Valheim creative server: no build cost, no raids, safe builds

Valheim has no creative mode, but a dedicated server gets close with two launch arguments: -setkey nobuildcost removes the material cost of every building piece, and -modifier raids none stops base events from flattening work in progress. Add -setkey passivemobs so creatures leave builders alone, and you have a world where the only limit is patience and the server's ability to hold the pieces. The hammer preset bundles most of this into one word. What vanilla does not give you is flight, a free camera or protection from other players - for those you need devcommands, which means a mod on a dedicated server, and wards used properly.

This guide covers the switches, the build tools worth adding, how to keep a shared creative world from being wrecked, and the performance cost of the enormous builds a creative server invites.

Run creative on its own world#

The first decision is the easiest to get wrong. A creative server should be a separate world from your survival world, not a switch you flip on the main one.

nobuildcost makes progression meaningless the moment it is on: every wall, every stone piece, every Black Marble arch is free. Turning it off again does not undo what was built, and nobody plays the survival game the same way after a week of free building. Valheim world modifiers and presets makes the same point about the hammer preset - run it on a second world.

You have two ways to do that:

1. A second server. A creative world on its own server with its own port, running permanently beside the survival one. Cleanest for a community, and it lets builders work while others play survival.
2. Swap worlds on one server. Change -world to a different name, restart, and the server loads (or creates) the other world. Characters are on the clients, so everyone arrives with their survival character - which also means survival characters can carry free-built items away, see below. Several worlds on one host covers running both at once.

Characters are the catch. A character's inventory travels between worlds, so anything a builder crafts or picks up on the creative world goes back with them to survival. Building pieces themselves cannot be picked up as items, but deconstructing them returns materials - and on a nobuildcost world the cost was zero, so whether deconstruction gives anything back is worth testing on your version before you trust it. The safe rule is a dedicated creative character per builder, never used in survival. Character files and cheating explains why the server cannot enforce that for you.

The launch arguments#

A creative world built by hand:

$ ./valheim_server.x86_64 -nographics -batchmode \    -name "Shipwrights Guild" -port 2456 -world "Workshop" \    -password "tar-and-pitch-19" -public 0 \    -setkey nobuildcost -setkey passivemobs \    -modifier raids none -modifier deathpenalty casual \    -modifier portals casual

Or the preset, with additions on top:

-preset hammer -setkey passivemobs

The hammer preset is described in-game as building with no material cost, and third-party references differ on exactly which other modifiers it sets. Check the world modifier screen in your version, or just set the values explicitly as above - explicit arguments are easier to read six months later anyway. On a panel host these go in the startup or extra-arguments field and take effect at the next restart.

Those three things - support, stations and discovery - are what new builders ask about first. Support is the important one: a creative server does not let you float a stone castle on wooden posts. Blue, green, yellow, orange and red highlights still show how well supported each piece is, and stone and marble still need ground contact or proper supports.

Devcommands and build tools for builders#

Free materials are half of creative building. The other half is movement and placement: flying to the top of a tower, building without scaffolding, a camera for screenshots. In vanilla Valheim those come from devcommands, and on a dedicated server devcommands does not work for anyone, admins included. Devcommands explained covers why.

The usual fix is Server Devcommands by JereKuusela, a BepInEx mod that enables the cheat set for admins on a dedicated server. The Server Devcommands guide covers installing it and choosing who gets access. Once it works, the commands builders actually use:

Hide the interface for screenshots with Ctrl+F3 - no command needed.

Some of these affect everyone. tod and env change the world's time and weather for every player online, so on a shared creative server settle a habit: announce it, take the shot, put it back. debugmode and fly only affect the player using them.

Beyond Server Devcommands, the mods builders reach for are placement tools - Infinity Hammer (also by JereKuusela) for copying and freer placement, PlanBuild for blueprints. Both need BepInEx, and whether they have to be on the server, the clients or both depends on the mod and its version, so read the current Thunderstore page before installing. Any mod clients must have makes the server PC-only, because Xbox players cannot install mods. Valheim mods with BepInEx on a server covers the install.

Raids, mobs and the world around the builds#

Builders are busy, and nothing ruins a weekend's work faster than a troll raid on half-finished walls. On a creative world, turn off the threats at the source rather than relying on defences:

• `-modifier raids none` stops base events. Raids target players near their bases, so without this a builder working on a large project eventually draws one.
• `-setkey passivemobs` makes creatures non-hostile unless attacked. Trolls still wander through, and a troll that is hit will fight back - and break things.
• Natural spawns still happen. Creatures spawn as normal outside areas suppressed by player structures. Workbenches and fires suppress nearby spawns; a builder working in an empty field with no workbench sees more traffic.
• Fire still spreads. In current versions fire can spread to wooden pieces in some biomes. Test before building a timber hall next to the Ashlands.

If a raid does start, an admin with devcommands can end it with stopevent. On vanilla, the only fix is waiting it out or relying on the raids none modifier being set - check that the argument is spelled as two tokens, -modifier raids none, because a malformed modifier is silently ignored. Raids and events on servers explains how raids pick their target.

