TerramizerServer

Current release: 1.0.0, rebuilt against the current Valheim 1.0 dedicated-server assemblies.

TerramizerServer 0.6.9 is a dedicated-server performance companion for Valheim.

It keeps the Unity job-debugger optimization, reuses Unity collision callback objects to reduce physics GC, removes avoidable boxing allocations from Valheim's hot BinarySearchDictionary.SetValue update paths, restores bounded server zone-entry prefetch for faster area and dungeon object arrival, and lets the dedicated server claim loaded static player-built structure pieces while preserving Valheim's creator field. WearNTear is not removed, and dynamic physics objects are skipped.

Development note

AI is used to assist with code analysis, optimization review, implementation refinement, and verification. I direct the build process, technical decisions, final code, packaging, and in-game validation.

Created and maintained by R4V9N1.

Version 0.6.9

• Reuses Unity collision callback objects by default to reduce dedicated-server physics GC without lowering simulation frequency; disable ReuseCollisionCallbacks for mods that retain Collision objects after callbacks.
• Preserves fast sleep and skips only the extra sleep-triggered world save.
• Claims eligible static pieces when their ZDO views are created, without scanning the whole live ZDO table during normal operation.
• Prefilters ZDO views by cached prefab eligibility before walking component trees, reducing dedicated-server zone-load work for non-structure objects.
• Optimizes the periodic ownership handoff scan by reusing ZDO's local-owner flag while preserving vanilla active-area decisions.
• Keeps the legacy whole-world ownership audit opt-in (EnableBackgroundOwnershipAudit = false).
• Extends both terrain raise and dig limits to 16 m by default.
• Advertises terrain capability and limits through additive metadata and a versioned companion RPC; the legacy RPC remains unchanged for mixed-version clients.
• Removes avoidable boxing allocations from hot server-side BinarySearchDictionary.SetValue update paths without changing gameplay simulation or network authority.
• Caches the active ZDO integer table during equipment-visual updates, reducing repeated server-side lookup work without changing equipment state or synchronization.
• Writes nested network packages directly from their existing buffers, reducing server serialization allocations without changing the wire format.
• Restores bounded zone-entry ZDO prefetch to reduce the delay before newly entered areas and dungeon objects arrive, with socket backpressure and no server-side peer-zone scene creation.

Version 0.6.7

• Adds the experimental static piece server-ownership module.
• Enables the experiment by default for test-server use.
• Preserves player creator metadata separately from ZDO network ownership.
• Skips dynamic/physics-heavy objects such as carts, ships, dropped items, creatures, and floating objects.
• Logs every ownership claim only when explicitly enabled.
• Keeps per-object watched ownership claim logs off by default for large-world testing; they can still be enabled for focused debugging.
• Adds a compact periodic ownership summary with 60-second claim totals when the optional broad audit is enabled.
• Stores a restart ownership cache for known eligible claimed ZDOs.
• Warm-starts restarts by direct cached ZDOID lookup, then assigns the current server session id without repeating the slow full eligibility scan for already known pieces.
• Switches from fast warm-up scanning to lower-cost maintenance scanning after the first full broad ZDO pass.
• Answers a lightweight companion RPC for reliable Terramizer client auto-detection.
• Refreshes Valheim server-synced player-data metadata as a fallback for older Terramizer clients.
• Persists the broad ZDO scan cursor in the ownership cache so large-world scanning can resume after restart.
• Adds direct server ZDO database scanning so dedicated-server records can be tested even when Unity Piece objects are not instantiated server-side.
• Keeps WearNTear intact.
• Accepts vanilla clients, Terramizer clients, or a mixture of both.
• Requires no matching client version. Vanilla clients can connect normally; the optional companion RPC is only used by Terramizer clients for auto-detection.

Install this package on the dedicated server only. The config file is:

BepInEx/config/r4v9n1.terramizerserver.cfg

You do not need to delete the config when updating. On first successful load, retired streaming, throttling, ownership-repair, and sleep-work settings are removed; current streaming, ownership, terrain, and save-policy settings are preserved.

