Bifrost Connect

A streamlined, one-click dedicated server browser directly on the Valheim main menu.

Bifrost Connect stops the endless searching through lists, typing IP addresses, or repeatedly copying and pasting passwords—hop straight into your favorite worlds with a single click.

🌟 Features

• 🌐 Native Main Menu Button: Seamlessly blends into the Valheim main menu right alongside the standard buttons with matching fonts and audio cues.
• 📜 Scrollable Server Directory: Browse through an unlimited list of your servers inside a custom Valheim woodpanel UI with mouse-wheel scrolling and a smooth vertical scrollbar.
• 🔍 Real-Time Search & Filtering: Live filter search bar at the top of the directory to instantly locate servers by name or address as you type.
• ⚡ Direct Join (Quick Connect): Jump into any server address/port without permanently cluttering your server list.
• 📥 1-Click History Import: Import your existing vanilla Valheim recent server history and favorites directly into BifrostConnect with one click.
• 🛠️ In-Game Server Manager: Add, edit, or delete servers directly from the game UI without ever needing to open a text editor.
• 🧩 Pre-Connection Mod Compatibility Verification: Verify that your active profile has all required BepInEx plugins installed before connecting, complete with mod versions and modpack manifest support.
• 🚨 Smart Disconnect Diagnostics: Intercepts disconnects and mod version mismatches (e.g. ServerSync or B.A.R.K. version mismatches) and displays the exact diagnosis reason directly on Valheim's disconnect screen.
• 🛡️ Streamer-Safe Password Masking: Automatically hides saved server passwords behind a toggleable [Show/Hide] view on the confirmation dialog.
• 🔑 Automatic Password Injection: Stores passwords securely in your local JSON config and automatically injects them during connection—no password prompt required!
• 📊 Live Status & Latency: Real-time online/offline indicators, player counts, and color-coded ping (latency) for all servers.
• ⭐ Favorite Servers: Click the star icon next to any server to mark it as a favorite and pin it to the top.
• 🕐 Smart Sorting: Servers are automatically sorted by favorites first, then by most recently played.
• 🔒 Password Indicator: Servers with saved passwords display a lock icon for quick visual identification.
• 📍 Scroll Position Memory: The server list remembers your scroll position when you close and reopen the menu.
• 📝 Server Notes: Add custom notes to servers (e.g., "Friday night survival", "Modded with Vortex") displayed on the confirmation dialog.
• 📋 Clipboard Import: Paste IP:Port:Password from clipboard and instantly create a server entry with one click.
• 🌍 World Modifier Badges & Tooltips: Live display of server world modifier presets (e.g. Combat, Death Penalty, Resource rates) with native Valheim hover tooltips matching the vanilla server browser.
• 📋 1-Click Address Copy: Easily copy IP:Port directly to your clipboard with one click on the confirmation dialog to share with friends.
• ⚡ Double-Click Quick Join: Double-click any server row to jump straight into the server without opening the confirmation dialog.
• ⌨️ Seamless Keyboard & Gamepad Flow: Arrow to a server, press Enter (or controller A) to open details, and press Enter again to join instantly.
• 🔄 Smart Refresh Feedback & Cooldown: Refresh button shows dynamic "Querying..." feedback and prevents socket congestion from spam clicking.
• 💻 100% Client-Side: Works out of the box with all vanilla and modded dedicated servers.

⚙️ Configuration

When you first launch the game with Bifrost Connect installed, a template configuration file is automatically generated at: BepInEx/config/BifrostConnect_Servers.json

(If using a mod manager, access this via the Config editor tab in your profile.)

