Server_CreatureRespawn

Server-side only: players don't need to install anything.

In vanilla Valheim, the creatures guarding dungeons and other special locations spawn only once. When they're dead, they're gone for good: the troll in a troll cave, the draugr in a burial chamber, the skeletons in a crypt. Late joiners and less active players find every location already cleared.

This mod brings those creatures back on a real-time cooldown (24 hours by default). It works with vanilla clients and touches nothing but the creatures. Chests, loot and pickables are never refilled, so the progression curve stays intact.

Features

• Respawns one-shot creatures in every kind of location: troll caves (the troll inside and the one outside), burial chambers, crypts, frost caves, infested mines, camps, Ashlands fortresses, Deep North locations, and locations added by other mods.
• Real-time cooldown that keeps counting while nobody is online and even while the server is offline. Configurable globally and per location.
• No pop-in: nothing changes while a player is near a location. Creatures reappear the next time someone comes by.
• Respects player bases: a spawner inside a workbench, campfire or similar area (the same pieces that stop monster spawns in vanilla) isn't reset while that area exists.
• Protects progression: bosses are never respawned, and Hildir's quest bosses are excluded by default, so her chests can't be farmed.
• Works with creature-swapping mods such as Expand World Prefabs star or champion rules: a swapped creature still counts as alive, so it's never duplicated.
• Repairs stuck spawners: a spawner that refuses to spawn although players come by is replaced with a clean copy automatically.
• No extra files: timers are stored in the world save. The only file the mod creates is its config.

Installation

1. Install BepInExPack Valheim on your dedicated server.
2. Put Server_CreatureRespawn.dll in the server's BepInEx/plugins folder.
3. Start the server. BepInEx/config/Server_CreatureRespawn.cfg is created on the first start.

Players don't need the mod. If a client has it installed anyway, it does nothing there.

How it works

1. A creature that guards a location is killed. Its one-shot spawner is now "done" and would never spawn again in vanilla.
2. The mod notices and starts that spawner's cooldown.
3. When the cooldown has passed and no player is within 150 m of the location, the spawner is replaced with a fresh one.
4. The next time a player comes within range, the game spawns the creature again, just like the first time.

Each spawner has its own timer: creatures you leave alive aren't affected by the ones you killed.

Configuration

BepInEx/config/Server_CreatureRespawn.cfg: changes are applied automatically within a couple of minutes, with no restart needed.

FAQ

Does it refill chests? No. Chests, loot and pickables are never touched, only creatures.

Why didn't a creature respawn yet? Its cooldown hasn't passed, a player was near the location when the mod checked, or it's inside a player base area. The respawn itself happens when a player comes within the creature's normal spawn range.

Does it change how many creatures a location has? No. Each creature comes back from its own original spawner. Spawners are never added or deleted, only replaced with a fresh copy in the same place.

Does it work with other mods? It's designed for vanilla clients and works alongside server-side mods. Creatures swapped by mods like Expand World Prefabs are recognized and not duplicated.