SmarterHoe

A comprehensive, precision terrain-editing and agriculture overhaul for the Valheim hoe.

SmarterHoe equips you with a professional suite of terraforming and agriculture tools — from all Cultivator abilities and progression-gated crop planting built directly into the hoe, to laser-flat plateau leveling, multi-waypoint spline road carving, full multi-step undo/redo, 3D previews, 9-language localization, and server-authoritative dedicated server synchronization — all while staying fully balanced for survival play.

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Features

Cultivator Integration & Farming Grid

• Unified Tool: All Cultivator abilities and plantables are integrated directly into the Hoe — till soil, regrow grass, and plant crops without swapping tools or wasting inventory slots.
• Intelligent Farming Grid System (F8): Plant crops, vegetables, and sapling rows in neat, organized grids with a single click.
• Automatic Healthy Spacing: Dynamically calculates safe growth distance based on each crop's growRadius. Crops planted in the grid will never fail to mature or complain with "Needs more space".
• Adjustable Grid Radius: Press Q (or hold Alt and scroll), or use [ and ], to adjust grid radius with live HUD dimensions (1x1, 3x3, 5x5, etc.).
• Proximity Row Snapping: Snaps the grid to align with nearby existing crop rows of the same type. Hold Shift to bypass snapping for freeform placement.
• Mass Area Harvesting (Shift + E): Harvest all mature crops and pickables in a configurable radius (default: 5m). Harvested items are automatically vacuumed directly into your inventory.
• Harvest Filter & Auto-Replant (C): Cycle between All Pickables, Replantable Crops only, or specific detected crops. Enable EnableHarvestReplant in config to immediately replant harvested fields in place.
• AzuCraftyBoxes Integration: Batch planting, single-crop placement, and area harvest replanting pull seeds and vegetables seamlessly from nearby chests and containers.
• Batch Crop Undo (Ctrl + Z): Press Ctrl + Z to cleanly remove all newly planted crops from the world and refund the seeds directly back to your inventory.
• Progression-Gated Planting: Players only see and plant crops, saplings, or seeds they have legitimately discovered in the world.

Measure Mode (3D Laser Ruler)

• Point-to-Point Measuring (N): First press sets Point A with a cyan 3D ring; second press sets Point B and locks the measurement; third press or Escape clears.
• Live 3D Ruler: Displays a live line connecting your aim point in real time.
• Elevation & Slope Diagnostics: Displays 3D distance, horizontal distance, height delta ($\Delta h$), slope angle in degrees, and road grade percentage right on your HUD.

Multi-Step Undo & Redo System

• Step-by-Step Reversion (Alt + Z / Alt + Y): Undo or redo previous terrain modifications step-by-step (up to 15 history steps by default).
• Universal Tool Coverage: Works on Altitude Leveling, Instant Plateau, Soften, Restore Nature, Spline Ramps, Raise Earth, Mud Roads, Paved Stone Roads, Cultivate, and Replant.
• Continuous Sweep Grouping: Drag-leveling or paving continuously groups the entire stroke into a single atomic undo entry.
• Texture & Grass Restoration: Undoing fully restores dirt, grass, and stone paint masks and synchronizes vegetation clutter in real time.

Altitude Lock & Instant Plateau

• Altitude Lock (L): Locks your working elevation. Every subsequent click levels terrain to that exact height across hills and slopes.
• Snap to Building Floors (Middle Click): Aim at any placed wood or stone floor piece and middle-click to snap the locked altitude to that floor's exact height.
• Elevation Tuning (PageUp / PageDown): Tap or hold down to smoothly adjust locked elevation. Hold Shift for a 5x speed multiplier.
• Instant Plateau Tool: Dedicated build-menu tool that instantly flattens the entire brush area to the elevation directly under your cursor in a single click.

