Valheim World Modifiers Guide

What Are World Modifiers?

Added in the Hildir's Request update (patch 0.217+), World Modifiers let you tune nearly every aspect of Valheim's difficulty and survival loop without touching mods. You can make the game brutally punishing, completely casual, or anything in between.

Modifiers are set per-world via server startup parameters and take effect on the next server restart.

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How to Apply Modifiers (Panel)

1. Stop your server
2. In the panel, go to the Startup tab
3. Find the Additional Arguments or Startup Parameters field
4. Add your modifier flags (see below) to the existing startup arguments
5. Save and start the server

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Preset Difficulty Levels

The quickest way to configure a server is with a preset. Add this flag to your startup parameters:

-preset <name>

Preset	Description
casual	No death penalty, passive enemies, no build cost, relaxed resources
easy	Reduced combat difficulty, lighter death penalty, boosted resources
normal	Default Valheim experience — no changes
hard	Harder enemies, stricter penalties
hardcore	Permadeath. If you die, your character is deleted.

Example startup line:

./valheim_server.x86_64 -name "DustBowl Vikings" -port 2456 -world "Midgard" -password "yourpassword" -preset hard

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Individual Modifier Flags

For fine-grained control, use these flags individually. They can be combined — each one sets only that aspect of the game.

Combat Difficulty

Controls enemy health and damage scaling:

-modifier Combat <value>

Value	Effect
easy	Enemies deal less damage and have less health
normal	Default game balance
hard	Enemies are tougher and deal more damage
veryhard	Significantly increased enemy HP and damage

Death Penalty

Controls what you lose when you die:

-modifier DeathPenalty <value>

Value	Effect
casual	Keep all items and equipment on death
easy	Keep equipped gear; lose items in your hotbar/inventory
normal	Drop all items at death point (default)
hardcore	Character is permanently deleted on death

Tip for casual/community servers: casual death penalty removes the frustration of corpse runs for less experienced players.

Resource Drop Rates

Controls how many resources drop from gathering and enemies:

-modifier Resources <value>

Value	Effect
muchless	25% of normal drop rates
less	50% of normal
normal	Default drop rates
more	150% drop rates — faster progression
muchmore	200% drop rates — very fast progression

Raid Frequency

Controls how often mob raids target your base:

-modifier Raids <value>

Value	Effect
none	Raids are disabled entirely
rare	Raids happen infrequently
normal	Default raid frequency
often	Raids happen much more frequently

Tip: New servers or servers with newer players benefit from rare or none while everyone gets established.

Portal Restrictions

Controls what items can be taken through portals:

-modifier Portals <value>

Value	Effect
casual	All items can be taken through portals (no restrictions)
normal	Default: ore, bars, and some materials are portal-blocked
hardmode	No items can be taken through portals — everything must be physically transported

Toggle Modifiers

These are on/off switches:

-setkey nobuildcost      # Building requires no resources
-setkey passivemobs      # Enemies don't attack unless you hit them first
-setkey nomap           # Disables the map entirely (hardcore exploration mode)

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Combining Modifiers — Example Configurations

Casual / Friendly Server

-modifier Combat easy -modifier DeathPenalty casual -modifier Resources more -modifier Raids none -modifier Portals casual -setkey nobuildcost

Vanilla+ (Slightly Easier)

-modifier Combat normal -modifier DeathPenalty easy -modifier Resources more -modifier Raids rare

Hardcore Server

-modifier Combat hard -modifier DeathPenalty hardcore -modifier Resources less -modifier Raids often -modifier Portals hardmode

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Viewing Current Modifiers In-Game

Once connected as an admin, press F5 to open the console and type:

listkeys

This shows all active global keys, including any modifiers you've applied.

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Notes

• Modifiers apply to the world, not individual players — everyone on the server plays under the same rules.
• Changing modifiers mid-playthrough is possible (edit startup params and restart), but switching death penalty or portal mode mid-progression can cause confusion for players who were expecting different rules.
• Mods like Valheim Plus provide even more granular control if these built-in modifiers don't cover your needs.

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Related

• How to Add Admins to Your Valheim Server
• Valheim Debug Mode and Cheat Commands
• Valheim Progression Guide tool