InstancedTimer

A client-only Valheim mod for players on servers that run Venture Location Reset (VLR).

It answers two questions at a glance:

• "When does this dungeon reset?" — a HUD countdown ("Sunken Crypts — resets in 2d 14h") whenever you are near a dungeon entrance: sunken crypts, burial chambers, troll caves, frost caves, goblin camps, dvergr mines, Hildir's dungeons, Ashlands fortresses, and more.
• "How close is too close?" — a workbench-style ground ring around each nearby instanced dungeon at the radius VLR's player-activity check uses for it (45 m for sunken crypts), so you can see the footprint where player-made structures or a tombstone would block the dungeon from ever resetting.

No server changes, no Harmony patches, no world-data writes: the mod only reads the VV_LastReset stamps VLR leaves on each dungeon's world object — those sync to every connected client automatically.

Requirements

Component	Needed?	Notes
Valheim	on your client	Built/tested against Valheim 1.0.16 (Unity 6 build). Older versions untested.
BepInEx	on your client	Tested with denikson-BepInExPack_Valheim 5.4.2351 (BepInEx 5.4.22+).
Venture Location Reset	on the server	The mod displays VLR's reset data; without VLR on the server there is simply nothing to show. Any recent 1.x.
VLR on your client	optional	If installed (it usually is on modded servers), the countdown uses the server's live reset intervals, synced through Jotunn. If not, set FallbackResetDays to match your server.
Jotunn	not required	This mod does not reference Jotunn or any other package.

The mod does not need to be installed on the server (installing it there is harmless but does nothing — servers have no HUD). Other players don't see your rings or your timer unless they also run the mod.

Installation

With a mod manager (r2modman / Gale / Thunderstore Mod Manager): search for "InstancedTimer" and install. Done.

Manual: copy Plugins/InstancedTimer.dll from the package into your BepInEx profile's BepInEx/plugins/ folder.

Usage

Timer

Walk near any location VLR manages (default: within 80 m of the entrance) - dungeons primarily, but on servers where VLR stamps everything (its default), runestones, graves, shipwrecks and ruins get counted down too. A single line appears in the top-right corner of the HUD, right below the status-effect row (Rested/Wet), in the same small text size:

• Sunken Crypts · Loki's Barrow (-71,-21) - resets in 2d 14h — the dungeon still holds its loot. The tier name leads (the game's own where one exists), the generated instance name and zone coords follow, so same-type neighbors stay tellable apart.
• Sunken Crypts · Loki's Barrow (-71,-21) - reset ready (regenerates on approach if unobstructed) — the timer has elapsed. VLR regenerates a location when a player walks within 100 m of it after the timer expires — but only if nothing blocks it: player-built pieces or tombstones near the location ("player activity") postpone the reset, and the check runs once per zone load. If it says ready and stays cleared, that block is why.

Timers keep running while the server is empty (the world clock advances 24/7 while the server process runs), and the countdown is computed from live world time — log back in after a week and the label already reflects it.

Zone rings

Each nearby instanced dungeon (crypt, burial chamber, troll cave, ...) gets a ground ring cloned from the vanilla workbench build-circle: thin rotating dashes hugging the terrain. Its radius is the distance VLR checks for player activity inside that dungeon type — 45 m for sunken crypts, computed per type from the game's own dungeon data (hypot(zoneSize.x/2, zoneSize.z/2), matching VLR's GetDungeonRadius).

Rules of thumb the ring makes visible:

• Build or die inside the ring's area (or within the small entrance zone around the door) and that dungeon stops resetting until the pieces/tombstones are removed.
• A base on the ground outside the ring is safe and never blocks resets.
• Terrain shaping (raising/leveling) never blocks a reset, but VLR reverts terrain within ~12 m of the entrance each time the dungeon resets.
• Rings show while you're within 100 m (VLR's own trigger distance), hide while you are inside the dungeon, and are capped at the 4 nearest features. Ground locations (meadow farms, villages, fuling camps) intentionally get no ring.

Configuration (BepInEx/config/lan124.InstancedTimer.cfg)

All settings are client-side; changes apply immediately (no restart).

Section	Key	Default	Meaning
General	Enabled	true	Master switch
General	DebugLogging	false	Verbose scanner logging
General	IgnoreLocations	StartTemple,Eikthyrnir,WoodHouse6	Prefab names (comma-separated) never labeled or ringed — things VLR stamps but never resets (spawn temple, boss altars)
HUD	ScanRadiusMeters	80	Show the timer within this distance of an entrance
HUD	UpdateIntervalSeconds	1	Rescan rate
HUD	HudOffsetY	170	Fallback label offset from the top of the screen (px) - normally the label positions itself under the status-effect row
HUD	TextScale	1.25	Timer text size relative to the status-effect labels (1 = same size); applies live, no restart
HUD	InstanceNaming	NameAndZone	How the label names the location. Every mode leads with the tier name (the game's own where one exists: "Sunken Crypts", "Burial Chamber"); NameAndZone/Name append the generated instance name + zone: "Sunken Crypts · Loki's Barrow (-70,-21)". Type/Zone show the tier alone
Timers	FallbackResetDays	10	Assumed interval when VLR's config can't be read — set to your server's actual interval
Rings	Enabled	true	Draw ground rings around nearby instanced dungeons
Rings	ShowRadiusMeters	100	Show a ring while within this distance of the entrance

How it works

VLR stamps every dungeon it manages with VV_LastReset (the in-game day it last reset) on the dungeon's LocationProxy world object (ZDO). ZDOs sync to every connected client, so this mod:

1. scans nearby LocationProxy objects for the stamp (throttled, default 1 s),
2. resolves the effective reset interval from VLR's own live config on the client (which Jotunn keeps synced with the server's settings) or falls back to FallbackResetDays,
3. displays lastReset + interval − now, mirroring VLR's exact day-math, and
4. (rings) clones the vanilla CircleProjector marker used by the workbench and sizes it per dungeon type from the game's location prefab data, confirmed against the live dungeon generator.

The mod never writes world data, owns no networked objects, and patches nothing.

Building from source

Requires the .NET SDK (6+) and a local Valheim install + BepInEx profile:

./build.sh -p:GameDir=/path/to/Valheim -p:ProfileDir=/path/to/BepInExProfileRoot

GameDir is the folder containing valheim_Data/; ProfileDir is the folder containing BepInEx/core. Output: InstancedTimer/bin/Release/InstancedTimer.dll. ./package.sh additionally builds the Thunderstore zip (requires zip). For the full release/upload workflow see PUBLISHING.md.

Version compatibility

	Version	Status
Valheim	1.0.16 (Unity 6000.0.75f1)	tested, daily use
Valheim	older / newer patch levels	untested; the mod only uses stable APIs plus two reflective reads (EnvMan.m_totalSeconds, Hud.m_instance) — likely fine, not guaranteed
BepInEx pack (denikson)	5.4.2351	tested
Venture Location Reset	1.1.0 / 1.1.1	tested; interval mapping mirrors VLR's GetResetTime (re-check when VLR adds location types)
Jotunn	any / absent	not referenced

Known limitation: the per-type reset-interval table in src/ResetTimer.cs only takes effect when VLR's per-type override mode is on; otherwise VLR's global ResetTime applies to everything (as on most servers).

License

MIT