diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/core/nitro.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/core/nitro.ts
index d473a3a9ae..57d5394cdf 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/core/nitro.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/core/nitro.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export async function initNitro (nuxt: Nuxt & { _nitro?: Nitro }) {
   const nitroConfig: NitroConfig = defu(_nitroConfig, <NitroConfig>{
     rootDir: nuxt.options.rootDir,
     workspaceDir: nuxt.options.workspaceDir,
-    srcDir: join(nuxt.options.srcDir, 'server'),
+    srcDir: nuxt.options.serverDir,
     dev: nuxt.options.dev,
     preset: nuxt.options.dev ? 'nitro-dev' : undefined,
     buildDir: nuxt.options.buildDir,
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ export async function initNitro (nuxt: Nuxt & { _nitro?: Nitro }) {
       projectRoot: nuxt.options.rootDir,
       filename: join(nuxt.options.rootDir, '.nuxt/stats', '{name}.html')
     },
-    scanDirs: nuxt.options._layers.map(layer => layer.config.srcDir).filter(Boolean).map(dir => join(dir!, 'server')),
+    scanDirs: nuxt.options._layers.map(layer => (layer.config.serverDir || layer.config.srcDir) && resolve(layer.cwd, layer.config.serverDir || resolve(layer.config.srcDir, 'server'))).filter(Boolean),
     renderer: resolve(distDir, 'core/runtime/nitro/renderer'),
     errorHandler: resolve(distDir, 'core/runtime/nitro/error'),
     nodeModulesDirs: nuxt.options.modulesDir,
diff --git a/packages/schema/src/config/_common.ts b/packages/schema/src/config/_common.ts
index 903a3ec82a..ed043c8d54 100644
--- a/packages/schema/src/config/_common.ts
+++ b/packages/schema/src/config/_common.ts
@@ -100,6 +100,18 @@ export default defineUntypedSchema({
     $resolve: async (val, get) => resolve(await get('rootDir'), val || '.')
   },
 
+  /**
+   * Define the server directory of your Nuxt application, where Nitro
+   * routes, middleware and plugins are kept.
+   *
+   * If a relative path is specified, it will be relative to your `rootDir`.
+   *
+   * @version 3
+   */
+  serverDir: {
+    $resolve: async (val, get) => resolve(await get('rootDir'), val || resolve(await get('srcDir'), 'server'))
+  },
+
   /**
    * Define the directory where your built Nuxt files will be placed.
    *