Valheim World Modifiers Guide

How World Modifiers Work

World modifiers are server-wide gameplay settings that control combat difficulty, resource gathering rates, raid frequency, death penalties, and portal behavior. They are set via launch arguments and cannot be changed at runtime without a restart.

You can set modifiers individually with -modifier flags, or set a bundle with -preset. GameGrid always passes the preset first and the individual modifiers after it, so a modifier you set overrides that one category of the preset and leaves the rest of it alone. You do not have to choose between them.

On GameGrid, modifiers are in the Settings tab: World Preset sits in the World category, and the five individual modifiers plus the 22 toggles sit in Gameplay. Changes require a server restart.

All of it works for Xbox, PlayStation and Switch players with nothing installed. Valheim sends the whole world-modifier list to every client as it joins, so the server decides and each player's own game applies it. This is why a modifier beats a mod on a crossplay server: a mod would only reach players who could install it.

Presets

Normal: default Valheim difficulty. Balanced combat, standard resources, normal raids, standard portals. Recommended for first-time players.

Casual: very easy combat, no skill loss on death, much more resources, no raids, casual portals. Ideal for relaxed building and exploration.

Easy: easy combat, reduced death penalty, more resources. A gentler version of Normal.

Hard: hard combat, increased death penalty, fewer resources, more raids. For experienced players who want a challenge.

Hardcore: very hard combat, hardcore death penalty (full inventory drop), minimal resources, much more raids. Permadeath-style. For veterans only.

Immersive: no map, no portals, less resources. Designed for a hardcore exploration and survival experience. You cannot see the world map at all.

Hammer: creative building mode. Free building with no resource cost, passive mobs, no raids. For pure construction and creative projects.

Individual Modifiers

Each modifier category can be set independently. If you set a preset and then set individual modifiers, the individual ones override their category while the rest stay at the preset values.

Combat: controls how much damage enemies deal and take. Values: Very Easy, Easy, Hard, Very Hard.

Death Penalty: controls what you lose when you die. Values: Casual (no skill loss), Very Easy (minimal), Easy (reduced), Hard (increased), Hardcore (full inventory drop).

Resources: controls gathering yields. The panel offers Much Less, Less, More, Much More and Most, plus "Normal (preset default)".

Raids: controls how often enemy raids occur at your base. Values: None (no raids), Much Less, Less, More, Much More. Setting it to None is popular for building-focused servers.

Portals: controls portal restrictions. Values: Casual (no restrictions, can carry all ores), Hard (standard restrictions, no metal through portals), Very Hard (no portals at all).

Every one of the five leaves the preset in charge when you pick "Normal (preset default)". That is not the same as choosing Normal: Valheim rejects "normal" as an explicit modifier value, so the platform simply omits the argument.

Setting Modifiers from the Panel

1. Open the Settings tab for your Valheim server.

2. To use a preset: choose the World category in the left-hand list and pick from the World Preset dropdown. This sets all modifier categories at once.

3. To customise individual modifiers: choose the Gameplay category.

4. Set Combat Modifier, Death Penalty Modifier, Resources Modifier, Raids Modifier and Portals Modifier as you want them. Leave any of them on "Normal (preset default)" to let the preset decide that category.

5. The 22 toggles are in the same category: No Build Cost, No Crafting Cost, No Workbench Required, All Build Pieces Unlocked, All Recipes Unlocked, Allow Building in Dungeons, Always Fire, Player-Based Raids, Passive Enemies, Disable Map, Keep Equipped Items On Death, Keep Full Inventory On Death, Delete All Items On Death, Delete Carried Items On Death, Reset Skills On Death, Disable Portals, Disable Boss Summoning Portals, Allow All Items Through Portals, Lock Tools To World Level, Disable Guaranteed First-Kill Drops, Buildings Never Collapse and Use Custom World Rates. Disable Heavy Snow Weather and Force Heavy Snow Weather sit in World alongside the preset.

6. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

7. Restart the server. Nothing here takes effect while it is running.

You can mix a preset with individual overrides. For example, leave the preset on Normal and set Raids Modifier to None to disable raids while keeping everything else at normal difficulty.

Checkbox Keys

In addition to the category modifiers, the panel offers 22 boolean toggles, set with -setkey. Every one is OFF by default, so a server you have not touched behaves exactly as its preset says. The panel labels are on the left, the underlying key on the right:

No Build Cost (nobuildcost): building pieces cost no resources. Similar to Hammer mode but without the other Hammer preset changes.

