ValheimServerGuide
Server-authoritative YAML-driven guidance mod for Valheim. Author custom quests, NPC conversations, and triggered popups using only vanilla UI. No custom assets required.ValheimServerGuide
Turn your Valheim server into a guided experience. Write a YAML file on your server and players receive quest objectives, NPC dialogues, lore popups, and rewards — triggered automatically as they play, using only Valheim's own UI.
No custom assets. No custom UI skins. Just your words, delivered through Hugin, the chat, and dramatic cinematic screens.
What it does
Guides players through your content. When a player crafts their first weapon, enters a dangerous biome, discovers the trader, or kills a boss — show them a message. Give them a quest. Give them a reward.
Runs entirely from the server. You write one YAML file. Every player connected to your server receives it automatically. Update it and save — all players get the new version instantly without restarting.
Uses vanilla Valheim UI. Messages appear as Hugin (the raven) popups, system toasts, chat lines, rune-tablet screens, or the dramatic intro cinematic style. Nothing looks out of place.
Quick setup
- Install this mod on your server (and on every player's game via r2modman).
- Start the server. It creates
BepInEx/config/ValheimServerGuide/guidance.yamlautomatically. - Edit that file to add your guidance entries. You can split guidance across as many
*.yaml/*.ymlfiles as you like — including in nested subfolders — and they are all merged. - Save. All players receive the update without a restart.
The mod works in single-player and host & play as well — the host acts as the server.
Your server also keeps each character's quest progress in BepInEx/config/ValheimServerGuide/PlayerProgress/, one file per character. Include that folder in your backups — it is your players' quest progress, not config you can regenerate.
What you can create
Triggered messages — Show a Hugin raven popup, a toast, or a dramatic full-screen text when a player does something specific:
- Crafts an item for the first time
- Enters a biome
- Kills a creature
- Reaches a skill milestone
- Discovers the trader
- Opens a chest
- And many more...
Multi-step quests — Chain triggers into a quest with steps. "Gather 10 wood → craft a workbench → build a wall." Each step has its own trigger. Players pin the quests they care about from the in-game Codex (F3 → Pin to Tracker) and follow their progress on a draggable on-screen panel (F10). The Codex list scrolls, and finished guides can be hidden to keep it short.
NPC conversations — Shift + E on Haldor, Hildir, or BogWitch to open a dialogue panel. Give them choices. Fire quests. Grant rewards.
Item turn-ins — Have players bring a specific item to a trader NPC to complete a quest step.
Rewards — Grant items, skill experience, or status-effect buffs when an entry or quest completes.
World events — Mark an entry as scope: global and the first player to trigger it fires the display for every connected player simultaneously. Perfect for boss kills and world milestones.
Discord announcements — Post to a Discord channel when something happens (server-side only; your webhook URL is never exposed to players).
Example
A raven popup when a player crafts their first bronze sword:
- id: first_bronze_sword
trigger:
type: craft
item: SwordBronze
display:
mode: raven
topic: "Bronze Edge"
text: "Forged in fire, this blade cleaves the Black Forest's beasts."
once: true
A world event when the first boss falls:
- id: world_eikthyr_fell
scope: global
trigger:
type: kill
creature: Eikthyr
display:
mode: intro
topic: "The Stag-King Falls"
text: "Eikthyr is slain. The realm trembles. Your trial begins, traveler."
once: true
announce:
discord: "⚔️ **{playerName}** has slain **Eikthyr** — the first boss has fallen!"
Text tokens such as {playerName} (or {player_name} — the two are aliases), {creatureName}, {itemName}, and {biome} are substituted when the entry fires.
New in 0.12.0: quest progress is saved on the server, in one readable file per character under BepInEx/config/ValheimServerGuide/PlayerProgress/. Previously it rode along inside each player's own character save, which meant quests finished in single-player showed up as already done when they rejoined your server. Existing progress migrates automatically the first time each character logs in — nothing resets. Back this folder up (or point ProgressPath outside config/): it is your players' quest progress.
New in 0.12.0: the Guide Codex is drawn in the game's own window — the player inventory's carved frame, interior boxes, buttons and font, so it matches your install and adds nothing to the download. Its text is a size or two larger to suit that font, its buttons are sized for their labels, and the window now scales with your resolution and GUI scale instead of coming out oversized. Rune readings also use the width: you set — the first one of each session used to come out as a narrow column.
New in 0.12.0: the Guide Codex list scrolls instead of paging — one continuous list with a scrollbar that appears only when there is more to see. The mouse wheel no longer zooms the camera while the Codex is open, every scrolling area in the mod moves a sensible distance per notch (the detail pane, "Upcoming Steps" and the rune reading could not be wheel-scrolled at all before), and no game HUD element covers a mod panel any more — the stamina bar used to draw over NPC dialogue, and the crosshair sat in the middle of every panel. The crosshair and hover text now hide while a panel is open and return when it closes.
New in 0.11.0: the Guide Codex list no longer collapses its rows into blank gaps once the list outgrows the panel. (This version fixed it by paging the list; the unreleased note above replaces that with scrolling.) Players can hide guides they are done with ([ ] Hide from list) and bring them back with [ ] Show hidden. New public vsg_refresh command rebuilds the Codex and re-pulls the server's config — no admin needed.
New in 0.10.0: panels now size themselves to your text — the NPC conversation panel grows to fit and scrolls instead of cutting long dialogue off, message at position: Center word-wraps, and no display mode truncates any more. Plus a new highlight: block that colours chosen words or phrases inside any text, so the hotkey, the cost or the warning survives a skim.
New in 0.9.1: {playerName} now expands everywhere author-written text is shown — the Guide Codex, the HUD tracker, NPC conversation headers and choice buttons, raven/intro topics, NPC hover text, and every reward message — instead of only in the message shown at the moment an entry fires.
New in 0.9.0: the rune display mode is now a fully customizable, game-themed panel — set your own header/body/list fonts, colors, and alignment per entry, add a bullet list, and enjoy a smooth fade in/out. Plus seven new Lost Scrolls II trigger types for party duels, the party ladder, and bracket tournaments.
Documentation
Full configuration guides, all trigger types, display mode options, quest chains, NPC conversation setup, reward configuration, and admin commands are covered in the Wiki.
Try it out
This mod was built for the TaegukGaming community server running the Hearthbound modpack. If you want to see it in action:
Disclaimer
This mod is created using AI. No other mods were copied during the process. All feature ideas come from the uploader and are mainly to cater to the needs of the TaegukGaming community server. If any features or ideas look similar to other mods, these are not intentional.
This mod is free to use as is. Voluntary support is appreciated.
Version: 0.12.0 Source / issues / wiki: https://github.com/yesu0725/Valheim-ServerGuide