BepInEx for Valheim — Setup & Common Plugins

Valheim has no official mod support (per Iron Gate’s 1.0 FAQ), so there is no official mod API. The entire mod ecosystem runs through BepInEx — a Unity mod loader that injects plugin assemblies into the game runtime. If you want any mod, you first need BepInEx working.

Honesty note (what we have and have not verified): BepInEx does still run Valheim mods on 1.0 — that is the stable, confirmed fact. The specific package version numbers and the exact click-through of a given mod manager change between releases, so we describe the flow rather than pinning screenshots or version numbers that may be stale by the time you read this.

Install it through a mod manager, not manually

Do not install BepInEx by hand unless you have a specific reason. Both of the free mod managers below handle dependency resolution automatically and keep your installs organised:

• r2modman (ModManager) — the long-standing default; a desktop app that creates and manages “instances” (per-mod-set profiles) for your game.
• Gale — a newer, lighter alternative with the same role.

The flow is the same on either:

1. Open the manager and add Valheim as a game (it locates the installed game automatically).
2. Subscribe to the BepInEx pack for Valheim — the canonical denikson/BepInExPack_Valheim package. This is the dependency essentially every other Valheim mod expects.
3. Start the game through the manager. BepInEx loads at launch and creates its BepInEx folder (config, log, and the plugins you add) inside your Valheim install.

The mod manager is what you use to add individual mods afterwards — you add a mod, it pulls the BepInEx pack if it is missing, and you launch from the manager.

A short list of well-maintained plugins to start from

Rather than one big package, the 1.0 ecosystem leans on small, individually maintained BepInEx plugins. A few commonly recommended starting points (check each page for its current 1.0 status before installing):

• ExtraSlots (shudnal) — more inventory slots.
• Craft From Containers — craft using materials already in nearby chests.
• Gizmo (ComfyMods) + PlanBuild (MathiasDecrock) — a better building camera and a plan/build mode.
• PlantEverything (Advize) — plant any crop anywhere.

These are the kinds of quality-of-life plugins that replace the old Valheim Plus bundle. For a full read on what has and has not adapted, see the post-1.0 mod ecosystem.

The one hard rule: mods and crossplay are mutually exclusive

BepInEx hooks into the Steam networking path. When crossplay is on, Valheim uses PlayFab networking instead — and BepInEx cannot hook into that. The result is that a modded PC session cannot be joined by crossplay clients. There is no workaround, config toggle, or compatibility patch that fixes this; it is built into how the two networking layers are built.

So before you invest in a mod list, decide which world you are in:

• All Steam friends, no console players: disable crossplay, use BepInEx freely.
• Mixed group (PC + Xbox/PS5/Switch 2): keep crossplay on, run vanilla only.
• Dedicated server with mods: drop the -crossplay startup flag and have every PC player disable crossplay in settings. Console players will not be able to join this server at all.

The crossplay mechanics in detail are in crossplay and dedicated server setup.

Links

• mod-ecosystem-1-0 — what has and has not adapted to 1.0
• server-vs-client-mods — which plugins every player must install
• valheim-plus-intro — the old all-in-one, and its standalone replacements
• crossplay — where crossplay stops