Player-Based Raids (playerevents): raids are triggered by what players have done rather than by elapsed time.

Passive Enemies (passivemobs): all enemies are passive and will not attack. Good for peaceful building servers.

Disable Map (nomap): disables the world map entirely. Players must navigate by landmarks and stars. Pairs well with the Immersive preset.

No Crafting Cost (nocraftcost): crafting at workbenches and stations costs no resources. Building is separate - that is No Build Cost.

No Workbench Required (noworkbench): building and crafting work without being near a workbench.

All Build Pieces Unlocked (allpiecesunlocked): every build piece is available regardless of progression.

All Recipes Unlocked (allrecipesunlocked): every crafting recipe is available regardless of progression.

Allow Building in Dungeons (dungeonbuild): building is allowed inside dungeons.

Always Fire (fire): sets the global fire key, which changes how fire behaves in the world.

Keep Equipped Items On Death (deathkeepequip): players keep what they had equipped; everything else still drops into the tombstone.

Keep Full Inventory On Death (deathkeepinventory): players keep everything and no tombstone is created. The gentlest death rule there is.

Delete All Items On Death (deathdeleteitems): DESTRUCTIVE. Everything a player carries is destroyed, with no tombstone to recover from. Turning it back off does not return anything already lost.

Delete Carried Items On Death (deathdeleteunequipped): DESTRUCTIVE. Everything except equipped gear is destroyed. Same warning as above.

Reset Skills On Death (deathskillsreset): DESTRUCTIVE. Skill levels reset on death instead of taking the ordinary partial loss, and the lost progress does not come back.

Disable Portals (noportals): portals stop working; every journey is on foot or by boat. Portals already built are not destroyed, they simply do nothing.

Disable Boss Summoning Portals (nobossportals): removes the portals that appear at boss altars.

Allow All Items Through Portals (teleportall): ore and metal bars can be carried through a portal. The most asked-for convenience on a small server.

Lock Tools To World Level (worldlevellockedtools): ties what players can craft and use to the World Difficulty Level. Only does anything when that is above 0.

Disable Guaranteed First-Kill Drops (nopseudodrops): turns off the hidden early-game help that guarantees certain drops the first few times a creature is killed.

Buildings Never Collapse (nobuildingfall): structures no longer fall when their supports go. Placement rules still apply.

Use Custom World Rates (the sixteen rate dials): see the next section.

Disable Heavy Snow Weather (noheavysnow) and Force Heavy Snow Weather (allheavysnow) are the two weather keys, and live in the World category. Set at most one of them.

These can be combined with any preset or individual modifier setting.

Custom World Rates

The five category modifiers move several things at once in fixed steps. If you want one number instead, turn on Use Custom World Rates in Gameplay. That reveals sixteen dials, each a percentage of normal: 100 is Valheim untouched, 50 is half, 200 is double.

The dials are Player Damage, Enemy Damage, Resource Yield, Stamina Cost, Movement Stamina Cost, Stamina Regeneration, Eitr Cost, Durability Use, Food Duration, Adrenaline Rate, Skill Gain, Skill Loss On Death, Enemy Speed And Size, Enemy Star Rate, Carry Weight and Raid Frequency.

While the toggle is OFF none of them is sent to the server and your world is untouched, even if you have moved a slider. While it is ON all sixteen are applied, including the ones still at 100 - which mean "normal" and change nothing.

There is no upper limit, because Valheim does not set one. The panel refuses a negative number and nothing else, so a large value is allowed and is your decision. Skill Loss On Death set to 0 is the usual reason people turn this on.

World Difficulty Level sits next to them and is not a percentage: 0 is the ordinary world, and 1 to 10 make every creature tougher everywhere, the way Valheim scales the Ashlands. Leaving it at 0 sends nothing.

One consequence worth knowing before you turn this on: Valheim treats a world whose modifiers were not set from its own in-game World Modifiers menu as carrying custom settings, and the in-game achievements list shows it that way.

Recommended Combinations

Relaxed co-op: preset Casual. No raids, easy combat, more resources. Perfect for a small group that wants to build and explore without stress.

Hardcore Viking: preset Hardcore. Maximum challenge for experienced players. Expect to die often.

Building server: preset Hammer, or preset Casual with Raids Modifier set to None and No Build Cost enabled. Pure construction.

Exploration challenge: preset Immersive. No map, no portals, fewer resources. The ultimate Viking survival experience.

Normal with no raids: preset Normal, then set Raids Modifier to None. Standard difficulty without base defence pressure.