TerrainForge Overview

Manual (English) · Project website · Changelog

A free-form terrain brush for Valheim. Flatten, raise, lower, smooth, build ramps (two-point, fixed-angle and path), shape shorelines, paint and restore terrain of any size — beyond the vanilla ±8 m limit — with undo/redo, five brush shapes, a radial menu, saved profiles, terrain stamps (copy/paste), terrain snapshots and 14 in-game languages with auto-detect.

📖 Full documentation & translations (14 languages): Wiki — see the Documentation languages list below.

0.3.8 Hotfix for 0.3.7

The supplied 0.3.7 log showed repeated TerrainForge Rod network-prefab registration failures for an already-used stable hash (506871212) and invalid item entries during ObjectDB registration. It also contained a successful tool-registration message, so those log lines alone do not establish why the mod was unusable.

This hotfix reuses an existing matching network prefab entry, removes invalid ObjectDB entries before rebuilding indexes, cleans up a clone after failed registration, and improves equipped-tool detection when free camera hides hand slots. These changes still need an in-game check: confirm the rod is handed out and terrain editing works before publishing.

Features carried forward from 0.3.6

• F5 now uses a two-row tab layout and operation-specific controls. Ramp mode keeps Two-Point, Fixed-Angle, and Connected Path visible with the relevant width, softness, and angle settings.
• The connected ramp mode is a continuous path through 3+ marked points; choose Connected in the F5 Ramp panel or cycle with H.
• Circular ramps (level ring or height-changing spiral) are proposed for 0.4.0; final behavior remains to be prototyped.
• Unified operation UI — F5 glyphs also appear in the Q radial wheel and next to the terrain target, with a compact status card replacing the old long HUD text.
• Dedicated Copy/Paste tab — F5 now has visible copy, paste-preview/confirm, clipboard-history, and saved-stamp controls in one place.
• Q wheel now includes a separate Copy/Paste mode. Rectangle uses two corners, Line two endpoints, Polygon vertices, and Circle/Square the brush footprint; the HUD prompts for each selection step.
• Snow is grouped under Paint as DeepSnow (hold the height modifier to remove it). F5 freezes local movement/camera look, dims the background, and adapts to screen size.

• Plugin metadata was aligned at version 0.3.6. Rod registration supports rebuilt world databases, revalidates the live item index during gameplay, and retries network registration after item initialization.

• Free camera (F) fixed — while flying, right-click no longer triggers lock-on, brush drift or a screenshot; Ctrl+wheel adjusts the brush radius; brush adjustments take priority.

• Docs & wiki in 14 languages — README and CHANGELOG in English, and the full manual on the Wiki (Home + 13 translations).

Description

TerrainForge ships its own TerrainForge Rod (a Hammer clone) as the brush tool. It is handed to you automatically when you join a world and everything is explained in an in-game Help tab (menu key, default F5).

Why client AND server

Terrain edits are stored in the world and the server replicates them to every player. Because the game clamps edits to ±8 m, TerrainForge must also be installed on the server; otherwise the server regenerates the clamped terrain while clients see the full edit → desync.

Requirements

• BepInEx 5 (x64, Mono) on both client and server. Thunderstore users already have it. TerrainForge registers its own tool; Jotunn is not required.

Installation

1. Download the latest version from Thunderstore or GitHub Releases.
2. Place it at: - Client: ...\BepInEx\plugins\TerrainForge\TerrainForge.dll - Server: <server>\BepInEx\plugins\TerrainForge\TerrainForge.dll
3. Restart the game / server.

⚠️ Must be on both (client and server) for edits greater than ±8 m and correct replication.

Usage

Equip the TerrainForge Rod (given on world join; get it again with F8), aim at the ground and hold right-click to sculpt.

While aiming, a solid ring marks the real brush area, with faint guides in the operation color (full-strength zone, max radius, max aim distance). For Ramp, the real A–B corridor is drawn while you mark. The HUD (bottom-right) shows operation, radius, shape, paint and undo/redo counters; a second line shows the aimed height, current target and local slope in degrees. Guides can be disabled in Preview > Show guides.

Controls

Extra keys (no default, assign them in KEYS): - Direct operation: Flatten, Raise, Lower, Smooth, Paint, Restore, Ramp, Shore; the legacy Snow shortcut selects Paint + DeepSnow. - Next / previous profile - Next / previous stamp (history)

Operations

The nine Q wheel modes are Flatten, Raise, Lower, Smooth, Ramp, Paint, Restore, Shore, and Copy/Paste. Snow is a Paint type (DeepSnow); hold Shift to remove it and restore the original ground.