Important config:

[ExperimentalOwnership]
EnableStaticPieceServerOwnership = true
DryRunStaticPieceServerOwnership = false
OwnershipScanIntervalSeconds = 15
MaxClaimsPerScan = 100
ZdoRecordsPerScan = 10000
EnableBackgroundOwnershipAudit = false
MaintenanceOwnershipScanIntervalSeconds = 1800
MaintenanceMaxClaimsPerScan = 25
MaintenanceZdoRecordsPerScan = 1000
PlayerBuiltPiecesOnly = true
RequireWearNTear = true

[Terrain]
EnableExtendedTerrainLimits = true
TerrainRaiseLimitMeters = 16
TerrainDigLimitMeters = 16

[Streaming]
EnableServerZoneStreamingBoost = true
MaxZoneStreamingBoostZdosPerPeer = 256
ZoneStreamingBoostCooldownSeconds = 0.75
ZoneStreamingBoostMaxQueuePercent = 35

[OwnershipCache]
# Used only when EnableBackgroundOwnershipAudit is enabled.
EnableOwnershipCache = true
OwnershipCacheMaxAgeHours = 168
OwnershipCacheRecordsPerScan = 200000
MaxCacheRestoresPerScan = 5000
ResumeZdoScanFromCache = true

[DevLogs]
LogOwnershipClaims = false
LogWatchedOwnershipClaims = false
LogOwnershipSkips = false

Changelog

1.0.2

• Ported TerramizerServer to the current Valheim 1.0 dedicated-server API.
• Replaced the obsolete Vector2i zone model with Valheim 1.0 Vector2s.
• Replaced the removed ZoneSystem.m_activeArea / m_activeDistantArea model with SimulationDistance.
• Updated ZDOMan.FindSectorObjects for the current Valheim 1.0 signature.
• Updated ownership handoff logic for Valheim 1.0 world-position active-area checks.
• Updated ownership checks to use ZDOMan.IsInPeerActiveArea.
• Fixed the Valheim 1.0 sleep-save compatibility patch while preserving normal autosaves.
• Dedicated-server compatibility is now validated against the actual Linux server assembly_valheim.dll.
• Clean configuration required: delete BepInEx/config/r4v9n1.terramizerserver.cfg before starting this version.
• The previous TerramizerServer release contained Valheim 1.0 compatibility bugs and should not be used.

1.0.1

• Updated Game.SleepStop compatibility for the current Valheim 1.0 player-profile save API.
• Leaves Valheim's own player-profile save completely untouched instead of depending on a specific SavePlayerProfile overload.
• Continues to skip only the extra sleep-triggered world save while preserving the normal autosave timer.
• Rebuilt and repackaged against the current Valheim 1.0 dedicated-server assemblies.

1.0.0

• Rebuilt against the current Valheim 1.0 dedicated-server assemblies.
• Preserves bounded zone-entry prefetch, static-piece ownership, terrain handshake, fast sleep, and no extra sleep-triggered world save behavior.

0.6.9

• Restores bounded server-side zone-entry ZDO prefetch for ready peers, prioritizing already-existing nearby objects so area and dungeon contents arrive sooner without creating peer zones or instantiating server-side scenes.

• Enables Unity collision-callback reuse by default to reduce physics-heavy dedicated-server GC without changing simulation frequency; the setting is opt-out for compatibility.

• Adds allocation-free BinarySearchDictionary.SetValue handling for hot value-type update paths, reducing avoidable server GC work without changing simulation or network authority.

• Caches the active ZDO integer table during VisEquipment updates, reducing repeated server lookup work without changing equipment synchronization.

• Prefilters event-driven ownership probes by cached prefab eligibility, avoiding unnecessary component-tree walks for non-structure ZDO views during zone loading.

• Writes nested ZPackage data directly from its existing buffer, reducing dedicated-server serialization allocations while preserving the exact length-prefixed wire format.

• Optimizes the periodic ZDO ownership handoff scan without changing active-area or ownership decisions; unexpected internal failures fall back to vanilla behavior.

• Extend the final TerrainComp.ApplyToHeightmap ±8 m clamp so dedicated-server terrain changes consistently honor the configured 16 m raise and dig limits.

• Adds additive terrain capability metadata and a versioned six-field companion response while preserving the legacy three-field RPC for older clients.

• Advertises unchanged server-synced companion metadata once per live ZNet instance instead of rewriting it on a timer, reducing needless dedicated-server update work while preserving late-joining client compatibility.

• Makes normal static-piece ownership event-driven; the legacy whole-world ZDO audit is disabled by default to protect dedicated-server frame time and network responsiveness.

• Disables the periodic ownership-summary loop while the optional broad audit is disabled, removing needless normal-operation log work.

• Prevents normal operation from loading or maintaining the ownership cache unless the audit is explicitly enabled.

• Preserves dedicated-server fast sleep and the no-sleep-world-save policy.

