VanillaBarrelPlus

Adds a visual contents display to Valheim's vanilla barrel container. Supports 203 in-game item prefabs.

Version 1.0.0 · October 31, 2026

Screenshots

How it works

Open a vanilla barrel and enable Display Contents. The mod hides the lid and displays a pile of models of the selected item inside. The checkbox is located outside the barrel window, below its bottom-left corner.

Each barrel remembers its own checkbox state. Display is off for new barrels by default. You can also enable it for all barrels through the configuration.

The mod uses the existing vanilla barrel. It does not add a new container, change the number of inventory slots, or create actual inventory items.

Features

• 203 supported vanilla item prefabs.
• Visual piles built from in-game models and materials.
• A separate Display Contents checkbox for each barrel.
• Selection by the most abundant item or the first occupied inventory slot.
• Automatic updates when the selected item changes.
• Item-specific model scale, density, height, and rotation profiles.
• Repeatable placement: the same barrel and item keep the same arrangement after reloading.
• Per-barrel display state saved with the world and shared with other players using the mod.
• Interface translations for 36 languages, using the language selected in Valheim.
• A checkbox to enable or disable the mod.

Pile volume does not depend on the number of items in the barrel. For the same item, the visual pile looks the same whether the barrel contains one item or several full stacks. The number of visual copies is determined by the item's display profile. Empty barrels have no pile.

Item selection

Most abundant item — the default mode.

The mod totals each item across all its stacks and displays the item with the highest total. For example, a barrel with 59 deer meat and 58 boar meat displays deer meat. Adding 2 more boar meat switches the display to boar meat.

Ties are resolved by the first stack's inventory position, reading left to right and top to bottom.

First occupied slot — optional mode.

Check First Slot Item to display the item in the first occupied inventory slot, regardless of the quantities of other items.

If the selected item is unsupported, no pile is created and the barrel keeps its normal appearance. The mod does not automatically select another item instead.

Supported items

The mod supports 203 vanilla item prefabs, including small resources and materials, berries, mushrooms, vegetables, seeds, selected raw, cooked and dried meats, fish portions, all fishing baits, arrows, ballista ammunition, and wood.

Weapons, armor, tools, trophies, meads, feasts, most prepared dishes, ingots, and equipment crafting components are excluded. Individual resource support also depends on the mod's supported-item list.

The archive includes the complete list with prefab IDs, item types, biomes, and RU/EN names: docs/supported-items-1.0.0.md.

Configuration

The configuration file is created automatically on first launch:

BepInEx/config/dellarion.valheim.vanillabarrelplus.cfg

All settings are Boolean checkboxes: checked = on (1), unchecked = off (0). BepInEx stores these values as true and false in the configuration file.

Section	Setting	Default	Behavior
General	Enabled	Checked (true)	Enables or disables the mod.
Display Selection	First Slot Item	Unchecked (false)	Checked: use the first occupied slot. Unchecked: use the item with the highest total quantity.
Display Contents	Always Enabled	Unchecked (false)	Checked: always display contents in every barrel. Unchecked: use each barrel's saved checkbox state.

Default configuration:

[General]
Enabled = true

[Display Selection]
First Slot Item = false

[Display Contents]
Always Enabled = false

When Always Enabled is checked, the Display Contents checkbox in every barrel is checked and cannot be cleared. This does not overwrite saved per-barrel preferences: unchecking Always Enabled restores their previous behavior.

Existing Enabled / Disabled values and numeric 1 / 0 values are automatically converted to Boolean values on startup, preserving your choices.

To edit the configuration manually, close the game, edit the file, and restart.

Multiplayer

Each player who wants to see the models needs the mod installed and enabled. Players without the mod see a normal barrel.

The Display Contents checkbox is shared for each barrel and saved with the world. Changes are sent to other clients using the mod. The mod must also be active on the barrel's current network owner to process checkbox changes.

Configuration settings are local and are not automatically synchronized. Use matching mod versions and settings for the same appearance. In particular, Always Enabled forces display on for that client, while First Slot Item changes how the displayed item is selected.

Installation

With a mod manager

1. Select Valheim and your profile in r2modman or Thunderstore Mod Manager.
2. Install VanillaBarrelPlus and its dependencies.
3. Launch the game through your mod manager.
4. Open a vanilla barrel and check Display Contents.

Manual installation

1. Install BepInExPack Valheim.
2. Close the game and extract the VanillaBarrelPlus archive.
3. Copy the archive's BepInEx folder into your game directory or active mod profile, merging it with the existing folder.
4. Check that the DLL is located at:

BepInEx/plugins/VanillaBarrelPlus/VanillaBarrelPlus.dll

1. Launch the game and enable Display Contents in a barrel.

Uninstallation

Close the game. Uninstall VanillaBarrelPlus through your mod manager, or manually delete BepInEx/plugins/VanillaBarrelPlus. You can also delete the configuration file: BepInEx/config/dellarion.valheim.vanillabarrelplus.cfg.

Uninstalling the mod does not break barrels, their contents, or your world save. They remain vanilla containers and continue to work normally. Only the additional contents display is lost, and the normal barrel lids return.

Credits and authorship

Concept, feature design, testing, and project direction: Dellarion.

Code and gameplay mechanics implementation: developed with ChatGPT by OpenAI, under the author's direction, iteration, testing, and final approval.

Inspiration: Dynamic Storage Piles by MSchmoecker.

Valheim is developed by Iron Gate Studio and published by Coffee Stain Publishing. This is an unofficial fan-made mod and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Iron Gate Studio, Coffee Stain Publishing, or OpenAI.

Contact

[email protected]