Details

• Flatten — follows the ground under the crosshair by default and adapts to what you aim at (e.g. a ramp). Hold Left Shift to level at your feet.
• Raise / Lower — raise or lower terrain according to the falloff mode and power.
• Smooth — averages each point with its neighbours (a real blur), smoothing ridges, steps and noise. Hold to smooth progressively. Modes: Full (both ways), Ridges only (lowers only), Dips only (fills only). Shape Line + Smooth = smooth along a path.
• Ramp — three modes (H): two-point (mark A and B, joins both heights with a straight slope), fixed-angle (B gives direction and length, height follows Ramp angle, adjustable with Alt + radius), and connected path (mark 3+ points for one continuous curve A→B→C…, then double-press to build it). The brush radius sets the ramp width and softness only softens the side edges. Preview: filled semi-transparent corridor + height rings at A and B.
• Shore — flattens toward the water level + margin (beaches/coastlines), with softness blending like Flatten.
• Paint — types: Dirt, Cultivated, Paved, ClearVegetation, DeepSnow, Reset.
• Restore — returns the terrain to its original state.

Shapes

Circle, Square, Line, Rectangle, Polygon (key .).

• Line / Rectangle: two Apply presses (A and B; line half-width = brush radius, corners define the area with soft edges).
• Polygon: adds a vertex per press and closes on a double-press (3+ vertices).
• All area operations apply over these footprints with undo support.

Falloff modes (Raise/Lower)

Cycle in SETTINGS → "Raise/Lower falloff":

In-game languages

15 options: Auto, English, Español, Français, Deutsch, Русский, 中文, 繁體中文, 日本語, 한국어, Polski, Português, Türkçe, Українська, Italiano — default Auto.

Auto-detect: by default Auto detects the language configured in Valheim via reflection. If a language has no complete translation, it falls back to English.

Documentation is available in other languages on the Wiki. See the Documentation languages list at the bottom of this page.

Snapshots (Backups)

SNAPSHOTS tab in SETTINGS: give it a name to save all edited tiles to BepInEx/config/TerrainForge/snapshots/<name>.dat, then load it later (even in another save). Import restores with ownership and is undoable; unloaded tiles warn cleanly.

Stamps (Copy/Paste Terrain)

STAMPS tab in SETTINGS.

• Copy a selected area: choose Copy/Paste in the Q wheel. Rectangle marks corners A and B with Apply; Line marks two endpoints; Polygon adds vertices and copies on a double-press after 3+ points; Circle/Square copy the aimed brush footprint. The HUD shows the next step. Ctrl+Shift+C follows the same selection flow.
• Ctrl+Shift+V shows a ghost (wireframe) preview at the crosshair; Q/E rotate, Alt+wheel rotates continuously, Shift+wheel scales, use the paste shortcut again to confirm.
• Pasting writes only inside the copied region; it does not erase terrain outside it.
• History of 10 stamps in RAM: "Next stamp" / "Previous stamp" keys cycle them.
• Save a stamp to disk (.stamp in BepInEx/config/TerrainForge/stamps/, max 12), load it into the clipboard, list and delete from the UI.
• Stamp tool: in SETTINGS → "Stamp tool" (4 options): Same as brush (default), Any, Pickaxe, TerrainForge Rod. The HUD shows STAMP READY [2/5] when the right tool is equipped and the clipboard has stamps; otherwise it warns Stamp: tool not equipped. Ctrl+Shift+C/V do nothing without the tool equipped.

Preview

• Solid ring: the real generated area.
• Faint guides: full-strength zone, max radius, max aim distance.
• For Ramp: the real A–B corridor (edges + semi-transparent fill) + height rings at A and B.
• For Flatten/Shore: a marker ring for the target level.
• Blocked by server/ward: guides in grey.
• Underwater: the preview floats on the surface.

In-game menu (F5)

6 tabs with a global scroll (mouse wheel):

ESC button: the pause menu has a "TerrainForge" button that opens the panel. F5 freezes local movement and camera look; it does not pause the multiplayer world.

Server + Client

• Required on both for edits greater than ±8 m and correct replication.
• Server section (authoritative via config sync):
• AllowTerrainEdits (default on)
• AdminOnlyEdits (default off)
• RespectWards (default on)
• RadiusCap / DeltaCap (0 = no limit)
• A server without the mod ignores the section → the client still works for testing.

Performance

TilesPerFrame (1–32, default 4): tiles per frame on large strokes. Prevents lag.

Changelog

See Changelog.

Links

• Thunderstore: https://thunderstore.io/c/valheim/p/MRAnalytics/TerrainForge/
• GitHub repository: https://github.com/marceloanton/TerrainForge
• Wiki / documentation: https://github.com/marceloanton/TerrainForge/wiki
• Donations: cafecito.app/byrka

Documentation languages

English manual · English overview · Español · Français · Deutsch · Русский · 中文 · 繁體中文 · 日本語 · 한국어 · Polski · Português · Türkçe · Українська · Italiano