Dropped and Lost

SERVER-SIDE MOD

Install it on the server only. Players join with an unmodified game and install nothing. If you host a world from your own game, install it in your own game: you are the server.

You are lost. Find your friends. Bosses need company.

The idea for Dropped and Lost came from Vidguy. Thank you!

Optional client-side companions for the best experience: DAL Compass and Lost Camps.

Dropped and Lost is for playing with friends. It turns Valheim into a "find each other" adventure: everyone is dropped alone, far from anyone else, with no map and no way to shout across the world. You explore, you survive, and you look for your friends the hard way. Then you stand together, because the bosses will not wake for a lone player.

It is a rule set for a private server or a world you share with people you know. It is not anti-cheat and not meant for public servers.

Forget what you have learned from your hundredth start at the Stones. This one is different.

Built and tested on Valheim 1.0.20. Requires BepInEx on the server.

What it does

• Scattered, far-off starts. Every character gets its own random starting point, 3,000 to 6,000 m from the Stones (configurable), in Meadows, on dry ground, with another biome nearby and clear of dungeons and villages. The point is remembered across relogs and server restarts. Die with no bed and you come back to that point, not the Stones. New starts also keep a respectable distance from where other characters began (500 m when there is room, less on a crowded server): enough company for solidarity, enough distance for fear, enough empty horizon for loneliness. You can make as many characters as you like; each one gets its own random point.
• No map. No map, no minimap, no position markers, and other players' positions are never shared. The cartography table is blocked.
• No shout, no pings. Normal talk and whispers still work, so you cannot call a friend across the world. You have to find them.
• Bosses need company. A boss altar only wakes up while at least two living players stand within 50 m of it. Alone, the altar stays silent and nothing is taken from your inventory. This covers all eight bosses, Eikthyr through The Queen.
• One linked pair of portals each. Each character may have two portals standing, and the two link to each other as a single pair. The server names the pair: the second portal you build joins the first, and nobody can type a name. If one is destroyed, the next portal that character builds rejoins the survivor; if both are gone, the name is retired and the next pair gets a new one. Anyone can travel through any linked portal, but only the builder can take one down. If someone else deletes your portal, the server puts it back. Raids, fire and weather can still destroy portals. A third portal disappears within a second and its materials drop where it stood.
• Finding your grave. With no map, a tombstone is hard to find, so after you respawn you are told its heading and rough distance ("Your grave lies about 350 m to the north-east."). Never coordinates.
• Join message and notices. On login: "You are lost. Find friends. Bosses need company." Everyone sees "Name has arrived." and "Name has left." (name only, no position).

The rules are enforced by the server, so players cannot change them by editing their own config.

Optional companion mods (client side)

These are separate mods that players install on their own PC. The server mod works without them.

• DAL Compass - a heading compass (bar, dial or text line) and markers that point toward your last three graves, with a rounded distance and never any coordinates. F8 cycles the style, F9 hides it, F10 clears the markers. Also needed if you turn on the mod list below: it reports the player's mods to the server. It also stops the hammer on other players' portals before the server has to.
• Lost Camps - abandoned camps with diary pages to find, and paintings when you sleep. The server places the camps; each player needs the mod to read them.

Install (server)

1. Install BepInEx on the server (the BepInExPack_Valheim package).
2. Put the DroppedAndLost folder from this package in BepInEx/plugins/.
3. Start the server once, then edit BepInEx/config/com.laoch.droppedandlost.cfg. Changes apply a few seconds after you save; no restart needed.

Tips

• The raft is your friend. Don't be afraid to give up on your first spot and sail to a better start location.
• Bad drop? Start over. If you spawn somewhere dire, such as mobs close enough to kill you instantly, make a new character and try again.
• Use what you know. Put your Valheim experience to work on the mobs, terrain and world around you. For example, lure Trolls into knocking over trees and breaking copper deposits for you.
• Leave yourself a trail. With no map, use paths, signs and markers so you can find your way back.
• Bosses are a group activity. You need at least one other player standing with you to summon a boss, so finding your friends matters more than ever.
• Spend your portals wisely. You get one linked pair per character, so think about where it will do the most good before you build.

