Bjørn's Hitching Post

Installation requirements

Modded participants must use 0.2.3, BepInExPack Valheim 5.4.2351, and Jötunn 2.30.2. Unmodded players need neither this mod nor its dependencies. Version 0.1.0 is incompatible with 0.2.3 and still requires every client to install it.

What unmodded players experience

Unmodded players can join and see the animals and an ordinary vanilla wooden pole. They do not see the custom decorations, name, build recipe, controls, or post ropes. Saved/networked posts use the existing wood_pole prefab, so no unknown assets are needed on their machines. Decorations add no extra collision geometry.

When no compatible modded simulator is nearby, tethered animals are held stationary under server ownership. They remain confined, but AI, combat, and active taming simulation pause. Roaming within the tether and taming resume when a modded player returns, or when the modded host is actively simulating that area. Vanilla timers based on world time may catch up on resuming; this does not add off-screen taming. Vanilla clients cannot enforce this mod's restraint rules.

Marked posts also stay under compatible ownership to preserve resource refunds. Unmodded users cannot reliably remove/damage a held post or interact with a held animal when its server-side object is not loaded. Use a modded player to manage posts. This is a mixed-group mod, not a fully featured server-only experience.

Using the post

1. With the mod installed, build Bjørn's Hitching Post from the hammer's Furniture menu near a workbench. Cost: 10 Fine wood + 10 Bronze nails.
2. Hit an eligible animal with the Abyssal Harpoon. The modded harpoon holder temporarily takes simulation ownership. Their eligible-animal hit applies the real harpoon effect without damage or knockback. Friendly pets can be harpooned without enabling PvP on a modded client.
3. Bring it within five meters of the post while your harpoon line remains attached.
4. Look at the post and press Use (E by default). Only a creature carrying your active harpoon tether can be transferred. On entering an area, allow a moment for ownership to move from the server before interacting.
5. Your player line ends and a rope connects the animal to the post. Multiple animals can share a post, each within five meters of its base.
6. Shift + Use releases that post's animals. Release before riding or transporting an animal away.

Food, calmness, and the normal taming duration are still required. Actively simulated animals can become alarmed, attack, and damage the post. The post has 1,000 health. Post ropes consume no player stamina. Player-held harpoons retain normal stamina and release rules.

The harmless-harpoon enhancement applies to modded participants; do not assume an unmodded player's harpoon hits are harmless. Unmodded players cannot initiate the mod's transfer interaction.

Eligible creatures

Eligibility uses the game's Tameable component or a young creature's Growup path to a tameable adult. Players and bosses are excluded.

• Boars and piggies
• Wolves and wolf cubs
• Lox and lox calves
• Asksvin and asksvin hatchlings
• Moose and moose calves
• Hens and chickens

Tameable summoned companions also qualify: Skeleton_Friendly and spiritcaller variants of boar, wolf, moose, and bjorn. Their native lifetime/dismissal logic is not rewritten, but simulation pauses under the stationary fallback. Ordinary wild bjorn, deer, necks, trolls, eggs, and other non-tameable creatures cannot be hitched. Star levels do not restrict eligibility. Modded creatures must expose the same components; custom species themselves may require additional client mods.

Persistence, permissions, and upgrading

Attachments are saved with the animal and transferred when it grows. Ward checks use the interacting player's identity. Outside wards, nearby modded players can release a post's animals. A destroyed post's links are cleared after a 15-second missing-post grace period to tolerate late packets.

Install for testing

Server: install this package plus BepInExPack Valheim and Jötunn through your server host's Thunderstore mod selector. Check that the host installs both dependencies. Restart the server after installation. For manual installation into an existing BepInEx setup, copy the included plugins/BjornsHitchingPost folder into BepInEx/plugins and install the listed dependencies separately.

Modded players: install this package through Thunderstore Mod Manager/r2modman in a separate Valheim test profile. The manifest declares both dependencies. Launch through that profile. Other players may use stock Valheim.

References

• Jötunn creature component catalog, generated from Valheim 1.0.7, including Deep North animals.
• Jötunn network compatibility: this version uses ServerMustHaveMod and patch-version matching for modded participants.
• Thunderstore package requirements.
• Local Valheim 1.0.16 assemblies were inspected for harpoon, growth, ownership, serialization, and ward APIs.

Unofficial community mod; not an Iron Gate product. Game and dependency DLLs are not redistributed.

1.0.1

• Include the MIT license: Copyright (c) 2026 res-cydris.
• Include the license in the release and source packages and document it in the README.
• Update package, plugin, assembly, and multiplayer handshake to 1.0.1; gameplay unchanged.

1.0.0

• First stable release, following user-confirmed in-game testing.
• Hitch tameable animals with an Abyssal Harpoon or directly from a ridden mount.
• Release individual animals or all animals at a post.
• Configurable tether length, untamed-animal permission, and local shortcuts. Defaults: E to hitch; Left Shift + E to release.
• Server required; vanilla player compatible. Server and modded clients must update together to 1.0.0.
• Retain the tested gameplay, existing configuration, saved attachments, and user-supplied icon.

0.2.6

• Add server-synchronized tether length (1–30 meters) and untamed-animal attachment permission.
• Add local hitch, individual-release, and release-all shortcuts, with current keys shown in hover prompts.
• Preserve default game controls and existing attachments; document configuration in the README.

0.2.5

• Release individual animals with alternate Use while looking at their body or saddle.
• Hitch a ridden tame mount without a harpoon; dismount after attachment is confirmed.
• Add release README installation instructions and update the package description.

0.2.4

• Position the crossmember from the vanilla pole's mesh bounds, fixing the visible gap.
• Match the Abyssal Harpoon rope's renderer settings, slack, and distance-based thickness.
• Move the rope attachment and hover point to the corrected crossmember height.
• Tethers remain visible only to modded clients. Update the server and modded clients together.

0.2.3

• Include the user-edited README.
• Update package, plugin, assembly, and client/server handshake versions to 0.2.3.
• Gameplay and icon unchanged; server and modded clients must update together.

0.2.2

• Rename Thunderstore package identifier to BjornsHitchingPost (a new listing). Replace the old package rather than installing both.

• Update package, plugin, assembly, and matching client/server handshake to 0.2.2.

• Retain the spaced display name and user-supplied icon.

• Gameplay behavior unchanged; server and modded clients must update together.

0.2.1

• Bump package, plugin, assembly, and client/server handshake versions to 0.2.1.
• Retain the user-supplied icon and existing optional-client behavior.
• Server and modded clients must update together; unmodded clients remain optional.

0.2.0

• User-supplied hitching-post artwork for Thunderstore and the in-game build menu.

• Server required; clients can join without this mod or its dependencies.

• Posts use the vanilla wood_pole prefab with custom saved metadata.

• Modded clients restore decorations, recipe/refunds, controls, and ropes locally.

• Matching-version handshakes identify eligible animal/post simulators.

• Animals pause under server ownership when no compatible simulator is nearby.

• Harpoon holder acquires temporary ownership for native harpoon state and harmless attachment.

• Saved 0.1.0 posts convert on server load. Back up first; do not downgrade converted worlds.

• Ownership tests, patch-binding checks, package/assembly version and ZIP binary validation added.

0.1.0

• Initial test build requiring all clients to install the mod.
• Fine wood/bronze nails post, harpoon transfer, five-meter ropes, multiple animals, release interaction.
• Runtime eligibility, saved attachments, growth transfer, and ward checks.