Vanilla worlds and crossplay¶
A world can be created as vanilla: stock Valheim with zero mods and no BepInEx. Players join with the ordinary Valheim client, so no PhValheim client install is required.
Tick Vanilla world (no mods) when creating a world, or flip it later in the world's Settings modal (the world needs an update/restart to apply).
| Option | Notes |
|---|---|
| Server Password | Minimum 5 characters, and it cannot appear inside the world name — Valheim refuses to start otherwise. |
| Crossplay | Lets Xbox / Microsoft Store players join. Not vanilla-only — this setting is available on every world from its Settings modal. Note that players on those platforms cannot install mods, so a heavily modded world may not be joinable for them. |
| List in server browser | Publishes the world to the public Valheim community server list. Valheim requires a password for this. |
| Show password on public UI | On by default. Turn it off and the password row is removed from the world card entirely, for worlds whose password you share another way. |
Players see a dedicated card on the public UI with the server address, the password (show to reveal, copy to put it on the clipboard), and a Join button. They can also connect from Valheim's own Join IP screen using the address shown.
Note: Valheim has no way to pre-fill a server password from a launch argument, so players type it at the prompt — which is why the card shows it.
Because these worlds run no mods, a few PhValheim features that depend on the companion mod do not apply to them: boss progression ("hung heads"), player join/leave events, and tick-health metrics — so the HEALTH bar is hidden for them in the admin UI.
Seeds. Valheim's dedicated server has no seed argument — the seed is fixed when the world is first generated. Choosing one needs the CustomSeed mod, which a vanilla world does not run, so the seed control is hidden when creating one. PhValheim reads the seed Valheim actually generated out of the world's .fwl after first start and displays that; until then the card shows generated on first start.
If you want a specific seed on a vanilla world, generate the world in the Valheim client (where you can type a seed) and use Import World — no mod required.
A vanilla world cannot have mods: Edit Mods is disabled for it, and turning the vanilla switch on clears any existing mod selection. Turn the switch back off to make it a modded world again, then use Edit Mods and run an Update.
Modded worlds are unaffected by any of this — they continue to be gated by the Citizens list.