• Restores the terrain compatibility patch with 16 m raise and dig limits.

• Applies the 16 m limit to both negative and positive terrain clamp operands, including direct TerrainComp.RaiseTerrain digging.

• Removes retired server streaming and ownership-repair settings on load while preserving the new bounded streaming controls.

0.6.8

• Adds observed client/server test notes to the Thunderstore details, including freshly discovered dungeon load timings around 1.5-3.0 ms during the measured test pass.
• Documents that the server remained in ownership maintenance mode without TerramizerServer exceptions while dungeon discovery was tested.
• No runtime behavior changes intended relative to 0.6.7.

0.6.7

• Moves the human/AI development disclosure to the top of the Thunderstore details text so it is visible immediately.
• Documents AI-assisted code analysis and verification while retaining project-directed implementation and release decisions.
• No runtime behavior changes intended relative to 0.6.6.

0.6.6

• Adds a two-stage broad ZDO scanner: fast warm-up until the first full pass completes, then lower-cost maintenance scanning.
• Persists completed broad-scan pass count in the ownership cache so restarts can return to maintenance mode after warm-start when appropriate.
• Adds maintenance scan config for interval, claim limit, and ZDO records per pass.
• Extends compact ownership summaries with scan mode, pass count, interval, record budget, and claim limit.

0.6.5

• Adds an explicit Terramizer companion RPC response so clients can detect the server companion reliably.
• Keeps server-synced player-data metadata as a fallback for older Terramizer clients.
• Stops re-logging broad ZDO scan resume messages during normal in-session scanner progress.
• Changes watched per-object claim logging to off by default; the 30-second ownership summary remains the main view.
• Adds companion RPC reply counts to the compact ownership summary.

0.6.4

• Refreshes TerramizerServer companion metadata every 10 seconds instead of advertising only once.
• Persists broad ZDO scan progress in the ownership cache with scan index, object count, and timestamp metadata.
• Resumes the broad eligibility scanner from the cached scan index after restart when the cache is fresh.
• Adds the current zdoScanIndex to compact ownership summaries for restart verification.

0.6.3

• Advertises TerramizerServer version, static-ownership state, and ownership-cache state through Valheim server-synced player data.
• Allows Terramizer clients to auto-detect the server companion and enable their companion smoothing profile without a custom RPC or required handshake.

0.6.2

• Added an ownership cache stored as r4v9n1.terramizerserver.ownership-cache.tsv beside the BepInEx config.
• Records known eligible claimed ZDO ids with prefab hash, creator id, prefab name, and timestamp.
• On restart, warm-starts by direct cached ZDOID lookup and applies the new server session id to remembered pieces.
• Adds cache age, cache records per pass, and max restores per pass config.
• Extends the 30-second summary with cache restored, cache checked, cache entries, and cache removed counters.

0.6.1

• Changed claim logging defaults so every claimed piece is no longer logged on established worlds.
• Added watched-claim logging for sensitive interactive prefabs such as beds, chests, portals, fires, stations, signs, item stands, wards, doors, and gates.
• Changed the periodic dev summary to a compact 30-second view with interval claims, total claims, watched claims, skipped count, checked ZDO count, and attempts.

0.6.0

• Added an experimental static-piece server-ownership module for fresh-world dedicated server testing.
• Enabled the experiment by default and disabled dry-run mode by default for this test build.
• Preserves Valheim's player creator field while changing ZDO network ownership to the server for eligible loaded pieces.
• Limits claims to persistent, player-created pieces with WearNTear.
• Skips dynamic/physics-heavy objects such as ships, carts, dropped items, creatures, and floating objects.
• Added development claim logs and compact periodic ownership summaries.
• Added direct ZDO database scanning for dedicated-server testing when server-side Piece components are not instantiated.
• Keeps WearNTear, terrain, world saves, object creation/removal, and active-area handling intact.

0.5.1

• Simplified the dedicated-server companion to a non-invasive Unity runtime optimization.
• Disabled Unity's development-only job debugger in batch mode without changing simulation behavior.
• Restored vanilla ZDO synchronization, object handling, active-area checks, ownership, structural support, terrain, sleep, and world-save behavior.
• Removed Harmony and Valheim game-assembly references from the server build.
• Automatically removes obsolete networking, streaming, world-object, ownership, sleep, and diagnostics config entries; the config does not need to be deleted.
• Retained compatibility with vanilla clients and Terramizer clients without a handshake or matching version.