{
  "Servers": [
    {
      "Name": "My Survival Server",
      "IP": "127.0.0.1",
      "Port": 2456,
      "Password": ""
    },
    {
      "Name": "Community Dedicated Server",
      "IP": "192.168.1.100",
      "Port": 2456,
      "Password": "secretpassword"
    },
    {
      "Name": "Modded World",
      "IP": "valheim.example.com",
      "Port": 2456,
      "Password": "valheim123"
    }
  ]
}

Changelog

1.1.0

• Smart Disconnect Diagnostics:
  • Intercepts connection errors and mod sync rejections (e.g., ServerSync version mismatches, missing mod requirements, authorization kicks) in real time.
  • Dynamically appends the exact diagnosis reason directly onto Valheim's disconnect screen (Diagnosis: ...) instead of showing the generic "Disconnected" error.
• One-Click Vanilla Server History Import:
  • Added new [Import Recent] button to seamlessly import your existing Valheim server history and favorites (serverlist_local\recent and favorite) directly into BifrostConnect.
• Direct Join / Quick Connect:
  • Added new [Direct Join] button allowing instant connection to any IP:Port or domain name with optional password without permanently cluttering your server list.
  • Smart auto-parsing separates host and port automatically if pasted as IP:Port.
• Real-Time Directory Search & Filter:
  • Added live search bar at the top of the server directory to instantaneously filter servers by name or address as you type.
• Streamer-Safe Password Masking:
  • Server passwords in the confirmation screen are now safely masked by default (•••••••• (Saved)) with an interactive [Show] / [Hide] toggle button to safeguard streamer credentials.
• In-Game Server Management: Add, edit, and delete servers directly from the main menu without touching JSON files.
  • New [Add Server] button opens a native woodpanel dialog to add new dedicated servers.
  • New [Edit] and [Delete] buttons inside the server details modal to manage existing servers on the fly.
  • Added confirmation dialog safeguard before deleting servers to prevent accidental removal.
  • Added Required Mods and Modpack Manifest URL fields to in-game editor.
  • Automatically synchronizes and saves changes to BifrostConnect_Servers.json.
• Pre-Connection Mod Compatibility Verification:
  • Automatically inspects all loaded BepInEx plugins in your active profile via Chainloader.PluginInfos.
  • Compares your local mods against the server's required mod list or remote modpack manifest before connecting.
  • Shows real-time mod compatibility badges directly in the server directory (✓ Mods ready or ⚠ Missing X mods).
  • Added interactive [Check Mods] modal displaying a complete breakdown of installed mods with version numbers vs. missing required mods.
  • Background async fetching for remote modpack manifests (e.g. Thunderstore/GitHub manifests).
• Authentic Norse Typography: Upgraded all text elements and server listings to native Valheim fonts (AveriaSerifBold & AveriaSerif).
• Ping & Latency Measurement: Displays real-time round-trip latency (ping) next to each online server.
• Color-Coded Latency: Ping indicators are dynamically styled with rich text colors:
  • <100ms: Vibrant Green (#70E070)
  • 100ms - 200ms: Warm Gold (#E0C060)
  • >200ms: Soft Orange (#E07070)
• Dual-Stage Reachability & Crossplay Integration:
  • Integrated Valheim's native ZPlayFabMatchmaking.FindHostByIp on the main thread for servers using -crossplay.
  • Added ICMP ping fallback so servers behind strict UDP/A2S packet firewalls never show as falsely offline.
  • Added asynchronous DNS hostname resolution (supports domain names and DDNS hostnames).
• Instant Menu Loading: Server directory menu opens with 0ms delay with non-blocking parallel background querying.
• Refresh & Navigation: Added manual [Refresh] button at the bottom of the list and full gamepad (B / JoyMenu) / keyboard (Escape) modal backout support.
• Favorite Servers: Click the star icon (★/☆) next to any server to mark it as a favorite and pin it to the top.
• Smart Sorting & Last Played: Automatically tracks connection timestamps and sorts by favorites first, then most recently played.
• Password Lock Indicator: Servers with saved passwords now display a lock icon (🔒) for quick visual identification.
• Scroll Position Memory: The server directory now remembers your scroll position when you close and reopen the menu.
• Offline Connection Warning: Added log warning when attempting to connect to offline servers instead of silent failures.
• Server Notes/Descriptions: Added optional notes field to servers, displayed in italic on the confirmation dialog for context like "Friday night survival" or "Modded with Vortex".
• Clipboard Import: New [From Clipboard] button parses IP:Port:Password format and instantly creates a server entry.
• Keyboard Navigation: Full arrow key support - use Up/Down arrows to navigate the server list with visual highlight, Enter to connect.
• Character Profile Tracking: Added LastCharacterName field to server entries for future character auto-selection (foundation for upcoming feature).
• Animated Panel Transitions: Added fade animation helper methods for smoother panel transitions.
• Config File Auto-Reload: FileSystemWatcher monitors the config file and automatically reloads when changes are detected (2-second debounce).
• Export/Import Backup: New [Export] and [Import] buttons allow backing up your server list to BifrostConnect_Export.json and restoring it on other machines.

