Guilds — a complete guild system for Valheim

Players found guilds, invite friends, give them ranks and share a vault and wards. Members wear the guild emblem and tag next to their name — above their head and in chat. Players outside a guild look exactly as in the normal game.

How to use

Press F9 (configurable) to open the guild window. Esc or F9 closes it.

Without a guild:

In a guild:

Emblems and tags

• Above the heads of members: the emblem icon and [TAG] in the guild colour before the name.
• In chat: emblem and [TAG] before the name in normal messages and shouts.
• The emblem is the icon of an item from the server list (Emblems) — boss and creature trophies by default. Modded items work too.
• Each player can turn the icons off for themselves (ShowNameplateEmblems, ShowChatEmblems).

Guild chat

Type /g message in chat. Only online guild members see it, with the sender's rank. Members also see the message of the day when they log in, and short notices (someone joined, left, was kicked, became leader…).

Guild wards

Hold Shift and press E on a ward you built to bind it to your guild (again to unbind). Members whose rank has Ward access are then treated as permitted on that ward — the game's own check, so it covers building, doors, chests and stations. The binding stops working on its own if the ward's builder leaves the guild; the builder can always unbind it. The hover text of the ward shows the guild.

Guild banner and territory

Build the Guild banner with the hammer (tab Misc; costs 1 Wood for now, see BannerRecipe). It is a custom Norse banner — spear-tipped pole, crossbar with leather straps and a ragged cloth — painted in the guild colour with the guild emblem in the rune medallion. It claims a square territory around itself — 50×50 m at the start. Inside the territory only guild members whose rank has Ward access can build, remove pieces, open doors and use containers (the game's own access check, like a ward). The borders are drawn on the ground while you are in build mode or looking at the banner.

• One banner per guild. Placing needs the Banner and upgrades permission; territories of different guilds keep a gap (TerritoryGap).
• The banner cannot be damaged. Only members with the Banner permission can remove it. If it is removed, the guild loses its territory until a new banner is raised — bought upgrades are kept.
• E on the banner opens the BANNER tab — the only place where upgrades are bought; Shift + E toggles respawning at the banner (after the upgrade).

Guild levels, points and upgrades

The guild gains experience (XP) from its members' activity (kills, bosses, crafting, felling trees, mining, farming, fishing, building, taming, travel), from the first kill of every boss, from achievements and from coin donations from the treasury. Every level gives guild points.

Upgrades are bought at the guild banner: press E on it to open the BANNER tab with the purchase buttons. The tab can be viewed from the guild window anywhere, but buying needs the banner interaction:

The claim is the land for guild buildings: outsiders cannot build or use things there and the structure upgrades protect it. The other perks are deliberately small and work for members everywhere while the guild has a banner (if the banner is destroyed they pause until a new one is raised).

Materials come from the guild vault (Meadows/Black Forest → Swamp/Mountain → Plains/Mistlands), coins from the treasury, some levels also need a minimum guild level. Every cost is configurable in [6 - Upgrades].

Achievements

17 guild achievements in 6 categories (combat, crafting, gathering, building, exploration, other), each with bronze, silver and gold tiers. Every member's activity counts towards the guild total; each tier gives XP and is announced in guild chat. The counts come from the game's own player statistics; statistics the game marks as cheated (devcommands) are ignored, and the server caps how much one player can report per 30 seconds.

Map

• Online guild members appear on your map in the guild colour, also when they hide their position.
• A map pin whose name starts with ! (e.g. !Copper) is shared with the whole guild (needs the Shared map pins permission). Removing it removes it for everyone.

Ranks and permissions

The first rank is the leader's and has every permission. New members join with the lowest rank. A member may only manage ranks and members below their own rank, and may only grant permissions they have themselves.

Default ranks of a new guild: Leader, Officer (most permissions, 5000 coins a day), Member (vault without coins, wards, log, chat), Recruit (deposit and chat).

Installation

The mod must be installed on the server and on every client. Jotunn rejects players without it.

Requirements: BepInExPack_Valheim, Jotunn 2.29.0 or newer. Optional: Marketplace 1.3.0+, World Advancement Progression.

