BepInEx ConfigurationManager is a client-side mod that draws every installed plugin's settings in a window you open in game, with F1 by default. Changing a value there writes it straight to that plugin's .cfg file on your own PC. On a dedicated server that is the part people misread: the menu edits the client, not the server. The exceptions are settings a mod syncs from the server through ServerSync or Jotunn - while you are connected those show the server's values, they are read-only unless you are on the server's admin list, and an admin's edit is sent to the server and saved there. Everything else on a server, including any mod that runs only on the server, is changed by editing the file in the server's BepInEx/config folder. The server itself never needs ConfigurationManager installed.
What ConfigurationManager is#
BepInEx keeps each plugin's settings in an INI file under BepInEx/config, generated the first time the plugin loads. Those files are readable but tedious: a large mod can have a hundred settings across a dozen sections, and you have to quit the game to see most changes. ConfigurationManager reads the same settings from memory and shows them as a form - toggles as checkboxes, numbers as sliders or fields, lists as drop-downs, key bindings as a button you press and then press the new key.
The original was written for BepInEx in general, by ManlyMarco under the BepInEx project. Valheim players mostly install a Valheim packaging of it from Thunderstore; at the time of writing the one most mod pages point to is Azumatt's "Official BepInEx ConfigurationManager", and there are forks with extra Valheim-specific features. They all read the same config system, so the instructions below apply to each of them; the exact layout of the window varies.
Install it like any client mod, through your mod manager or by placing it in BepInEx/plugins. It has no dependencies beyond BepInExPack.
Opening it and finding a setting#
Press F1 in the main menu or in game. The window lists each plugin with settings, collapsed by name; click a name to expand it, or type in the search box at the top to filter across all plugins at once.
The controls worth knowing:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Search box | Filters settings by name across every plugin |
| Show settings | Toggles ordinary settings |
| Show keyboard shortcuts | Toggles key binding settings |
| Show advanced | Reveals settings the author marked as advanced, hidden by default |
| Reset / default button | Puts a single setting back to the default the mod declares |
Hover a setting to see the description the author wrote - the same text that sits above the key in the .cfg. Read it before changing anything; it often says whether a change needs a restart or whether the setting is synced with the server.
If F1 conflicts with another mod or with something you have bound, change it. ConfigurationManager has its own config file, normally BepInEx/config/com.bepis.bepinex.configurationmanager.cfg, with the hotkey under [General]:
[General]## The shortcut used to toggle the config manager window on and off.# Setting type: KeyboardShortcut# Default value: F1Show config manager = F1The key name and section have been stable for a long time, but forks can rename things. If your file looks different, the hotkey is still inside ConfigurationManager's own settings, so you can also change it from the window itself.
What an in-game edit actually changes#
Every change made in the window is written to disk at once, to the plugin's .cfg on the machine running the game. BepInEx saves a config file whenever one of its values is set, so there is no separate save step.
Whether the new value does anything immediately is up to the mod:
- Applied live. Many settings are read every time they are used - a HUD position, a stack size check, a colour. These change the moment you edit them.
- Applied on next load. Settings read when the mod starts - item recipes, registered pieces, creature definitions - are saved but take effect only after a restart of the game. The description usually says so.
- Applied on next world entry. Some settings are read when you load into a world, so leaving to the main menu and rejoining is enough.
If a change appears to do nothing, check which of the three it is before assuming the mod ignored you.
Connected to a server: synced, locked and local settings#
Joining a modded dedicated server changes what the window means. Settings fall into three groups, and the window does not always label them clearly.
| Kind of setting | Shown in your F1 | Who decides the value | Editing it as a player |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local (not synced) | Yes | You | Changes your game only |
| Synced, locked | Yes, with the server's value | The server | Read-only unless you are an admin |
| Synced, unlocked | Yes | Depends on the mod | Varies; avoid relying on it |
| Server-only mod | No, you do not have the mod | The server's file | Not possible from the client |
Local settings behave exactly as in single player. Your HUD, keybinds and graphics-related mod options are yours, and the server never sees them.
Synced settings are the ones a mod pushes from the server through ServerSync or Jotunn's admin-only sync. While connected, the window shows the server's value. If the mod's Lock Configuration is on - the usual default for ServerSync mods - a non-admin cannot change them; most mods render them as disabled. When you leave, your own values generally come back. ServerSync and config enforcement explains the mechanism and the lock in detail.
Server-only mods do not appear at all. A Discord bridge, a backup mod or a server-side admin tool runs only on the server, so your client has no plugin to show. ConfigurationManager cannot reach across the network to configure a mod you do not have.
Admins editing the server from F1#
Players on the server's adminlist.txt get one extra ability: for synced settings, their edits go to the server. The sequence is:
- The admin changes a synced value in the window while connected.
- The mod sends the new value to the server, which checks the sender against its admin list.
- The server applies it, writes it to its own
.cfg, and pushes it to every connected client.
