HotbarDeathKeeper

Keeps your vanilla hotbar items (slots 1-8: weapon, shield, tool, torch, etc) equipped after death, instead of losing them to the tombstone.

Fully standalone - does not require ExtraSlots or any other mod to work. It only depends on BepInEx. If you happen to also use ExtraSlots, the two are compatible and complement each other: ExtraSlots keeps its own extra slots (Equipment/Quick/Food/Ammo/ Misc), while this mod covers the vanilla hotbar, which ExtraSlots does not touch. Neither mod requires the other to be installed.

Client-side only. Must be installed on your client to affect your character (the character owner is the client, not the server). Does not need to be installed on the server.

Source code: https://github.com/AlmeidaaFelipe/Valheim/tree/main/mods/HotbarDeathKeeper

Why this mod exists

This is not an "inventory prevention" mod. The idea came from a specific need: not losing your equipped items - the ones on your hotbar (weapon, shield, tool, torch) - when you die. On its own, this mod already covers that need completely by itself. If you also run ExtraSlots (which keeps its own equipped items: Equipment/Quick/Food/Ammo/Misc), the coverage extends to those slots too - but that's an optional bonus, not a requirement.

In other words: the only thing protected is what's equipped (hotbar, plus ExtraSlots slots if you have that mod installed). The rest of your inventory still goes to the tombstone as normal, with no protection at all.

The goal is not to remove the tombstone from the game or take away the death penalty - that stays exactly the same. What changes is that, on respawn, you don't have to reforge your weapon and armor from scratch before heading back to recover the rest. This mainly helps early game, where losing your whole gear can grind you to a halt; with the mod, you respawn, walk back to your tombstone, recover the rest of your inventory, and you're already geared up to make the trip back.

Requirements

• Valheim (client)
• BepInExPack 5.4.2202 or newer

Installation

Via r2modman/Thunderstore Mod Manager: install normally, it resolves the BepInExPack dependency on its own.

Manual: extract the zip into your client's BepInEx/plugins/HotbarDeathKeeper/ folder.

Configuration

After running it once, edit BepInEx/config/hdk.valheim.hotbardeathkeeper.cfg:

• Enabled (default: true)
• Keep equipped state (default: true) - automatically re-equips whatever was in your hand when you died.

Licensing

MIT License - see LICENSE.txt. Free to use, modify, and redistribute.

Changelog

1.0.1

• Fixed broken source code link in documentation.

1.0.0

• First version published on Thunderstore.
• Keeps vanilla hotbar items (slots 1-8) equipped after death.
• Option to automatically re-equip the item that was in hand when you died.

Full changelog: CHANGELOG.md