HUD Update

A Nordic-styled replacement for the lower-left Valheim HUD: guardian power, food and health in one compact block of diamonds. Client-side, no server install required.

0.1.3 — early release. Everything below works in the author's game, but the mod has not been tested with every setup yet. Bug reports and screenshots are welcome.

Screenshots

Top row: vanilla HUD, HudStyle = Bars, HudStyle = Chevron. Bottom row: FoodIconColor = Off, Tint, Glow.

All food icons next to the vanilla ones they replace

Features

• Guardian power diamond with white knotwork emblems for Eikthyr, The Elder and Bonemass, the power name and cooldown.
• Three food diamonds with flat, white food icons (30 drawn icon types covering every vanilla food, the Deep North included) and a readable timer. An empty slot shows a dimmed plate.
• Vanilla-style reminder: a food icon pulses once you can eat it again (less than half of its time left), exactly like the base game.
• Two HUD styles, switchable in the config while the game runs:
  • Bars (default) — slanted health and stamina bars with value plates and ✚ / ⚡ icons.
  • Chevron — a 2×2 food grid framed by a red health chevron with an "N HP" label; stamina stays vanilla.
• Replaceable icons: every icon is a PNG in the Icons folder, swap any of them for your own.
• Optional stat colouring of food icons: red for health, yellow for stamina, blue for eitr, white for balanced food. Tint, soft glow, or both. Off by default.
• A damage trail shows how much health you just lost.

Installation

Mod manager (r2modman / Thunderstore Mod Manager): install HUD Update; BepInExPack Valheim is installed automatically.

Manual: install BepInExPack Valheim, then copy the HUD-Update folder (the DLL and the Icons folder) into BepInEx/plugins/.

Custom icons

Every icon is a PNG in BepInEx/plugins/HUD-Update/Icons. Replace a file with your own picture under the same name and the HUD updates within a second, even in game. Delete a file to get the built-in icon back: the DLL keeps its own copies, so the mod also works without the folder.

A mod update restores that folder. To keep your own icons, put them in BepInEx/config/HUD-Update/Icons instead; it is created on the first launch and wins over the plugin folder.

• food_*.png — glyphs shared by many dishes (food_steak, food_stew, food_pie…).
• <FoodPrefab>.png — an icon for one exact food, e.g. CookedMeat.png.
• Eikthyr.png, TheElder.png, Bonemass.png — guardian emblems; GP_<Power>.png (GP_Moder.png, GP_Yagluth.png, GP_Queen.png, GP_Fader.png) adds one for any other guardian.
• HealthIcon.png, StaminaIcon.png, chevron_shape.png, chevron_outline.png — bar signs and the health chevron.

Square PNGs with a transparent background work best. FoodIconColor = Tint colours the icon, so it looks right on white or light icons. Icons/README.txt lists the same rules.

Configuration

BepInEx/config/crevitka.hudupdate.cfg is created on the first launch. Save the file while the game is running and the HUD updates within about a second.

Section	Setting	Values	Default
General	HudStyle	Bars, Chevron	Bars
Food	FoodIconColor	Off, Tint, Glow, TintAndGlow	Off
Food	FoodGlowStrength	0 – 1	0.7

A food counts as "health", "stamina" or "eitr" when that stat is at least 30 % higher than the next one; otherwise it is shown as balanced (white). Tint is applied only to the mod's own white icons — vanilla colour icons keep their colours and only get the glow.

Compatibility

• Client-side only. Works on vanilla and modded servers; other players do not need it.
• Replaces the vanilla health panel, food icons and guardian power display (and, with Bars, the stamina bar). Mods that restyle the same HUD parts — for example Auga or other full HUD overhauls — are not compatible.
• Mods that only add items are fine: unknown foods get a matching icon by name (soup, pie, jam, meat…) or keep their own icon.

Known limitations

• The HUD font is the game's own; it may look slightly different from the artwork.
• Moder, Yagluth, the Queen and Fader do not have custom emblems yet and use the game's icon (you can add your own, see Custom icons).

Credits and licence

Author: Crevitka. Guardian emblems (Eikthyr, The Elder, Bonemass): 𝗛คηɗץ.

MIT License — see LICENSE. Developed with AI assistance. No game assets are included.