This is the fastest way to balance a running server - tune enemy damage or drop rates during a session and everyone sees the change. It has costs. There is no confirmation and no undo, so a slip of a slider is live for everyone. The change lands in the server's file, so it survives restarts without anyone writing it down. And there is no history beyond what the server log records, which for most mods is nothing.
Two rules keep this safe:
- Keep the admin list short. Every ID in
adminlist.txtcan rewrite synced balance settings from their own PC, as well as kick and ban. The three list files covers the formats, including the platform-prefixed IDs crossplay servers need. - Copy the server's config folder after a tuning session. Download
BepInEx/configonce the group is happy, and keep it with your backups. That is your record of what changed.
If an admin's edits do nothing, the usual causes are the admin's ID missing or in the wrong format, the mod not supporting admin editing (some sync values only from the file), or the setting not being synced at all - in which case the edit changed the admin's own game and nobody else's.
Editing the file instead#
For anything on the server that is not a synced setting, and for any change you want to make deliberately rather than live, edit the file. It is also the only option for server-only mods.
- Stop the server cleanly and let the world save.
- Open
BepInEx/config/<plugin GUID>.cfgon the server. - Change the value after the
=. Keep the key name, the section and the format exactly as written. - Start the server and check its console for the mod's
Loadingline.
Stopping first matters more than it seems. BepInEx holds each config in memory and rewrites the whole file when a value is set or the mod saves. If you edit a running server's file and something on the server then sets a value - an admin's F1 edit, a mod saving its state - the in-memory copy overwrites your edit. Some mods watch their own file and reload it on save, which makes running edits safe for that mod; unless the mod says so, assume it does not.
The same applies on your own PC. Editing a .cfg in a text editor while the game is running and then touching that mod in F1 can silently throw your text edit away. Use one or the other per session.
Mod managers offer a third way. r2modman and Gale both include a config editor that opens the profile's files without hunting for the folder, which is handy for client settings and useless for the server, whose files live on the server. On RE:NODE the server's BepInEx/config is in the panel's file manager, which edits .cfg files in the browser with syntax highlighting, so a stop-edit-start cycle needs no download.
A worked example: tuning a server for a group#
A group of six wants more generous carry weight and a slower crop timer, using one ServerSync mod and one Jotunn content mod. The tidy way:
- Set the baseline in files. With the server stopped, edit both mods'
.cfgfiles on the server to the agreed values. ConfirmLock Configuration = Onin the ServerSync mod. - Start and check. Join as a normal player, open F1, and confirm the synced settings show the server's values and are disabled. If they are editable, you are an admin or the lock is off.
- Fine-tune live, if needed. One admin adjusts values in F1 during the first session while the group plays. Everyone sees the change at once.
- Freeze it. After the session, download the server's
BepInEx/configand store it with the world backup. Note the values that changed in the group's mod list. - Ship client defaults if helpful. Local settings that should match - a shared map-pin layout, say - go into the client side, through an exported profile or a modpack with a config folder.
The common mistake is the reverse: every player tweaks their own F1, nothing is set on the server, and the group discovers weeks later that only half the settings were ever synced.
Troubleshooting#
F1 does nothing. The mod is not loaded, or another mod has taken the key. Check your client's BepInEx/LogOutput.log for a Loading line naming ConfigurationManager; if it is there, change the hotkey in its own config.
A mod's settings are not in the list. The mod has no settings, uses its own separate file such as YAML, or is not installed on your client. Mods that keep their configuration in YAML often show only a few switches in F1.
Settings are greyed out. They are synced and locked by the server, and you are not an admin. Ask an admin or edit the server's file.
My change reset when I joined the server. The setting is synced, and the server's value replaced yours for the session.
An admin's F1 change reverted after a restart. The mod applied it in memory but does not save admin edits, or the server's file was replaced from a backup or by a deploy. Set the value in the server's file.
The window covers the screen or the text is tiny. Forks differ; most have window size or font scale settings in their own config section. Look under ConfigurationManager in the window itself.
For anything that looks like a mod failing to load rather than a setting not applying, start with the log - reading BepInEx logs walks through it.
FAQ#
Do I need ConfigurationManager on the server?
No. The dedicated server has no screen or input, so there is nothing to draw the window on. Install it on clients only. Admins edit synced settings from their own client, and everything else on the server is edited in the server's files.
Is ConfigurationManager a cheat if other players do not have it?
No. It only edits settings your client already has. For synced, locked settings it cannot override the server, and for local settings anyone could make the same change in a text editor.
Why can I not find a setting the server owner told me about?
Either it belongs to a mod that runs only on the server, so it never appears in your window, or it is hidden behind Show advanced. Try the search box with advanced settings shown.
Do in-game changes apply to everyone on the server?
Only if the setting is synced and the person making the change is on the server's admin list. Every other change in F1 affects that player's own game and nothing else.
Can I edit configs from the main menu?
Yes. The window opens in the main menu as well as in game. Settings that are read at start take effect only after the game restarts, wherever you change them.
