Better Stealth Indicator

Better Stealth Indicator is a Valheim quality-of-life HUD mod that makes enemy awareness easier to read while preserving Valheim's stealth mechanics.

Stealth states

• Green — Undetected: the player has not been detected.
• Yellow — Searching: enemies are searching/targeting; the eye moves side to side.
• Red — Detected: detection is confirmed; the eye pulses for four seconds when detection begins.

The mod mirrors Valheim's own stealth HUD state rather than changing stealth gameplay.

Indicator styles

Two complete indicator sets are included:

• The Beast — default clean eye set.
• Odins Eye — alternate fantasy-styled eye set.

Choose the set in Configuration Manager under General -> UseOdinsEyeSet. OFF uses The Beast; ON uses Odins Eye.

Configuration

• Enabled — enables/disables Better Stealth Indicator.
• UseOdinsEyeSet — OFF for The Beast; ON for Odins Eye.
• Brightness — 0.50 to 2.00 in 0.25 steps; default 1.00.
• Scale — 0.50 to 2.00 in 0.25 steps; default 1.00.
• HorizontalOffset — moves the indicator left/right from screen center in 10-pixel steps.
• VerticalOffset — moves the indicator up/down from screen center in 10-pixel steps.
• ShowStateText — debug comparison mode. When enabled, state text is shown and Valheim's original stealth indicator remains visible for comparison.

The Better indicator remains visible while Configuration Manager is open so position, scale, brightness, and style changes can be previewed live.

Installation

Install with a Thunderstore-compatible mod manager such as r2modman, or install manually by placing the mod files in your Valheim BepInEx\plugins folder.

Credits

Created through iterative in-game testing and HUD comparison by JayBird.

Changelog

0.4.16

• Fixed the Thunderstore/r2modman artwork packaging problem affecting earlier public releases.
• Embedded all six default indicator PNGs directly in BetterStealthIndicator.dll.
• On first run, the DLL now creates the artwork under BepInEx\config\jaybird.BetterStealthIndicator, following the resource/config pattern used by current Valheim mods.
• The Thunderstore package no longer depends on an assets folder being preserved under BepInEx\plugins.
• Existing extracted PNGs in the config folder are not overwritten, allowing them to be customized.
• Stealth behavior, direct vanilla HUD mirroring, The Beast/Odins Eye selection, and animations are unchanged.

0.4.15

• Rebuilt plugin version as 0.4.15.
• Simplified runtime package to the tested DLL + assets layout.
• Removed loose fallback PNG copies from the package; each selectable art set now loads from its own folder.
• Packaging cleanup after Thunderstore/r2modman asset-install testing.
• Stealth state logic remains the direct vanilla HUD mirror used in 0.4.14.

v0.4.14

• Rebuilt plugin version so BepInEx and Configuration Manager report 0.4.14.
• Restored all The Beast and Odins Eye runtime PNG assets.
• Included fallback stealth indicator assets.
• Packaging fix for Thunderstore/r2modman installs.

v0.4.7

• Replaced the free-text IndicatorSet setting with a simple toggle.
• UseOdinsEyeSet = OFF uses The Beast.
• UseOdinsEyeSet = ON uses Odins Eye.
• Cleaned the Odins Eye PNGs to remove much of the surrounding smoky/glow background while preserving the eye artwork.
• Retains direct HUD mirroring, searching motion, and the 4-second detected pulse.

Changelog

0.4.6 — Release Candidate

• Wrapped the tested features into one release-candidate build.
• Includes both The Beast and Odins Eye indicator sets.
• Keeps direct Valheim stealth-HUD mirroring.
• Keeps live Configuration Manager preview.
• Keeps X/Y screen-center position controls.
• Keeps stepped Brightness and Scale controls; Brightness defaults to 1.00.
• Keeps yellow Searching side-to-side animation.
• Keeps red Detected pulse animation for 4 seconds.
• Debug mode keeps Valheim's original stealth indicator visible for comparison.
• Updated package/readme/build instructions for the combined build.

0.4.5

• Added selectable The Beast and Odins Eye art sets.

0.4.4

• Extended the red Detected pulse to four seconds.

0.4.3

• Finalized the approved core indicator artwork and behavior for testing.

0.4.2

• Restored default Brightness to 1.00.

0.4.0

• Added Detected-state pulse animation.

0.3.x testing

• Moved state detection toward direct Valheim HUD mirroring.
• Added live Configuration Manager preview.
• Added horizontal/vertical placement controls.
• Added stepped Brightness and Scale controls.
• Iterated the green/yellow/red eye artwork and state matching.