Valheim World Installer

A BepInEx 5 mod for Valheim that installs a bundled custom world into the game's local world saves, hides unrelated worlds from the world-selection menu, and allows players to restore the bundled world to its original state without restarting the game.

Important: Reset deliberately requires two clicks on Start. The first click restores the world; the second enters it. This is intentional to prevent Valheim from loading a stale save.

Features

• Automatically installs the bundled world on first launch if its destination folder does not already exist.
• Shows only the bundled world in Valheim's world-selection menu. Other worlds are not deleted.
• Adds a «Загрузить новое сохранение» checkbox beside the world Start button.
• Restores the original world data and world settings/modifiers from the bundled save.
• Works repeatedly during one game session; no restart needed.
• Uses a temporary rollback directory during replacement, removed after a successful operation. No permanent backup is kept.

Requirements

• Valheim (tested with game version 1.0.20)
• BepInEx 5 (tested with 5.4.23.5)
• Windows local save storage (worlds_local)
• A compatible bundled world save supplied by the modpack author

Installation

Install the mod using Thunderstore Mod Manager or r2modman. The package must include both the compiled plugin DLL and the complete original world save in the following layout:

BepInEx/
  plugins/
    ValheimWorldInstaller/
      ValheimWorldInstaller.dll
  config/
    ValheimWorldInstaller/
      Worlds/
        The Bizarre/
          ...all original world save files and subfolders...

The bundled save must contain its metadata (.fwl2 or .fwl), database files, and all associated chunk files. Do not rename or omit files inside the save folder.

On first run, the mod copies the world into Valheim's local save directory:

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim\worlds_local\The Bizarre\

If the target folder already exists, initial installation does not overwrite it.

How to play

1. Start Valheim and choose the bundled world in the normal world-selection menu.
2. Click Start with the reset checkbox unchecked to continue your existing progress.
3. To begin again from the original bundled save, check «Загрузить новое сохранение» and click Start once. The game stays in the menu while the save is replaced and reloaded.
4. Once the refresh completes, confirm the checkbox is unchecked, select the bundled world if necessary, and click Start again to enter the reset world.

Reset permanently discards progress made in the installed copy of the bundled world. It also restores the original world modifiers/settings. Character data is separate and is not reset by this mod.

Configuration

The configuration file is generated at:

BepInEx/config/com.valheim.worldinstaller.cfg

Default setting:

[World]
WorldFolderName = The Bizarre

The value must match the folder name under BepInEx/config/ValheimWorldInstaller/Worlds/ exactly.

Troubleshooting

• World not installed: verify the bundled save exists in the package and check BepInEx/LogOutput.log for Bundle missing or Initial install failed.
• Reset does not start the world: this is expected on the first click with the checkbox checked. Click Start again with the checkbox unchecked.
• Reset fails: do not keep entering the world until the save is checked. Read BepInEx/LogOutput.log for LIVE RESET FAILED, refresh failed, or BLOCKING START.
• Need to reinstall the pristine save: exit Valheim, remove only the installed The Bizarre folder from worlds_local, then restart the game. Do not remove unrelated worlds.

Compatibility and limitations

This release was validated through repeated resets on Valheim 1.0.20, including restoration of world changes and settings. Other Valheim versions and mod combinations have not been verified. The reset mechanism intentionally uses two Start clicks and does not keep permanent backups. The mod filters the world list shown in the menu; it does not remove unrelated save files.

Version

3.7.2 — fixed recognition of the selected bundled world during reset; verified repeatable same-session resets using the two-click flow.