacity Animals Features
Coop 4,000g, 300 wood, 100 stone Four Chickens Hay hopper, feeding bench
Big coop 10,000g, 400 wood, 150 stone Eight Chickens, ducks, void chickens, dinosaurs, golden chickens Hay hopper, feeding bench, incubator
Deluxe coop 20,000g, 500 wood, 200 stone 12  Chickens, ducks, void chickens, dinosaurs, golden chickens, rabbits Hay hopper, feeding bench, incubator, auto-feed system

Remember, if your coop’s doors are closed at night, animals can get stuck outside. This not only makes them a little grumpy the following day (wouldn’t you be?) but it also makes them vulnerable to wild animal attacks – so be wary.

Stardew Valley coop or barn?

Of course, in Stardew Valley, the order you build things is entirely down to you. However, we recommend you first prioritize building at least one or two silos before you think about picking up animals and stock up in preparation for the winter and rainy days. You can check out our Stardew Valley silo guide here for more info.

After that, the coop costs fewer materials to purchase than the barn, and you don’t need any additional tools like sheers or a bucket when keeping chickens. Therefore, it’s more cost-effective to get a coop up first, and then reap the rewards of having some adorable gold-making, egg-laying machines.

Want to join the fun with your friends, or try your hand at building a fancy, deluxe coop? Then you can head over to Nintendo eShop to grab a copy for Switch or download the mobile version from GooglePlay or the AppStore, and start your own farm today.