CreatureManager

Customize Valheim creatures with 32 combat modifiers, biome-based levels, regional Karma, and Enforcer encounters.

• Edit or clone creatures, attacks, projectiles, AI, factions, equipment, and textures.
• Tune levels, stats, loot, and modifier chances.
• Create outdoor and dungeon encounters with configurable enemies and rewards.
• Inspect resistances in game and use generated references to find prefab names.
• Reload YAML and server-owned textures without restarting for most changes.

Quick start · Settings · Compatibility · User guide

Showcase

Combat Modifiers

Creatures roll modifiers independently and display their active effects beneath their nameplates. CM shows three or more stars as a star followed by the star count. With compatible Path of Valheiman installed, CM combines PoV and CM effect icons into right-aligned rows of four and keeps its own star display.

Offense

Icon	Modifier	Effect with generated Global defaults
	Enraged	Deals 15% more damage.
	Fire	Adds Fire damage equal to 20% of the original hit.
	Frost	Adds Frost damage equal to 10% of the original hit.
	Lightning	Adds Lightning damage equal to 10% of the original hit.
	Spirit	Adds Spirit damage equal to 5% of the original hit. Against players, its Spirit damage over time bypasses armor and resistance.
	Armor Piercing	Ignores 30% of player body armor.
	Staggering	Adds 60% normal-hit and block-stagger buildup.
	Undodgeable	Ignores player dodge invulnerability but deals 25% less damage. Blocking and parrying still work.

Defense

Icon	Modifier	Effect with generated Global defaults
	Armored	Takes 30% less damage.
	Deathward	Cancels lethal damage and restores 20% of max health. Has a 10s cooldown and up to 3 activations.
	Regenerating	Heals a configurable share of max health per second, capped at 20 health per second by default. Rate defaults are 1% for Global creatures, 0.2% for bosses, and 0.5% for Enforcers.
	Reflection	Has a 50% chance on a direct melee hit to reflect 10% of the health actually lost, bypassing defense and resistance. Capped at 25 health per activation by default.
	Vortex	Has a 50% chance to negate projectile damage, push, stagger, and status effects.
	Adaptive	Remembers the dominant hit type for 5s and reduces matching damage by 50%.
	Unflinching	Immune to normal-hit and perfect-parry stagger.
	Chameleon	While alerted, gains one rotating damage-type immunity and switches it every 10s.

Affliction

Icon	Modifier	Effect with generated Global defaults
	Exposed	Has a 50% chance to make the player take 20% more damage for 5s.
	Weakened	Has a 50% chance to make the player deal 20% less damage for 5s.
	Withered	Has a 50% chance to reduce healing received by 50% for 5s.
	Crippling	Has a 50% chance to reduce movement speed and jump force by 50% for 5s.
	Disruptive	Has a 50% chance to reduce stamina and Eitr recovery by 50% for 5s.
	Adrenaline Drain	Has a 50% chance to remove 50% of current adrenaline and reduce adrenaline gain by 50% for 5s.
	Corrosive	Has a 50% chance to increase durability loss to equipped gear by 50% for 5s.
	Toxic Aura	While alive and untamed, applies poison every second to hostile players within its body radius + 3m. Default poison strength is 10% of the player's max health before resistance; this is not immediate damage per second. Walls and floors block it.

Special

Icon	Modifier	Effect with generated Global defaults
	Swift	Increases movement speed, acceleration, and turning speed by 40%.
	Attack Speed	Increases animation speed by 30%; attack intervals become 76.92% of normal.
	Vampiric	Heals for 30% of health removed by direct hits; delayed damage over time is excluded.
	Reaping	Absorbs actual deaths within 24m, including players, tamed creatures and PlayerSpawned summons, regardless of killer or damage source. Each death can grant healing and configured stat growth once per surviving Reaping creature, within the existing limits. No new size is gained in dungeons.
	Blink	Teleports near its player target within 16m every 6s. By default, Blink and its extended attack range unlock 3s after the creature becomes alerted, even if no attack could start during that time.
	Omen	Can force an Enforcer check when killed directly by a player or by a lethal poison, fire, or spirit tick with a confirmed player contribution. Mixed damage qualifies; summon-only and unknown-only damage do not. Cooldown blocking follows the server setting.
	Juggernaut	Player hits have at least 150 push force. An actual push starts a 5s cooldown, and the creature is immune to attack push.
	Blamer	Below 75% health, flees and adds 0.5 Karma per second up to 45 lifetime Karma. When exhausted, the modifier, icon, and flee behavior end.

Modifier icons appear on creature and boss HUDs. The Valheim Compendium contains a CreatureManager page with modifier names, icons, and descriptions using the active global values.

In-game Tools

The in-game Compendium documents defensive modifiers and their exact behavior.

Affliction details are available in the same localized Compendium without leaving the game.

While sneaking, inspect a creature to view its effective resistances, weaknesses, and immunities beneath the target's nameplate.

Combat Modifier GIFs

Offense and Defense

Spirit adds Spirit damage to the creature's attacks; against players, its damage over time bypasses armor and resistance.

Undodgeable attacks ignore dodge invulnerability, while blocking and parrying remain effective.

Deathward cancels a lethal hit and restores part of the creature's maximum health.

Reflection returns part of the creature's actual health loss to a direct melee attacker.

Vortex can negate a projectile hit together with its damage and secondary effects.

Unflinching prevents stagger from normal hits and perfect parries.

Afflictions

Timed Afflictions use distinct icons and counters so their remaining duration stays readable in combat.

