ZoneSavior

Archive inactive-player structures and tamed animals per zone, save/load/restore zone bundles, track player activity, configure archive exclusions, and enforce per-zone WearNTear limits.

ZoneSavior is a Valheim server maintenance mod for zone-based cleanup, archive, restore, and build-count control.

It can:

• archive inactive player structures into zone bundle files
• restore saved bundles to the original place or a new zone
• optionally reset archived source zones
• enforce per-zone WearNTear limits from zones.yml
• block selected building prefabs in matching zones before normal player placement
• track player activity for inactive-owner cleanup
• provide an optional client zone UI

The zone UI hotkey (F8 by default) displays the current zone boundary with eight 64m corner extensions. The lines follow the terrain, with height samples every 4m, to help estimate neighboring zones.

Files

ZoneSavior uses one BepInEx config file and one data folder:

BepInEx/config/
  sighsorry.ZoneSavior.cfg
  ZoneSavior/
    activity.yml
    zones.yml
    Diagnostics/
    ZoneBundles/
      tag_name/
        manifest.yml
        bundle001_<generation>.zonebundle.yml.gz

activity.yml stores player activity, scan state, and recent scan records. ZoneSavior reloads it conservatively at runtime: broken YAML, dirty runtime state, and active scans are ignored.

zones.yml stores zone limits and archive protection rules. Every rule must declare a non-negative limit. Steam IDs are the best long-term protection key; player names are convenient but can change.

Building rules

Rules match zone coordinates inclusively, from top to bottom. The first match supplies both the count policy and the optional blocked_pieces list; lists from overlapping rules are not merged. A limit applies to each individual zone, not the entire matching rectangle.

defaults:
  count_creatorless: false
rules:
  - name: center_keep
    x: [-1, 1]
    z: [-1, 1]
    limit: 50
    count_creatorless: true
    blocked_pieces:
      - portal_wood
      - piece_workbench
  - name: outer_ring
    x: [-2, 2]
    z: [-2, 2]
    limit: 100

blocked_pieces uses exact, case-sensitive prefab names, not translated display names or wildcards. Omitted, null or empty lists allow all prefab types; blank entries are rejected and an invalid reload retains the previous configuration. Repeated names are deduplicated. The example blocks only new normal player placement of wooden portals and workbenches in the center zones. Existing objects, network loading and administrative bundle restore are unaffected. Administrators using normal placement follow the same rule.

Piece bans operate independently of Zone WearNTear Limit, which still controls only the existing WearNTear quantity restriction. They also cover building pieces without WearNTear; count_creatorless changes only what contributes to the quantity count. A count limit of 50 allows 50 counted objects; it rejects the next one.

For dedicated servers, install this updated ZoneSavior build on both server and clients. The server supplies the YAML through the existing settings synchronization; the placing client rejects a banned prefab after refreshing the target position and before creating an object or spending materials, stamina or durability. This is not a server-only anti-bypass system. Other mods that directly instantiate objects or bypass Player.TryPlacePiece require separate integration. The existing count limit still uses loaded local structures and post-placement removal; it does not reserve capacity on the server for simultaneous builders.

Localization

Building-limit/blocked-piece messages and the F8 zone/support-grace HUD use the game's selected language. English and Korean YAML are embedded in the DLL, so no external file is required. Untranslated keys/languages fall back to English. Administrative commands, diagnostics, logs and configuration descriptions retain their existing text.

Following Homestead's translation file convention, optional ZoneSavior.<Language>.yml or .yaml files anywhere under BepInEx/plugins override that language's bundled entries. Use the game's language name, for example ZoneSavior.Korean.yml. Restart after editing external files; changing the in-game language updates the registered translations and F8 HUD. Preserve the numbered formatting placeholders such as {0} and {1} when translating.

Release packages include ZoneSavior.English.yml and ZoneSavior.Korean.yml next to the DLL in both Thunderstore and Nexus ZIPs. These files are editable translation templates as well as runtime overrides when installed under plugins; keep only one external file per language to avoid duplicate overrides.