Smooth Ramp & Spline Road Carver

• Waypoint Road Plotting (K): Place waypoints across rugged terrain to plot out a mountain trail or highway.
• Spline Auto-Carving (H): Instantly auto-carves a smooth, graded road corridor through all waypoints using Catmull-Rom spline interpolation.
• Slope Cart-Friendliness Guide: Live 3D spine dynamically indicates slope steepness (Green: Cart-Friendly, Yellow: Steep, Red: Too Steep for Carts).
• Cobblestone Shortcut: Hold Shift while pressing H to auto-carve the road directly in paved cobblestone.

True Square & Circle Brushes

• Shape Toggle (G): Switch between circular and square brush geometry.
• True Rotated Square Alignment: Square brush rotates smoothly using your mouse wheel or arrow keys, eliminating vanilla axis-aligned distortion. Press Home to reset rotation to North.

Terrain Restoration & Debris Clearing

• Soften Terrain: Gently blends sharp ridges and cliff creases into natural, smooth transitions without flattening the terrain to a plane.
• Restore Terrain (U): Resets terrain within the brush radius back to its natural, unmodified world-generation state.
• Clear Debris: Instantly removes trees, logs, stumps, rocks, boulders, and bushes within the brush radius. In Balanced Survival mode, requires an Axe for trees and a Pickaxe for rocks.
• Quench Lava: Unlocks in the Ashlands. Solidifies bubbling molten magma into walkable, heat-resistant crust and prevents lava leakage bugs.

Extended Reach & Height Clamping Bypass

• Extended Reach: Configurable placement reach (default 20m, range 5m–50m) for comfortable terraforming without constant walking.
• Bypass ±8m Limit: Removes Valheim's restrictive ±8m height clamp, allowing you to level deep canyons or raise towering mountain citadels up to a configurable limit (default: 50m).

Dynamic Tooltips & Multi-Language Support

• Dynamic Keybind HUD: Tooltips in the Hoe and Cultivator menus update dynamically whenever you change keybinds.
• Multi-Language Localization: Full native translations for English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Polish, and Swedish.

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Controls & Keybinds

Hotkey	Action	Description
F8	Toggle Farming Grid	Turns multi-crop grid planting on/off
Q / Alt + Scroll	Adjust Grid Radius	Changes grid planting footprint (1x1, 3x3, 5x5, etc.)
Shift (Hold)	Freeform Placement	Bypasses crop row snapping
Shift + E	Mass Area Harvest	Harvests all mature crops & pickables in radius (default: 5m)
C	Cycle Harvest Filter	All Pickables → Replantable Crops only → Specific crop types
G	Toggle Shape	Switch crop grid and brush between Square and Circle
Alt + Z / Ctrl + Z	Undo Action	Reverts last terrain edit or batch planting (refunds seeds)
Alt + Y / Ctrl + Y	Redo Action	Redoes last undone terrain modification
E	Height Mode	Scroll mouse wheel to adjust raise step (0.05m – 8.0m)
Q	Area Mode	Scroll mouse wheel to adjust brush radius (0.5m – 20m)
L	Altitude Lock	Levels terrain to a fixed elevation
Middle Click	Snap Altitude	Aim at any placed piece to match its floor height
PageUp / PageDown	Tune Altitude	Tap or hold down for smooth elevation changes
Shift + PgUp/PgDn	Rapid Tune	Multiplies elevation change rate by 5x
K	Ramp Waypoint	Places Point A, B, C... waypoint along a path
H	Auto-Carve Road	Carves along spline corridor (Hold Shift for Paved Stone)
Backspace	Undo Waypoint	Removes most recent waypoint
[ / ]	Adjust Ramp Width	Changes road corridor width (1m – 20m)
P	Cycle Ramp Paint	Cobblestone, Dirt, Keep Grass, Cultivated, Match Tool
Mouse Wheel / Arrows	Rotate Square	Rotates square brush orientation
Home	Reset Rotation	Snaps square brush rotation back to North (0°)
N	Measure Mode	Point A → Point B ruler: distance, elevation ($\Delta h$), slope, grade
U	Restore Terrain	Revert terrain to original world-generation state
B	Toggle Freebuild	Switch between Balanced Survival and Freebuild Creative Mode