1. Copy the Northarun-Guilds folder to BepInEx/plugins/.
2. On a dedicated server, copy the same folder to the server's BepInEx/plugins/.
3. Start the server once — the config file BepInEx/config/adrian.valheim.guilds.cfg is created.

Configuration

Server and Integrations settings are taken from the server's config file; clients receive what they need.

Integrations with the Northarun mod pack

• Marketplace (1.3.0+): the founding fee is paid from the bank first; the treasury has Deposit from bank / Withdraw to bank. The bank history shows guild payments. Without Marketplace everything works with inventory coins.
• World Advancement Progression (private keys): with SharedProgression = true, a boss key earned by a member becomes guild knowledge and is sent to every member who has been in the guild at least SharedProgressionMinHours, through WAP's own key RPC (WAP stores it like any other key). Keys stay with a player who leaves.
• EpicLoot, Adventure Backpacks and other item mods: the vault keeps quality, variant, durability, crafter and all m_customData, so magic items and backpacks with their contents survive storage. Equipped items cannot be stored.
• BetrValheim: the guild vault is server-side, so BetrValheim's "Use foreign private containers" crafting cannot pull from it. That option also lets crafting use chests behind wards and inside guild territories — set it to false if territories should be fully private. The banner respawn works next to BetrValheim's portal picker.
• PlantEverything / PlantEasily: Fertile soil multiplies whatever grow time these mods set.
• World Advancement Progression: building the banner and paying upgrades follow WAP's normal item locks (e.g. Bronze needs the matching boss key).
• Server devcommands / admins: the console command guildadmin (server admins only):
  • guildadmin list
  • guildadmin disband <TAG> — vault contents go to the admin
  • guildadmin leader <TAG> <player>
  • guildadmin kick <TAG> <player>
  • guildadmin rename <TAG> <NEWTAG> <new name>

Data and security

• The server keeps guilds, invitations and cooldowns in BepInEx/config/Guilds/<world name>.dat, saves after every change and keeps the previous version as .dat.bak.
• Every operation is appended to BepInEx/config/Guilds/<world name>.log (founding, joins, kicks, rank changes, every vault movement with amounts).
• Only the server changes guilds and the vault. Players are identified by the character ID of their in-world object, not by what the client claims. Every rejected operation returns the item or coins.
• Ward bindings are stored on the ward itself and written by the ward's owner after checking the sender against the guild list.
• As everywhere in Valheim, the inventory belongs to the client. A modified client could fake a deposit, so an anti-cheat (e.g. AzuAntiCheat) is recommended.

Building from source

The banner model lives in art\banner_v3 (source GLB and texture). tools\banner\build_banner.ps1 turns it into assets\banner.mesh, assets\banner_cloth.png and assets\banner_icon.png, which build.ps1 embeds in the DLL — no Unity or AssetBundle needed. The tool fixes the pole parts, cuts the cloth along the painted silhouette, removes the raven from the medallion (the guild emblem goes there) and stores the red paint as a mask for the guild colour.

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File build.ps1

Languages

English by default; Polish with Language = Polish. Each player picks their own language; server messages are translated on the client.

Changelog

1.4.0

• Guild buildings are built from ordinary game pieces. After the server accepts a building it is raised from vanilla pieces at their normal size (stone foundation, floor, walls, doors, thatched roof, gables, stairs, ladders, furniture). Every piece works like one you built yourself. The pieces always count as supported, so a building stands whole on uneven ground.
• The cost of a building is the sum of the recipes of all its pieces, furniture included.
• The guild board by the entrance holds the guild functions and removes the whole building. A piece removed on its own drops nothing.
• Buildings from older versions are rebuilt from game pieces automatically.
• New buildings: tavern, workshop, bathhouse and guardhouse.
• The longhouse, kitchen and tavern have smoke holes above their fires.
• The gate has double wooden gates that only guild members can open (instead of a portcullis).
• The stone wall is now 3 m high with a walkway; the rampart stairs lead to its top.
• Diplomacy (first version, UI only): a new Diplomacy tab lists the other guilds and your relations with them (neutral, alliance, war).
  • Propose, accept, decline or break alliances; declare war, offer and accept peace.
  • Changes are announced in both guilds' chat and log.
  • New rank permission Diplomacy, given automatically to ranks that can edit guild info.
  • Relations do not change combat, wards or territory yet.

