MagiCorp Valheim Tick Profiler

TickProfiler is a Valheim dedicated-server performance profiler with an optional in-game client overlay.

Server profiler

The dedicated server records:

• Effective server tick rate versus the nominal 50 Hz target. Missed real-time deadlines reduce this rate and later Unity catch-up FixedUpdates do not restore it.
• Main Update throughput plus p95/p99/worst wall-clock gaps.
• Main-thread stall count, worst contiguous gap and excess wall time lost to stalls, independent of whether the cause can be attributed to managed code.
• Process CPU, managed memory and GC collections.
• Ranked self/inclusive time for networking, ZDO replication, AI, item drops, spawning, structures, terrain, production and other hot paths.
• Timing for supported Harmony Prefix/Postfix/Finalizer methods from other BepInEx plugins, including ValheimPlus.

Output is written to:

• BepInEx/LogOutput.log
• BepInEx/tickprofiler-latest.txt
• BepInEx/tickprofiler-status.json

Touch BepInEx/tickprofiler.request to force an immediate server snapshot.

Client overlay

Install the same Thunderstore package on a Windows Valheim client to enable the overlay. The client component profiles local frame/main-thread timing but does not alter gameplay.

• Press F8 to toggle the overlay.
• Shows local client frame throughput, p95/p99 frame gaps, main-thread stall count, worst gap, cause and lost wall time.
• Shows rolling 5-minute client FPS/hitch and server tick-rate/hitch graphs.
• Shows local process CPU, managed memory and GC activity.
• Shows server effective tick rate and Update rate.
• Shows server main-thread stalls, p99/worst update gaps and event-correlated cause, including exact plugin/type/method where measurable.
• Shows server CPU, memory and GC data.
• Shows the current top server-side consumers and their worst call time.
• Shows snapshot age and client-to-server ping.

The server only sends profiler snapshots to clients that announce the TickProfiler overlay. Clients without TickProfiler are unaffected.

Client settings are created under BepInEx/config/magicorp.valheim.tickprofiler.client.cfg and include toggle key, default visibility, font size, position, width, UI scale, local stall threshold and ProfilePluginMethods. UIScale = 0 automatically scales from 1x at 1080p to 2x at 4K.

Server configuration

Created as BepInEx/config/magicorp.valheim.tickprofiler.cfg. Important settings:

• ReportIntervalSeconds = 10
• DeepGameProfiling = true
• ProfileModHarmonyMethods = true
• TopConsumers = 12
• SpikeThresholdMs = 20
• MainThreadStallThresholdMs = 75
• AnnounceHitchesInChat = true broadcasts significant hitches into normal Valheim chat for connected TickProfiler clients.
• HitchChatTitle = Server controls the chat sender/title.
• AnnounceHitchesInGame = false optionally also shows a top-left HUD notification.
• AnnounceHitchesInGame = true
• AnnounceHitchThresholdMs = 250
• AnnounceHitchCooldownSeconds = 10

Compatibility

Built and validated against Valheim 1.0.12 and BepInExPack Valheim 5.4.2350. The profiler does not change gameplay state.