One of the best things about running your own Valheim world is control. World Modifiers let you reshape the entire experience — from a relaxed building sandbox to a brutal no-portals hardcore run — without any mods at all. This guide explains every Valheim world modifier, the difficulty presets, and how to apply them to a dedicated server.
If you’d rather build your settings visually and copy a ready-made config, our free Valheim server config generator turns your choices into the exact values you need.
What are World Modifiers?
World Modifiers are official, built-in settings that adjust the challenge and rules of a world. On a single-player or local world you set them from the “Join World” / “Modifiers” screen; on a dedicated server you apply them through startup parameters so they’re enforced for everyone. They’re completely separate from mods — meaning they work even on a crossplay server where console players are present and BepInEx mods can’t be used.
The five main modifiers
Combat
Controls how hard enemies hit and how much punishment they take. Options run Very Easy, Easy, Standard, Hard and Very Hard. Hard and Very Hard significantly increase enemy damage and health — great for veteran crews who find vanilla too soft, but pair it with good food and upgraded gear or boss fights become a wall.
Death Penalty
Adjusts how much you lose when you die. Options range from Casual (no skill loss, keep everything) through Very Easy, Easy, Standard, Hard and up to Hardcore. This is the modifier most groups actually tweak: Valheim’s default skill drain on death feels harsh to many players, so dialling it to Casual or Easy keeps a social server fun, while Hardcore is for those who want every death to sting.
Resources
Scales how much loot and materials drop, from roughly 0.5× up to 3× the normal rate (Much Less, Less, Standard, More, Much More, Most). Higher resource rates are perfect for building-focused servers or smaller groups who don’t want to spend hours farming — you get to the fun parts (bases, boss fights, exploration) faster. Lower rates suit hardcore survival purists.
Raids (Events)
Controls how often enemies raid your base with those “The ground is shaking” events. Options go from None through Much Less, Less, Standard, More and Much More. Note that some scripted night attacks can still occur even on the lowest setting. Turn raids down if you want peaceful building time, or crank them up for a base-defence challenge.
Portals
Changes the rules around fast travel. The relaxed setting lets you carry everything — including ore and metals — through portals, which removes Valheim’s signature “sail your iron home” grind. The standard setting keeps the classic restriction (no metals through portals), and the hardest options restrict portals further or disable them entirely for a pure-exploration experience. This is the single biggest quality-of-life lever for busy players.
Difficulty presets (the quick way)
If you don’t want to set each modifier by hand, Valheim ships with presets that bundle them together:
| Preset | Vibe |
|---|---|
| Standard | The default, balanced Valheim experience |
| Casual | Softer combat and death penalty — great for relaxed groups |
| Easy | A gentle reduction in challenge |
| Hard | Tougher enemies for experienced players |
| Hardcore | Maximum challenge, harsh death penalty |
| Immersive | No map — navigate by landmarks alone |
| Hammer (Creative) | Free building with no resource cost |
Presets are just a starting point — you can apply one and then fine-tune individual modifiers on top.
Global keys: the deeper toggles
Beyond the main sliders, Valheim supports global “setkey” toggles for more specific rule changes. Popular ones include:
- NoMap — hides the map and minimap entirely (the basis of Immersive mode).
- PassiveMobs — enemies won’t attack, ideal for screenshots or relaxed building.
- NoPortals — disables portal use completely.
- NoBuildCost — build without consuming materials (creative/Hammer mode).
- PlayerEvents — ties raid events to player-specific progress keys.
- TeleportAll — allows all items, including ore, through portals.
How to apply modifiers on a dedicated server
On a local world you just pick modifiers in the menu. On a dedicated server you enforce them globally through the server’s startup arguments, using -modifier flags (for example, a combat and portals modifier) and -setkey for the global toggles. The exact syntax can be fiddly to get right by hand, which is why we built tools to do it for you:
- Generate your full server config visually with the Valheim server config generator.
- Follow the step-by-step world modifiers documentation and difficulty presets guide to apply them on your server.
On XGamingServer’s Valheim hosting, world modifiers are built right into the control panel — pick a preset or toggle individual settings without touching a config file, and the change applies to your whole crew.
Recommended setups for different groups
- Relaxed friend group: Casual death penalty, More resources, portals set to carry everything. Maximum fun, minimum grind.
- Building/creative server: Hammer mode or NoBuildCost, PassiveMobs on, raids off.
- Veteran challenge run: Hard or Very Hard combat, Hardcore death penalty, no metals through portals, raids on More.
- Purist survival: Standard combat, NoMap (Immersive), NoPortals — navigate and haul everything the old-fashioned way.
Settings that work with crossplay
Because world modifiers are a vanilla feature, they all work on a crossplay server — so even with PS5, Xbox and Switch 2 players in your world (full crossplay arrives with the 1.0 launch on September 9, 2026), you can still completely customise the difficulty and rules. That’s a big advantage over mod-based difficulty changes, which break crossplay entirely.
Frequently asked questions
What are World Modifiers in Valheim?
Built-in settings that let you adjust combat difficulty, death penalty, resource rates, raids and portal rules — no mods required. They can be set per world or enforced server-wide.
Can I change world modifiers after starting a world?
Yes. Most modifiers can be changed at any time from the menu or, on a server, by updating the startup settings — so you can adjust difficulty as your group grows stronger.
Do world modifiers work on a dedicated server?
Yes, and they apply to everyone on the server. Use our server config generator to set them, or the in-panel settings on our hosting.
Do world modifiers work with crossplay?
Yes — they’re a vanilla feature, so they work even on crossplay servers where BepInEx mods can’t be used.
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