ZoneBundles/<tag>/manifest.yml records the archive shape. Each bundleNNN_<generation>.zonebundle.yml.gz stores one source zone as a compact, gzip-compressed YAML bundle. ZoneSavior reads and writes these files directly; no manual extraction is required. New bundle files are committed by replacing the manifest only after every zone is saved successfully.

Manifest versions 2 and 3 and compressed bundle payload version 3 are supported. Older formats, including uncompressed legacy zone bundles, are not loaded or converted. If the original world data is still available, create a new archive from the live world with the current ZoneSavior version before restoring it.

Diagnostics/ contains YAML reports written by zs_debugzone.

Config

Config sections:

• 01 - General
  • Lock Configuration: lets the server control synced settings.
• 02 - ZoneSavior
  • WearNTear Save Mode: controls whether zone bundle saves include creatorless WearNTear.
  • Zone WearNTear Limit: enables zone limits from zones.yml.
  • Zone UI Toggle Hotkey: toggles the client zone overlay.
  • Build Counter Visible Seconds: controls how long the placement counter stays visible.
  • Support Fill Contact Tolerance: terrain contact capture tolerance. Source terrain must be loaded to capture exact contacts.
  • Zone Bundle Support Fill Feather Width: blend width around restored support terrain.
• 03 - Auto Archive
  • Dry Run: report only.
  • Reset After Save: reset source zones whose creators are all eligible after saving. Connected mixed-owner zones are saved and kept.
  • Minimum Pieces Per Cluster: counts only eligible owners' structures. Small mixed-owner clusters are skipped; small clusters containing only eligible owners retain reset-without-save behavior during reset runs.
  • Inactive Days: owner inactivity threshold.
  • Scan Interval Minutes: automatic scan interval. 0 disables scheduled scans.
  • Scanner Batch Size: ZDOs inspected before yielding a frame.
  • Max Zones Per Run: maximum number of zones reserved for work in one automatic scan. Failed save/reset attempts still consume this budget.

What Gets Archived

ZoneSavior saves player-build structures, not arbitrary world clutter.

Saved:

• player-build WearNTear objects with normal build recipes/resource costs
• tamed monsters with MonsterAI and Tameable
• creator metadata when present
• terrain support data for saved structures

Skipped:

• players, tombstones, loose item drops, projectiles, ragdolls, fish
• location objects and volatile world objects
• vanilla terrain comps and most raw terrain modifiers
• WearNTear prefabs without normal build recipes/resource costs

Auto archive candidate detection only starts from creator-linked WearNTear with creator != 0. WearNTear Save Mode = IncludeCreatorless can include nearby creatorless WearNTear during the save step, but creatorless structures alone do not make a zone eligible for inactive-owner cleanup.

Automatic archives keep structures together across owner boundaries. Adjacent zones (including diagonals) containing only eligible creators form the reset core. Mixed-owner neighbors join the same archive when they share an eligible creator with a connected zone. This can continue across several mixed zones, but an active or protected creator alone cannot connect additional zones. A normal scan requires at least one core zone, so retained mixed zones do not create a fresh archive after the core has been reset. There is no separate aggressive mode.

For adjacent zones [A+B] [B+C] [C], with A/B eligible and C active, one tag saves both [A+B] and [B+C]. Only [A+B] is reset; [B+C] and [C] remain. The saved [B+C] snapshot contains all normally saved structures and tamed animals in that zone, including C's objects. Eligibility, recipe/save filters, minimum count and per-run limits still apply.

Before and during a saved reset, the server rechecks the saved state of creator-owned objects and tamed animals. Added/changed objects, changed container payloads or unexplained disappearances stop the affected reset. Normal inactivity scans also recheck eligibility and stop on a reconnect; an explicit Steam ID remains an administrator override of owner inactivity/protection. Spawned-object chains cannot delete outside the reset zone. The manifest records intent immediately before mutation and records each successfully reset zone separately. A failed preflight leaves the zone intact; an interrupted reset after mutation leaves a pending marker and blocks loading that tag until the partial world state has been reviewed. This is a conservative stop, not an automatic rollback.