1.0.4

• Runtime Reflection Hardening: Converted FejdStartup.m_queuedJoinServer field access and assignment to safe Harmony reflection (AccessTools.Field) with exception handling, fixing runtime System.FieldAccessException on un-publicized vanilla game assemblies.
• Direct Server Join Fix: Routed server connections through Valheim's native m_queuedJoinServer queue and eliminated the legacy ShowStartGame patch, resolving NullReferenceException in FejdStartup.OnCharacterStart and allowing clean, direct transitions into servers upon character selection.
• Safe Character Screen Initialization: Transitioned character selection startup to use Valheim's native FejdStartup.OnStartGame flow with safe reflection fallbacks.

1.0.3

• Character Selection Fix: Fixed an issue where connecting to a server forced an immediate join, bypassing the character selection screen and loading an incorrect profile.
• UI Transition Hardening: Re-architected the connection flow to safely route through Valheim's native ShowCharacterSelection without triggering overlapping main menu glitches.
• World Select Interception: Added a seamless Harmony patch to intercept the "Start" button post-character selection, bypassing the local world menu and launching directly into the queued Bifrost server.

1.0.2

• Fix FieldAccessException: Fixed runtime System.FieldAccessException on FejdStartup.m_menuButtons that caused UI injection to fail on un-publicized game runtime assemblies.
• Reflection Hardening: Safely wrapped menu button injection and server password injection (FejdStartup.ServerPassword and ZNet.m_serverPassword) using Harmony AccessTools reflection with exception handling to prevent future game patch breakages.

1.0.1

• Fix Empty Server Directory: Resolved issue where the server directory panel opened completely blank in-game.
• Native ScrollRect & RectMask2D: Replaced Jötunn's nested canvas CreateScrollView with a clean Unity UI ScrollRect and RectMask2D container residing directly within the woodpanel canvas hierarchy, eliminating canvas sorting order culling and stencil mask issues.
• Immediate Layout Computation: Added LayoutRebuilder.ForceRebuildLayoutImmediate and Canvas.ForceUpdateCanvases() on menu open to guarantee buttons are measured, centered, and visible on the initial frame.
• Auto-Hiding Scrollbar: Configured responsive vertical scrollbar with mouse-wheel support that dynamically hides when servers fit within the viewport and appears when the list overflows.
• Trace Logging: Added server directory build logs detailing loaded server count and layout bounds.

1.0.0

• Initial Public Release
• Main Menu Integration: Added native "BIFROST CONNECT" button directly to the Valheim main menu matching vanilla layout, font styling, and button audio cues.
• Scrollable Server Directory: Added authentic Valheim woodpanel server directory with smooth mouse-wheel scrolling.
• Join Confirmation Dialog: Added dedicated confirmation modal displaying server name, address, and password protection status before connecting.
• Automatic Password Auto-Fill: Automatically passes saved server passwords into Valheim's connection sequence to eliminate manual entry.
• Hot-Reloading JSON Configuration: Fast, live-reloading configuration (BepInEx/config/BifrostConnect_Servers.json) using Valheim's bundled Newtonsoft.Json with support for comments (// and #).
• Auto-Generated Examples: Automatically generates a documented example template with multiple server formats if no configuration file exists.
• Input & Navigation: Full Escape key support to close custom menus and return seamlessly to the main menu.
• Distribution & Antivirus Compliance: Fully compliant assembly metadata, disabled unsafe blocks, and clean 7-Zip packaging for false-positive-free distribution across Thunderstore, Nexus Mods, and Hexium.