Protecting builds with wards#

A shared creative server is a world full of very visible, very breakable work, and free materials make griefing cheap. Wards are the main tool, and their limits matter here more than on a survival world.

A ward protects a sphere of about 32 metres around itself. Inside it, players it does not know cannot build, cannot deconstruct pieces with the hammer and cannot open doors or chests. It does nothing about damage - weapons and creatures break warded pieces like any others. Wards and griefing has the full table. On a creative server that means:

• Every builder wards their plot. Large projects need several wards, overlapping, because one ward does not cover a castle.
• Collaborators are permitted. The owner switches the ward off, collaborators interact with it, the owner switches it back on. Check the hover text afterwards - a ward left off protects nothing.
• Ward spam is cheap. With nobuildcost, wards themselves are free, so a griefer can ward someone else's land to block building. Write a rule about it and enforce it with bans.
• Damage needs a rule. With PvP off and creatures passive, most damage is deliberate. Pickaxes and sledges still work inside a ward.

Wards also do not stop terrain edits by pickaxe, so someone can dig a moat under your foundations. On a creative server where everyone has free materials, the deterrent is the list files: put trusted builders in permittedlist.txt, keep the server unlisted with -public 0, and ban anyone who wrecks a build. The list files guide has the ID formats.

House rules for a shared creative world#

A creative server with several builders needs a few written rules, because free materials remove the natural limits that keep people out of each other's way. Rules that tend to work:

1. Claim a plot before building. Builders post where they intend to work, and nobody builds within a set distance of an existing claim - 150 metres is a reasonable starting figure. It keeps builds apart for performance as well as for peace.
2. Ward your own plot only. No wards on unclaimed land or on someone else's claim. With wards free, this is the rule that prevents land-grabbing.
3. Ask before terraforming near others. A levelled hillside next door changes someone else's skyline and loads their area with terrain edits.
4. No world-wide changes without warning. tod, env and any command that affects everyone gets announced first and put back afterwards.
5. Abandoned projects get a deadline. A plot untouched for a set time - two months is common - can be reclaimed after a warning. Back up the world first so nothing is lost for good.
6. No creative items into survival. If builders use one character for both, the creative world is a free item shop. One creative character per builder.

Admins should hold to the same rules. Put rules where builders read them, and point to community server rules for a fuller set covering bans and disputes.

Performance: what huge builds cost#

Every building piece is an object the world stores and every nearby client has to load. A creative server is where piece counts get out of hand, because the friction that keeps survival builds modest - gathering stone - is gone.

What gets heavy:

• Dense clusters of pieces. Thousands of pieces in one area mean long load-ins and low frame rates for anyone nearby. The server mostly stores and relays them; the clients render them, and the player who owns the zone simulates it.
• Terraforming. Every raised or levelled patch is stored. Flattening a whole hillside for a city is one of the most expensive things you can do to a world. Terraforming on servers explains why.
• Lights and fires. Many torches, braziers and hearths in one view add client load.
• World file growth. A creative world's .db grows faster than a survival world's. Saves take longer and the freeze during a save gets noticeable.

Spacing helps more than hardware. Put separate builds a few hundred metres apart so two dense projects never share a view. Valheim server performance and lag covers the rest. If a mature creative world stutters only near the big build, that is the build, not the plan.

Showcasing builds#

A creative server is a gallery as much as a workshop, and a little structure turns it into something people come back to:

• A portal hub at spawn with one portal per build, tagged with the build's name. With portals casual, visitors move freely. Keep the hub light so it does not become a lag point.
• Build contests with a theme, a deadline and plots handed out in advance, warded by the admin and permitted to each entrant. Community event ideas has more.
• Screenshot sessions at a fixed time when an admin sets tod and env for everyone, so people are not changing the light on each other.
• A backup before every event and after every finished build, kept outside the rotation.

On RE:NODE you can lock a backup so scheduled backups never rotate it out, and download it to keep a copy of a finished city on your own machine. That pairs well with a creative world: lock the snapshot after each contest. Backup slots are included on every Valheim plan, and a schedule can take one nightly from the Schedules tab.

FAQ#

Does nobuildcost also make crafting free?

No. It covers building pieces placed with the hammer. Weapons, armour, food and items made at crafting stations still cost materials. Set -modifier resources muchmore if crafting supplies are the bottleneck.

Can I turn on nobuildcost for some players only?

Not in vanilla. World keys and modifiers apply to everyone on the world. Per-player free building needs devcommands through Server Devcommands, where admins use debugmode and the no-cost key while other players build normally.

Will Xbox players be able to join a creative server?

Yes, if the server is vanilla and -crossplay is on. nobuildcost, passivemobs and the modifiers are all vanilla. As soon as a mod is required on clients - most build tools - the server becomes PC-only in practice.

How do I remove the creative switch later?

Remove -setkey nobuildcost from the launch arguments and restart. A key that is already stored in the world may also need removing from the console with removekey nobuildcost - global keys and setkey covers which commands need devcommands. Everything already built stays.

Why can I not place a stone piece in the air?

Structural integrity still applies with nobuildcost. Stone and marble need ground contact or strong support beneath them. Watch the support colours and build down to solid ground, or use iron beams where your build allows them.