Valheim Performance Overhaul

A comprehensive performance optimization mod focused on reducing CPU and GPU load — especially on large bases, busy servers, and zones with many light sources.

Installation

Install via r2modman or Thunderstore Mod Manager (recommended) — everything is placed automatically.

Manual install:

1. Install BepInExPack Valheim first.
2. Copy ValheimPerformanceOverhaul.dll into BepInEx/plugins/.
3. Launch the game — a config file is generated automatically at BepInEx/config/com.Skarif.ValheimPerformanceOverhaul.cfg.

What it does

🔦 Light Culling (biggest FPS impact)

• Limits active light sources to a configurable maximum (default: 15).
• Disables shadow casting beyond a set distance.
• Light LOD system: transitions lights through Full → No Shadows → Emissive → Billboard → Disabled as distance increases.

💤 Distance Culler

• Puts distant creatures and building pieces to "sleep" — pauses their Update logic.
• Physics culling for Rigidbodies beyond a set range.
• Configurable exclusions (e.g. portals, tombstones are never culled).

🏗️ Piece Optimization

• WearNTear.GetSupport() results are cached with a configurable TTL.
• Distant pieces skip their Update cycle entirely.
• Asynchronous WearNTear initialization — spreads load over multiple frames on scene load.

🤖 AI Throttling

• Monsters beyond 60 m update AI only every 5 seconds instead of every frame.
• LOS (line-of-sight) checks are cached per-target with a 0.5 s timeout.
• Idle tamed animals inside player bases enter a low-power mode.

🎨 Graphics Settings

• Configurable shadow distance, resolution, and cascade count.
• Bloom and screen-space reflections toggle.
• Terrain quality multiplier.

🌿 Vegetation

• Grass render distance and density control.
• Detail object distance and density.

🎵 Audio Pooling

• Reuses AudioSource components instead of creating new ones per sound effect.

♻️ Object Pooling

• Reuses ItemDrop GameObjects to reduce instantiation overhead when loot spawns.

🧠 GC Control

• Prevents Unity's garbage collection from firing during combat or movement.

⚡ JIT Warm-up

• Pre-compiles critical game methods on spawn to eliminate the first-use stutter.

🗺️ Minimap Optimization

• Configurable texture resolution and update frequency.

Configuration

All settings are available in BepInEx/config/com.Skarif.ValheimPerformanceOverhaul.cfg.

If you have BepInEx Configuration Manager installed, press F1 in-game to adjust all settings with a GUI in real time.

Key settings

Performance expectations

Results depend heavily on scene complexity. Typical gains:

Compatibility

• ✅ Works standalone — no other mods required.
• ✅ Compatible with most content mods (Epic Loot, Jotunn-based mods, etc.).
• ⚠️ If Object Pooling conflicts with a loot mod, disable it in config (4. Object Pooling → Enabled = false).
• ⚠️ Despite the fact that I conducted test runs in various situations, the mod is in BETA. Although the mod technically cannot break the world, it is advisable to make backups.
• ❌ Does not support crossplay (Steam + Game Pass mixed sessions). Pure Steam servers are fine.

Changelog

v2.6.4

Added

• nothing

v2.6.3

Added

• Welcome screen on main menu launch
  • Displays a feedback message on first launch
  • Clickable link to Steam profile for bug reports and suggestions
  • "Don't show anymore" checkbox to permanently hide the screen

2.6.0

• Removed NetworkManager (ZSteamSocket-only, broke crossplay)
• Removed ZDOOptimizer (potential desync risk on servers)
• Fixed LightLODManager: removed duplicate ScanForLights() on Start
• Fixed AdvancedLightManager: removed periodic FindObjectsByType scan every 5s (caused micro-freezes)
• DistanceCuller refactored: all cullers now managed by one central Update loop instead of one Update() per object
• PiecePatches: replaced ConcurrentDictionary with Dictionary (main thread only, 3–5x faster)
• AsyncWearInit: added early exit when queue is empty

2.5.1

• Initial public release

Changelog

v2.7.1

Added

• mini-update (smokePatch).

v2.7.0

Added

• Light Flicker Optimization — Harmony Prefix on LightFlicker.CustomUpdate that fixes light intensity at its base value, eliminating per-frame Shadow Map recalculation for all fires and torches. Significant GPU gain on bases with many light sources.

• Smoke Physics Optimization — Harmony Prefix on Smoke.CustomUpdate that replaces the vanilla complex aerodynamics (inter-particle collisions, volume simulation, roof accumulation) with a lightweight quadratic interpolation + single upward force. Dramatic CPU savings on large bases with many campfires. Lift force is configurable.

• Engine Quality Settings — Forces low-level Unity QualitySettings at startup: softParticles = false, softVegetation = false, configurable particleRaycastBudget (default: 1024 vs vanilla 4096). Minor visual change on particle edges; measurable GPU and CPU gain in particle-heavy scenes.

• Skip Intro — Skips Iron Gate and Coffee Stain logo screens on every game launch by patching SceneLoader.Start. Saves 5–10 seconds per startup.

• Frame Budget Guard — Dynamic stutter protection system. Monitors a rolling 120-frame window, computes the 1% Low frametime, and lowers Time.maximumDeltaTime when heavy spikes are detected. Prevents Unity's physics Death Spiral (lag → engine over-simulates physics to catch up → more lag → freeze). Converts hard freezes into brief slow-motion. All thresholds are configurable. Automatically recovers when the game stabilises.

Changed

• Version bumped to 2.7.0.
• README updated with new module descriptions, expanded compatibility notes, and updated performance expectations table.
• Config sections renumbered: new modules occupy sections 17–21.

Notes

• All new modules are enabled by default and can be individually toggled in config.
• Light Flicker and Smoke optimizations are Prefix patches with return false — they fully replace vanilla logic. If you experience unexpected visual issues with fires or smoke, disable the relevant module.
• Private game fields are accessed via AccessTools.Field (cached) and Traverse — no direct decompiled references, compatible with future game updates.

v2.6.4

Added

• Nothing (maintenance release).

v2.6.3

Added

• Welcome screen on main menu launch.
  • Displays a feedback message on first launch.
  • Clickable link to Steam profile for bug reports and suggestions.
  • "Don't show anymore" checkbox to permanently hide the screen.

v2.6.0

Changed / Fixed

• Removed NetworkManager (ZSteamSocket-only implementation, broke crossplay).
• Removed ZDOOptimizer (potential desync risk on servers).
• Fixed LightLODManager: removed duplicate ScanForLights() call on Start.
• Fixed AdvancedLightManager: removed periodic FindObjectsByType scan every 5 s (caused micro-freezes).
• DistanceCuller refactored: all cullers now managed by one central Update loop instead of one Update() per object.
• PiecePatches: replaced ConcurrentDictionary with Dictionary (main thread only, 3–5× faster lookup).
• AsyncWearInit: added early exit when queue is empty.

v2.5.1

• Initial public release.