Main files

MonsterDB supports nine Base Types, defined by the Type field in each file. This field determines how MonsterDB parses and processes the file and must not be changed.

BaseType

Humanoid
Character
Human
Egg
Item
Fish
Projectile
Ragdoll
SpawnAbility
Visual
CreatureSpawner
SpawnArea
SpawnData
All

Each Base Type corresponds to a specific prefab structure and set of required components.

Humanoid

A Humanoid is a creature that uses the Humanoid and MonsterAI components. Unlike Character, Humanoids support item-based attacks, allowing weapons and equipment to define combat behavior.

In vanilla Valheim, only Humanoids can be tamed. MonsterDB extends this limitation by adding custom components that allow any creature type to be tameable.

Character

Character is a creature with components Character and AnimalAI

Human

Human is a creature with components Human which is a custom MonsterDB component that inherits from Humanoid and MonsterAI

Egg

Egg is an item with components EggGrow and ItemDrop It represents a growable entity that eventually spawns a creature.

Item

Item is an item with component ItemDrop

Fish

Fish is an item with components Fish and ItemDrop

Projectile

Projectile is a prefab with component Projectile or Aoe or TriggerSpawnAbility

Ragdoll

Ragdoll is a prefab with component Ragdoll

SpawnAbility

SpawnAbility is a prefab with component SpawnAbility

Visual

Visual is a prefab renderer, particle system and light data. Use this if you wish to modify just the visual of a prefab. Useful for targeting effect prefabs.

CreatureSpawner

Creature spawner is a prefab with component CreatureSpawner and optionally RandomSpawn, (i.e Spawner_Bat Spawner_Charred). These prefabs typically do not have a mesh thus are invisible.

SpawnArea

Spawn area is a prefab with component SpawnArea. These prefabs are similar to creature spawner, but do have a mesh. (i.e: BonePileSpawner)

SpawnData

Spawn data contains fields to manipulate SpawnSystem spawn data. SpawnData is exported along side new cloned creatures to keep relevant edits within the same file, but you can have it exist in its own file by using SpawnData type.

All

All includes all BaseType in a single aggregate file. This is used to easily share many MonsterDB files as a single file.

Example

GameVersion: 0.221.4
ModVersion: 0.2.0
Type: Human
Prefab: Human             # prefab ID
ClonedFrom: Player       
IsCloned: true

For automatic handling of these fields, use MonsterDB commands to clone, else, you can directly modify Prefab, ClonedFrom and IsCloned if you want to clone an object.