Special

Blink teleports the creature near its target to close distance quickly. Blink Alert Grace Period (s) delays Blink and its extended attack range for 3 seconds after the creature becomes alerted by default; the timer still expires when no attack can start.

Omen can request an Enforcer encounter when the affected creature is killed directly by a player or by a lethal poison, fire, or spirit tick with a confirmed player contribution, including mixed damage.

Juggernaut turns successful hits into heavy knockback while resisting attack push.

Blamer flees and raises regional Karma once its health drops below the trigger threshold, then expires when its Karma budget is exhausted.

Live Enforcer Hunts

Killing creatures raises regional Karma, which can strengthen future spawns and trigger Enforcer encounters.

Karma accumulates faster in dungeons, so stay alert.

Outdoor and dungeon Enforcer encounters can be configured separately in karma.yml, including guaranteed bonus loot.

Enforcers spawn at higher levels, are more likely to carry modifiers, and may bring minions that hunt players down.

Creature Cloning and Customization

Existing creatures can be modified or cloned. For advanced examples, install MonsterLabZ and see creatures.sample.yml and attacks.sample.yml.

The following custom bosses were created with CreatureManager and MonsterLabZ.

Bonebeard is a melee boss who infuses every attack with poison.

Vincent the Cunning is a ranged boss who fires a variety of projectiles.

Root Witch is a spellcaster boss who casts a variety of spells.

Quick Start

1. Install BepInExPack Valheim 5.4.2360 and CreatureManager on the server and every client. Use matching CreatureManager builds and keep the package's BepInEx folder, including sample textures.
2. Launch once to generate BepInEx/config/sighsorry.CreatureManager.cfg and the YAML files under BepInEx/config/CreatureManager/.
3. Change feature switches in the .cfg. For creature edits, find the prefab in a *.reference.yml file and copy only the fields you want to change into the matching active YAML.
4. Save the file. Most changes reload automatically; in multiplayer, edit the server's configuration.

Existing YAML is preserved during updates. Loaded creatures generally keep their current settings, and completed level/modifier rolls are not rerolled. Test changes with new creatures; changing an existing clone's clonedFrom requires a restart.

See reload behavior and sample setup. The showcased Bonebeard, Vincent, and Root Witch examples require MonsterLabZ; the base mod does not.

Settings

Start in sighsorry.CreatureManager.cfg. These are the main controls; each option also has an explanation in the generated config.

Setting	Default	What it controls
Enable Level System	Full	Full assigns levels and applies stat/modifier rules. ExceptLevel keeps game/other-mod levels but applies those rules. Off disables this system, not the whole mod.
Biome Level Preset	Easy	Choose built-in biome level weights, or None to use YAML weights without a built-in preset.
Bosses Follow Biome Level Preset	On	In Full, bosses can fall back to biome level weights after explicit Boss/group/prefab level rules.
Global Modifiers, Boss Modifiers, Enforcer Modifiers	Max4	Set each category's automatic modifier limit, or choose Off.
Karma System Mode	KarmaLevelAndEnforcer	Regional progression and Enforcer encounters; modes can enable either part separately.
Character Loot System	CalculateChance	Adjust eligible star-scaled loot; Vanilla keeps the existing calculation. Creature and boss amounts default to +50% per star.
Player Target Switching	Off	Let hostile monsters occasionally switch to another sensed player.

ExceptLevel is not a fully vanilla combat preset: stat and modifier rules still apply. Karma, loot, AI, and creature overrides have their own controls. Level weights are base rolls, not final star caps.

Since 1.3.13: boss biome fallback includes top-level YAML level weights, even with preset None. With the default option On, existing biome YAML can now affect new bosses. Only level weights are shared, not biome stats/modifiers. See boss rules and upgrade notes.

YAML Files

Active files live under BepInEx/config/CreatureManager/. Reference files are for inspection, not editing.

File	Use it for
creatures.yml	Creature edits/clones, equipment, appearance, textures, and AI assignment.
attacks.yml, projectile.yml	Attack edits/clones, projectiles, and spawn abilities.
ai.yml, factions.yml	AI presets and faction relationships.
levels.yml	Level weights, stat scaling, and combat modifiers.
karma.yml	Karma gain/decay, Enforcers, minions, and bonus loot.
localization/<Language>.yml, textures/	Server text and custom PNG textures.

Use the default YAML reference and configuration guide for fields, split files, and examples. The generated headers describe the accepted syntax; merge the settings you need instead of replacing a customized file.

Compatibility

• Multiplayer: install matching CreatureManager builds and the same gameplay mods on the server and clients. Server settings are synchronized.
• Do not combine with CLLC, StarLevelSystem, MonsterDB, or MonsterModifiers: these are declared incompatible.
• DropNSpawn / Drop That: CM yields loot scaling to DropNSpawn. With Drop That alone, CM can still adjust eligible star-scaled drops. Details.
• Path of Valheiman: supported integrations coordinate levels, health, loot, boss modifiers, and HUD icons. An unsupported integration logs a warning rather than assuming compatibility from the version number. Integration guide.
• WackyEpicMMOSystem: Adjust EpicMMO LevelBar Position adjusts ordinary-creature level labels; turn it Off to keep the original placement. Details.

More Help

• User guide: rules, examples, hot reload, and troubleshooting.
• Console commands: references, cm:spawn, and cm:karma.
• Default YAML and upgrade guidance.
• Changelog · Source.

GitHub main documents current source and may include unreleased changes; check each document's version notes.