1.3.1

• Rebuilt guild buildings: stone foundations, thatched gable roofs with ridges and eaves, timber framing, proper doors, interiors and lighting. Every model was re-rendered for the build menu.
• Working furniture: beds, chairs, benches, thrones, fires, hearths, forges, workbenches, cooking stations, cauldrons, chests, armour and item stands, braziers, torches and doors are real vanilla pieces — sit, sleep, cook, craft and store as usual. They no longer open the guild window.
• Guild board: the guild functions (vault, respawn, guild window) are on a board by each building's entrance; the gate keeps its portcullis.
• Costs equal the materials: each building costs exactly the recipes of the parts it is made of, furniture included. <building>.Cost is replaced by <building>.CostOverride (empty = automatic).
• New buildings: smithy, kitchen, trophy hall, training ground and market stall.
• The lamppost now has a hanging brazier you can refuel.
• Territory corner posts and border are always visible: they follow the ground at each corner (also in valleys and on hills, at any height relative to the banner) and are placed again once distant terrain loads, instead of ending up at sea level.

1.3.0

• Guild buildings (hammer → new Guild tab, together with the banner). Built from vanilla Valheim parts, only inside the guild territory, by members with the new Guild buildings permission; limits grow with the guild level:
  • Armory — opens the vault's armory section and adds equipment slots.
  • Warehouse — opens the vault's warehouse section and adds material slots.
  • Longhouse — extra comfort for members nearby, opens the guild window.
  • Barracks — members can choose to respawn there.
  • Stone wall, palisade, rampart stairs, stone tower and watchtower (towers warn the guild in chat when an outsider enters the territory), gate with a portcullis only members can raise, lamppost, well, signpost (shows the guild to passers-by). Walls, towers and gates snap to each other.
• The vault is split into the Armory (weapons, armour, tools, ammo) and the Warehouse (materials and everything else), each with its own capacity. Items are sorted automatically.
• Build-menu icons are renders of the buildings.
• The server now finds banners and buildings with its own world scan (about a minute per pass instead of tens of minutes).
• Default territory size raised to 70×70 m (TerritoryBaseSize; existing configs keep their value).
• New config section [8 - Buildings] (limits, costs, slots, longhouse comfort, intruder alerts). Building costs scale with size and game progress (Meadows/Black Forest materials, iron for the gate).
• The guild banner now costs 20 Wood, 8 Leather scraps, 4 Deer hide and 4 Resin (BannerRecipe).
• Ranks that could manage the banner get the new Guild buildings permission automatically.

1.2.5

• GuildsApi for other mods (Vikings Village): read a player's guild tag and grant guild XP as a quest reward (also counted as the member's contribution).

1.2.4

• Guild name above member names: the full guild name in the guild colour is shown above the player name, with the guild emblem next to it. The emblem is cropped to the icon itself (no empty margins) and scaled to the text. The [TAG] is no longer added to the player name.
• One banner per guild is enforced by the server using the banners that really stand in the world (not a remembered ID). If a guild somehow has more than one, only the registered banner counts; the others become abandoned banners (anyone can remove them; if their builder is online they are removed with the materials returned).
• Better territory border: sampled every metre and lifted above the highest ground nearby, plus a faint line that shows through hills, so terrain no longer hides it.
• Corner posts: a wooden post with a cap in the guild colour marks each corner of a guild territory (visual only, shown near the territory).

1.2.3

• Fixed: after leaving and rejoining (or restarting the world) the guild banner became Inactive and the guild lost its territory. The game gives objects new network IDs every time the world loads, so the server could not find the banner by its old ID. The server now finds guild banners by their prefab and the guild stored on them, updates the ID and position, and automatically restores banners that were wrongly marked as lost.

