Valheim World Modifiers and Server Settings
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Valheim lets every world set its own rules: how hard the fights are, what you lose when you die, how many resources drop, how often your base gets raided and whether portals work at all. Pick a preset for a quick start, or set each modifier yourself.
This guide lists every preset and modifier with what it really changes — read from the game's own server files for version 1.0, not from memory — and shows how to set them on a dedicated server, including on a world you have already started.
The presets, and what each one changes
| Preset | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Normal | Nothing: the balance Iron Gate intends, recommended for a first playthrough. |
| Casual | You deal 125% damage and take 50%; enemies are passive until provoked; no raids; resources ×1.5; you keep your equipped gear on death and lose far fewer skills; portals carry every item. |
| Easy | You deal 110% damage and take 75%; raids come less often. |
| Hard | You deal 85% damage and enemies deal 150%; enemies are a little faster and bigger, higher-level enemies appear more often, and raids come more often. |
| Hardcore | You deal 70% damage and enemies deal 200%; higher-level enemies appear more often and raids come more often; on death you lose all carried items and all skills for good; no map; no portals during boss fights or out of boss dungeons. |
| Immersive | No map, no portals, and fire hazards on — wood can catch fire anywhere in the world. Everything else is normal. |
| Hammer | Building is free once you know the recipe; no raids; enemies are passive until provoked. |
A preset is a starting point: you can choose one and then change individual modifiers on top of it.
Pick a preset and modifiers right in the Startup tab: HytHost Valheim servers start at €4.36/mo.
See Valheim plansEvery world modifier and its options
The names in the second column are the ones a dedicated server uses on its command line. Each modifier also has a Normal option, which is the default — to get it, simply leave the modifier out.
| Modifier | Options (server name) | What they do |
|---|---|---|
Combat (combat) | veryeasy, easy, hard, veryhard | Damage you deal and take, and how often and how dangerous higher-level enemies are. Very easy: you deal 125%, take 50%. Very hard: you deal 70%, enemies deal 200%. |
Death penalty (deathpenalty) | casual, veryeasy, easy, hard, hardcore | Casual: you keep equipped gear and lose far fewer skills. Very easy and easy: you drop everything but lose fewer skills. Hard: your equipped items drop as usual, but the rest of your inventory is lost for good and skills drop faster. Hardcore: all carried items and all skills are lost. |
Resource rate (resources) | muchless, less, more, muchmore, most | Resources from the world and from enemies: ×0.5, ×0.75, ×1.5, ×2 and ×3. |
Raid rate (raids) | none, muchless, less, more, muchmore | How often enemies raid your base, from never to much more often than normal. |
Portals (portals) | casual, hard, veryhard | Casual: portals carry every item, ores included. Hard: no portals during a boss fight or out of a boss dungeon. Very hard: no portals at all. |
World keys (on/off)
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
nobuildcost | Build pieces cost no materials; you still need to discover the recipes. |
playerevents | Raids follow each player's own progress instead of the bosses killed on the server — friendlier when players are at different stages. |
passivemobs | Enemies do not attack until provoked. |
nomap | No map or minimap. |
fire | Fire hazards: wood can catch fire and spread anywhere, not only in the Ashlands. |
Setting them on a dedicated server
A dedicated server has no menu for this. It takes three launch arguments in the start script:
-preset hard -modifier raids none -modifier portals casual -setkey nomap
-preset <name>— normal, casual, easy, hard, hardcore, immersive or hammer.-modifier <modifier> <option>— one per modifier, with the server names from the table above.-setkey <key>— one per world key.
Order matters: a preset overwrites any modifiers set before it, so put the preset first and the modifiers after it. The names are not case-sensitive.
Changing the rules of an existing world
Modifiers are not locked when the world is created. The server applies its preset, modifier and key arguments to the world every time it starts, so changing them and restarting changes the rules of the world you are already playing — the map and everything built in it stay as they are.
One catch: removing an argument does not undo it. If you started with -setkey nomap and take it out, the world keeps nomap. To clear the old rules, start once with a preset — a preset resets the modifiers and keys before applying its own — and add back the modifiers you want after it. Admins can also change the rules from the in-game console with setworldpreset, setworldmodifier, setkey and removekey; see Valheim admin commands.
The other server settings worth knowing
| Argument | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
-public | 1 | Lists the server in the server browser; 0 hides it, and players join by IP. |
-password | At least 5 characters, and not part of the world name. | |
-saveinterval | 1800 | Seconds between world saves. |
-backups | 4 | How many automatic backup copies of the world the game keeps. |
-backupshort / -backuplong | 7200 / 43200 | Seconds until the first backup, and between the later ones. |
-crossplay | off | Lets Xbox, PlayStation 5, Switch 2 and PC Game Pass players join with a join code. |
The player limit is fixed at 10 by the game and cannot be raised with a setting.
World modifiers on a HytHost server
On HytHost you do not edit a start script. The Startup tab has three fields for this:
- World Preset — normal, casual, easy, hard, hardcore, immersive or hammer.
- World Modifiers — pairs separated by spaces, written as
modifier:option, for examplecombat:hard raids:none resources:more. They are applied after the preset. - World Keys — keys separated by spaces, for example
nomap playerevents.
Restart the server for a change to take effect. To wipe old rules from a running world, set the World Preset to normal — a preset clears the old rules at every start — and list only the modifiers you want. Save interval and backup timing are in the same tab, and the panel's own backups come on top of the game's.
New to running a server? Start with how to host a Valheim dedicated server, or see Valheim hosting.
Presets, modifiers, world keys and backup timing, all in the Startup tab — Valheim hosting from €4.36/mo.
See Valheim plansFrequently asked questions
Yes. A dedicated server applies its preset, modifiers and world keys every time it starts, so change them and restart. Removing a modifier or key does not undo it, though: start once with a preset, which resets the old rules, and add the modifiers you want after it.
Yes. Modifiers and world keys are stored in the world on the server, so every player gets the same rules, whether they join from Steam, Xbox, PlayStation 5, Switch 2 or PC Game Pass.
With the portals modifier on very hard, nobody can use portals to travel across the world. The hard option is milder: portals work, except during a boss fight or out of a boss dungeon. The casual option goes the other way and lets every item, ores included, through portals.
You deal 70% damage and enemies deal 200%, enemies are tougher and raids come more often. When you die you lose all carried items and all your skills for good. There is no map, and portals cannot be used during a boss fight or to leave a boss dungeon.
Set the rules of your own Valheim world
HytHost Valheim hosting puts presets, modifiers and world keys in the Startup tab, with crossplay and automatic backups — from €4.36/mo.
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