BoatRace

Gate-to-gate boat racing events for Valheim. An admin lays out a course as a list of gates in a JSON file, starts a race with everyone currently online, and racers follow lit buoy markers around the course while a live leaderboard tracks who is furthest along.

Required on the server and on every client. Race state is server-authoritative.

Setting up a course

Copy BoatRace_Gates.example.json into BepInEx/config/, rename it to BoatRace_Gates.json, and edit it. Each gate is a line between two buoy points that racers cross in order:

{
  "gates": [
    {
      "index": 1,
      "name": "Start Line",
      "pointA": { "x": 0.0, "y": 30.0, "z": 0.0 },
      "pointB": { "x": 30.0, "y": 30.0, "z": 0.0 }
    }
  ]
}

Gate 1 is the start line, the highest-numbered gate is the finish. Indices must run 1, 2, 3... with no gaps or duplicates. Stand where you want a buoy and read your coordinates off the F5 console to fill the file in.

Commands

• boatrace_start — (admin) start a race with everyone currently connected
• boatrace_end — (admin) end the race early; anyone still racing is marked DNF
• boatrace_reset — (admin) clear all race state and hide the HUD
• boatrace_reload — (admin) reload the gate file from disk and respawn markers
• boatrace_testui — preview the markers, leaderboard and arrow with dummy data
• boatrace_setpos <x> <y> — move your own leaderboard panel

Racing rules

Crossing a gate out of sequence costs a flat time penalty (15s by default) but does not change which gate you need next. Crossing the final gate locks in your time; the race keeps running for everyone else. Disconnecting mid-race is a DNF.

Navigation aids

All three point at your own next gate, not the leader's: the next gate's buoys burn green while every other gate burns orange, a pulsing marker appears on both the minimap and the full map, and a screen-edge arrow rotates toward the gate with a distance readout.

Requires Jotunn.