1.2.2

• Fixed: the banner cloth stayed plain black and all wooden/iron parts had one colour. The game material the banner borrows repeats its texture, so only a thin strip of the banner textures was shown. The tiling is now reset, so the guild colour ornaments, the guild emblem and the part colours appear. The game log shows the shader used (Guild banner shader: ...) for diagnostics.
• Fixed: the left spear tip of the banner crossbar floated in the air. The crossbar is rebuilt: symmetric around the pole, with iron end caps and spear tips attached on both ends.
• Better banner quality: smooth cloth edges instead of a stair-step outline, wood grain and subtle shading on the pole, crossbar, straps, iron fittings and stones, no stray colour specks on the worn cloth edges.

1.2.1

• Fixed: the guild banner could only be placed against walls (it inherited the wall-mount settings of the vanilla banner). It now stands on the ground, with a snap point in the middle of its base.
• Fixed: the banner cloth did not show the guild colour and emblem. New look: flat black cloth, the ornaments (runes, knots, medallion ring) in the guild colour, and the guild emblem in the medallion in its own colours with a thin white outline. Banners placed before the guild list arrived now pick up their builder's guild automatically.
• Guild bar in the HUD: at the bottom centre of the screen, below the stamina bar — emblem, tag, guild level, experience bar and members online / all members. Settings: ShowGuildHud, GuildHudOffsetY (client). The server refreshes the bar about every 20 seconds while the guild gains experience.

1.2.0

• New guild banner model: a custom Norse banner — spear-tipped pole, crossbar with leather straps and a ragged cloth. The cloth is painted in the guild colour (the red ornaments take the guild colour) and the guild emblem is painted in the rune medallion. New build menu icon. Build cost for now: 1 Wood, no crafting station (BannerRecipe).
• The claim is the land for guild buildings: outsiders cannot build or use things there; Sturdy walls and Monster ward work only inside the claim.
• Regeneration, Comfort, Workshops and Fertile soil now work for members on the whole map while the guild has a banner, with smaller values:
  • Regeneration +5 / 10 / 15 % (was +15 / 30 / 50 % in the territory)
  • Comfort +1 / 2, two levels (was +1 / 2 / 3)
  • Workshops +5 / 10 / 15 % for processing stations built by members (was +15 / 30 / 50 %)
  • Fertile soil +10 / 20 / 30 % for crops planted by members (was +20 / 40 / 70 %)
• If the banner is destroyed, the perks pause until a new banner is raised (bought upgrades are kept).
• The regeneration status effect is now called Guild blessing.
• The banner model source and the tool that builds it are included (art\banner_v3, tools\banner).

1.1.0

• Guild banner (hammer → Misc, based on the vanilla banner): claims a square territory (50×50 m by default). Outsiders cannot build, remove pieces, open doors or use containers there. One banner per guild; indestructible; removable only by members with the new Banner permission. Territory borders are drawn on the ground in build mode.
• Guild levels and points: experience from members' activity (kills, bosses, crafting, trees, ore, crops, fish, building, taming, travel), first boss kills, achievements and coin donations. Every level gives guild points.
• Banner upgrades: territory size, vault slots and member limit (guild points); regeneration, comfort, monster ward, sturdy walls, faster workshops, fertile soil and respawn at the banner (materials from the guild vault + coins from the treasury), active inside the territory. Upgrades are bought by interacting with the banner (E). All costs are configurable.
• Guild achievements: 17 achievements in 6 categories, each with bronze, silver and gold tiers.
• Map: online guild members are shown in the guild colour even with a private position; pins named with a leading ! are shared with the guild.
• New permissions Banner and upgrades and Shared map pins (granted automatically to ranks that had Edit guild info / Guild chat).
• New tabs BANNER and ACHIEVEMENTS; treasury has a Donate button; overview shows level, points and banner.
• Base limits lowered (MaxMembers 15, VaultSlots 40) — the banner upgrades raise them. Existing configs keep their values.
• Save data from 1.0.0 is migrated automatically.

1.0.0

• First release: founding guilds (name, tag, colour, emblem), invitations and applications, ranks with 12 permissions and daily coin limits, shared vault (items and coins), guild wards, guild chat (/g), guild log, emblem and tag next to member names above heads and in chat.
• Integrations: Marketplace 1.3.0+ bank (founding fee, deposits and withdrawals), World Advancement Progression (optional shared boss keys).
• Admin console command guildadmin.