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Console Commands (F5)

Open the Valheim console with F5 (requires -console Steam launch option):

Command	Arguments	Description
resetterrain	[radius=10]	Reverts digging/leveling to natural world-gen state (supports Undo)
remove_forestry	[radius=10]	Clears trees, logs, stumps, and bushes within radius
cleardebris	[radius=10]	Clears rocks, boulders, and obstacles within radius
smarterhoe_undo	None	Undoes the last terrain modification
smarterhoe_redo	None	Redoes the last undone terrain modification

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Configuration

The configuration file is generated automatically at BepInEx/config/com.jubaroo.smarterhoe.cfg. All settings can be adjusted in-game via configuration managers or edited directly:

Setting	Default	Synced?	Description
Lock Configuration	true	Yes	Locks configuration to server authority
CostMode	BalancedSurvival	Yes	BalancedSurvival or Freebuild
HoeReach	20	Yes	Maximum placement reach in meters
MaxBrushRadius	20	Yes	Maximum brush radius in meters
AllowBeyondGameLimit	true	Yes	Allows terraforming beyond ±8m ceiling/floor
MaxTerrainDelta	50	Yes	Maximum elevation delta from natural terrain
DefaultRaiseHeight	0.5	No	Default height added per raise click
RaiseScrollStep	0.5	No	Height increment per mouse wheel step
MinRaise / MaxRaise	0.05 / 8.0	Yes	Min/Max selectable raise height
SuppressCameraZoom	true	No	Prevents camera zoom while adjusting hoe parameters
Language	Auto	No	Auto detects language or choose specific
EnableUndo	true	Yes	Enable multi-step terrain undo and redo
MaxUndoSteps	15	Yes	Max undo history snapshots stored (1 to 50)
InstantFlatten	true	Yes	Instantly level 100% of terrain in brush area
StonePerCubicMeter	0.25	Yes	Stone cost per cubic meter raised
StonePerPavedSquare	0.03	Yes	Stone cost per square meter paved
RequireCraftingStation	true	Yes	Require Workbench/Stonecutter for operations
RequireToolsForDebris	true	Yes	Require Axe/Pickaxe for clearing debris
DynamicSlopeColoring	true	No	Color-code ramp guide by cart steepness
EnableFarmingGrid	true	No	Enable grid planting system for crops and saplings
FarmingGridRadius	2.5	No	Default radius for farming grid planting
SnapToExistingCrops	true	No	Automatically align crop grid with existing crop rows
SpacingMultiplier	1.0	No	Multiplier for safe crop spacing
EnableAreaHarvest	true	No	Enables Shift+E mass harvesting of crops/pickables
AreaHarvestRadius	5.0	No	Radius in meters for Shift+E area harvest
AreaHarvestAutoPickup	true	No	Instantly vacuum collected items into player inventory
HarvestRequiresFarmingTool	false	No	Require Hoe or Cultivator equipped for area harvest
AreaHarvestKey	E	No	Key used with Shift for mass harvesting
EnableDebugLogging	false	No	Logs tool diagnostics to console and BepInEx log

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Installation

Using a Mod Manager (Recommended)

Install via Thunderstore Mod Manager, r2modman, or Gale:

1. Search for SmarterHoe.
2. Click Download with Mod Manager.

Manual Installation

1. Ensure BepInExPack Valheim is installed.
2. Extract the mod package archive.
3. Place SmarterHoe.dll (and any bundled folders) into your Valheim/BepInEx/plugins/ directory.
4. Launch the game!

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Compatibility & Multiplayer

• ServerSync Integrated: Server owners can enforce balance rules (CostMode, reach limits, radius, required tools). Admins listed in adminlist.txt can adjust settings in real time.
• Dedicated Servers: Fully supported with headless optimizations. Modifies Valheim's native TerrainComp heightmaps and ZDO networks so all players see changes in real time.
• Client-Optional: Players can join vanilla or community servers with SmarterHoe installed on their client safely.

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Credits

Valheim terrain system research inspired by the broader Valheim modding community.