Settings (all in the server's config file)

Setting	Default	What it does
Spawn.Enabled	true	Random first spawn.
Spawn.IncludeExistingAccounts	false	Accounts that had already played the world before this mod keep vanilla spawning.
Spawn.MinDistance / MaxDistance	3000 / 6000	Metres from the Stones. Invalid pairs reset to default.
Spawn.NearbyBiomeRadius / MinNearbyBiomes	150 / 1	Another biome must be this close.
Spawn.MaxSearchAttempts	500	Candidates tried before relaxing the rules.
Spawn.MaxSlopeDegrees	20	Steepest ground.
Spawn.MinHeightAboveWater	2	Metres.
Spawn.MinDistanceFromLocations	75	Metres from dungeons, villages, altars and big ruins.
Spawn.MinDistanceFromOtherSpawns	500	Metres kept from other players' spawn points. A preference only: if no spot fits it is halved, then dropped, so a busy server never runs out of places. 0 = off.
Respawn.Mode	FirstSpawn	FirstSpawn, Stones (vanilla) or RandomEachDeath.
Respawn.RerollAfterDeaths	0	Roll a new point after this many deaths in a row with no bed. 0 = off.
Map.NoMap	true	Removes map, minimap and position markers.
Map.DisableCartographyTable	true	Blocks the cartography table.
Boss.MinPlayersForBoss	2	1 means vanilla.
Boss.PresenceRadius	50	Metres from the altar.
Chat.DisableShout / BlockPings	true / true
Chat.ShowJoinMessage / JoinMessage	true / text	Centre-screen message when a player arrives.
Death.TombstoneHint	true	After you respawn, shows the heading and rough distance to your tombstone (no coordinates).
World.ForcedKeys	(empty)	World rules sent to every player who joins, never saved into the world file. Separate with semicolons, for example resourcerate 2; deathpenalty casual.
Portals.LimitPortals	true	Turns all portal rules on or off.
Portals.MaxPortalsPerPlayer	2	Per character.
Portals.LockPortalNames	true	Players cannot edit portal names.
Portals.ProtectFromOthers	true	Only the builder can remove a portal.
General.DebugLogging	false	Extra log detail.

DAL Compass keeps its own settings in each player's config (com.laoch.dalcompass.cfg).

Good to know

• Saved data is in BepInEx/config/DroppedAndLost/<world>/. Removing the mod never changes your world or characters; the spawn and portal records are simply ignored.
• Portals built before the mod was installed are left exactly as they are.
• A portal built beyond a player's limit disappears within a second and its materials drop where it stood.
• This is a friends-server rule set, not anti-cheat. A modified game client still receives whatever the server normally sends it.
• Whispers have a 4 m range and normal talk 15 m, as in vanilla.

Credits

The idea for Dropped and Lost came from Vidguy. Thank you! Check out his other work at thunderstore.io/c/valheim/p/Vidguy.

Licence

MIT. See LICENSE and THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

Mod list (optional)

Set Mods.EnforceModList = true to kick players whose mods are not in BepInEx/config/DroppedAndLost/ModAllowlist.txt (created on first start). One mod per line: [+]mod.id[|version[|sha256]]; + means required. A version or hash is checked only when you write one; a plain mod.id accepts any version. Players must run DAL Compass, which reports what they run; players without it are kicked after Mods.GraceSeconds. Editing the list re-checks connected players within seconds. A modified client can lie about its list, so this keeps honest players honest; it is not anti-cheat. Off by default.

Arrival and departure notices, and a minimum Meadows size

• Chat.AnnouncePresence (default on): everyone sees "Name has arrived." / "Name has left." (top-left, name only, no position). Wording: Chat.ArrivedText, Chat.LeftText.
• Spawn.MinMeadowsRadius (default 120) and Spawn.MinMeadowsFraction (default 0.8): a start must have at least that share of Meadows within that many metres, so nobody starts on a tiny meadow. 0 radius turns it off. Only the last-resort search stage halves it.

Bug Reports

Found a bug? Email [email protected]