Empty Chunk Saves and Optional Mods

On the host or dedicated server, ZoneSavior includes previously saved chunks that become completely empty in the game's next normal save. This prevents old objects from returning because an empty chunk was omitted. A save chunk spans 8×8 to 64×64 zones; resetting one zone does not necessarily empty a chunk. The patch preserves the game's dirty-state and save-failure handling and does not force an immediate save or repair existing duplicates.

Upgrade World is optional. When its complete, recognized empty-chunk cleanup is active, ZoneSavior delegates to it instead of also writing empty replacement files. Recognition checks the active patches and the relevant implementation/shared state, not a fixed release number or whole-DLL hash. FreshWorld can also coexist: already scheduled replacements are not added or counted twice.

An unknown or incomplete Upgrade World save contract disables reset scans and bundle loading/target replacement until restart after resolving the mod combination. Ordinary world saves, F8, build rules, queries, dry runs and save-only archives remain available. Checks run after initial plugin registration and at save/mutation boundaries; original implementation analysis is cached for the loaded assembly's lifetime. Runtime DLL replacement is unsupported.

If compatibility changes during an operation, subsequent mutation batches stop and existing cleanup/failure reporting runs. Completed changes are not rolled back automatically; reset journals retain their pending state where applicable. An already dispatched client terrain request may finish before the host stops the next step. Existing support grace remains active for partially restored structures.

Terrain Restore

ZoneSavior uses SupportFill terrain restore.

When saving a loaded zone, it samples the lower footprint of saved structures and records terrain contacts where terrain is close enough to the structure bottom. When loading, those contacts can raise or cut terrain so structures regain support.

New saves also record one lowest valid contact height per touching piece and the lowest non-positive height difference from the original, unmodified terrain. For relocation, the most frequent piece contact height band (0.25m bands; ties prefer the lower band) selects the representative floor. The bundle is aligned at the first contact between that floor and the destination's unmodified terrain, then the saved negative terrain offset is applied. A large piece receives one vote, just like a small piece. Contacts in overlapping height bands are retained for alignment; support terrain still uses the lowest contact in each cell. All zones loaded together share one placement height; offset=Y adds a further adjustment.

Existing version 3 bundles remain readable. If any participating support zone lacks the new placement metadata, the entire load keeps its previous placement calculation; re-save the live structures to use the new rule. Original-location restore keeps the saved coordinates. The terrain's existing +/-8m limit still applies, so a different slope can leave some structures buried or unsupported.

If exact contacts are missing, ZoneSavior falls back to saved collider/footprint data and places terrain near the lowest reasonable support plane. The fallback is clamped to avoid extreme spikes.

Terrain Editing and Blueprints

ZoneSavior no longer provides terrain proxy prefabs or replays terrain operations. Use Infinity Hammer to edit and save the final terrain snapshot in a blueprint, and Expand World Data to place that blueprint as a location. InfinityHammerAddon is a separate client-side addon for Infinity Hammer's existing tools; it does not depend on ZoneSavior or create saved terrain proxy objects.

This is a breaking removal, without legacy aliases, replay support, or automatic world cleanup. Preserve an external backup of existing worlds and blueprints before upgrading. While the previous ZoneSavior version is still installed, capture the final terrain with Infinity Hammer and remove the old ZoneSavior proxy entries from replacement blueprints. ZoneSavior does not migrate or clean up old proxy data; the game itself may discard unknown-prefab ZDOs when those areas load.

ZoneSavior also no longer increases the game's terrain height limit. Previously saved changes beyond the game's normal limit can look different unless every relevant client uses a compatible separate height-limit mod. Saving a terrain snapshot does not remove that requirement.

Zone bundle SupportFill terrain restoration remains part of ZoneSavior and is independent of blueprint terrain snapshots.

Commands

zs_savezone

Save one source zone or a rectangular source range.

zs_savezone (x,z) tag
zs_savezone (x~x,z~z) tag

Examples:

zs_savezone (-21,-4) test_base
zs_savezone (-21~-20,-4) old_base

A manual save command accepts at most 1,024 zones. zs_savezone does not accept a target or vertical offset.

zs_loadzone

Load a saved tag.

zs_loadzone tag [to (x,z)] [offset=Y]
zs_loadzone tag restore
zs_loadzone tag source (x,z) [to (x,z)] [offset=Y]

Examples:

zs_loadzone auto_halla_c178 restore
zs_loadzone auto_halla_c178 to (-4,0)
zs_loadzone auto_halla_c178 source (-21,-4) to (10,3)
zs_loadzone test_base to (10,3) offset=2

Notes:

• Without source, ZoneSavior loads every bundle in the tag manifest and preserves the saved shape.
• source (x,z) loads only one saved source zone from the manifest.
• restore loads manual and older archives back to all saved source zones. For new automatic reset archives it restores only zones recorded as successfully reset, leaving saved-only mixed zones intact. For new automatic save-only archives it restores only the eligible core zones.
• to (x,z) is the target anchor.
• If to (x,z) is omitted, ZoneSavior uses the local player's current zone.
• offset=Y adds a vertical offset after the support anchor is calculated.
• restore does not accept to (x,z) or an offset.
• Relocating a new automatic archive still loads the whole saved shape, including mixed zones and their other owners' objects. It is a copy: the retained source zones remain. Choose the destination with that in mind, especially for containers and tamed animals. Loading onto a retained source zone in the same world is rejected, including single-source loads; world identity uses the world UID.
• New automatic archives reject clearing a target when its Spawned-object chain extends outside the complete load target set. Normal structural stability and terrain effects at a zone edge still require in-game verification.

zs_scan

Run the inactive-player archive scanner manually.

zs_scan [steamID] [dry|save|reset]

Examples:

zs_scan dry
zs_scan save
zs_scan reset
zs_scan 76561198000000000 dry
zs_scan steam:76561198000000000 reset

Modes:

• dry: report candidates only.
• save: save matching archives but do not reset.
• reset: save matching archives and reset eligible source zones.

Without a Steam ID, inactive days, archive protection, minimum cluster size, and auto archive config apply. With a Steam ID, the scan is an admin override for that owner; mixed-owner zones are protected from targeted reset.

zs_status

Write a YAML report with recent auto archive runs.

zs_status

The console prints a short summary and the generated report path.

Cluster records distinguish zones (saved scope), resetZones (planned reset scope), backupOnlyZones, resetCompletedZones and resetSkippedZones. zs_scan dry reports the planned save/reset/keep counts without changing the world.

zs_debugzone

Write a YAML diagnostic report explaining one zone's auto archive eligibility.

zs_debugzone (x,z)

Example:

zs_debugzone (-7,12)

Reports are written under BepInEx/config/ZoneSavior/Diagnostics/.

The zone report distinguishes a reset candidate (wouldBeCandidateZone) from a possible saved-only neighbor (mayBeBackupOnlyZone). A single-zone report cannot establish the connecting cluster; use zs_scan dry for that decision.

Common Workflows

Test one save/load:

zs_savezone (-21,-4) test_base
zs_loadzone test_base to (10,3)

Dry-run inactive cleanup:

zs_scan dry
zs_status

Save inactive clusters without reset:

zs_scan save
zs_status

Save and reset inactive clusters:

zs_scan reset

Restore an archive elsewhere:

zs_loadzone auto_halla_c178 to (20,-3)

Restore an archive to its original zones:

zs_loadzone auto_halla_c178 restore

Github

https://github.com/sighsorry1029/ZoneSavior