Shack Recycler

A Recycle tab at the workbench, forge and stonecutter that turns things you crafted back into their materials: gear, tools, arrows, bolts, bombs, nails, bronze and more.

How it works

• Open a workbench, forge or stonecutter and click the Recycle tab next to Craft and Upgrade.
• The list shows what in your inventory that station crafts, plus things that need no station (hammer, torch, club...). Items another Recycle station makes are listed greyed out with its name, e.g. "Ironhead arrow (Forge)".
• Pick an item to see exactly what you'll get back, then click Recycle.
• Gear (tools, weapons, armour) asks Yes / No first, and the popup shows what you'll get back.
• Upgraded gear gives back its upgrade materials too (this can be switched off).
• Stacks are recycled by the craft. A click recycles what one craft makes (20 arrows); Shift + click recycles the whole stack. Less than a full craft gives back its share, rounded down.
• What doesn't fit in your inventory drops at your feet.
• Equipped items can't be recycled, and the station needs the level that crafting (or upgrading to) the item needs.
• Food, meads and potions are never recycled.

Returns

Set by the server admin in F1 (Shack Recycler). The server's values apply to everyone:

• Flat (default): a fixed share of what the item cost to make. 100% by default.
• Luck: each material rolls crumbled / poor / normal / good / jackpot (the same odds idea as Forge Reclaimer). The Recycling skill improves the odds as you use it.
• Include upgrades (on): upgraded items also give back what their upgrades cost.
• Durability affects return (off): worn items give back less.
• Stations: which stations get the tab. You can add $piece_artisanstation, $piece_blackforge or $piece_magetable.
• Excluded item types, Blocked items and Blocked materials.

Recycling can never give back more than the item cost to make. When an item has two recipes (Bronze and Bronze x5), it returns the cheaper of the two. Crafting and then recycling can't multiply materials.

Each player can choose in F1 (0 - This PC → Ask before recycling) when to be asked: Gear (default), Everything, or Never.

Notes

• Install it on the server and every client. The server sends its settings to everyone (admin-only settings, through Jotunn). Players without it can still join; they just have no Recycle tab.
• Works alongside My Little UI, Craft From Containers, Quick Stack - Store - Sort - Trash - Restock, Equipment and Quick Slots, and Zen.ModLib.
• Tested with Valheim 1.0.17, BepInExPack 5.4.2351 and Jotunn 2.30.2.

Credits

The idea of a Recycle tab with luck rolls comes from Forge Reclaimer by Helgi. Shack Recycler is a separate mod written from scratch; it shares no code.

This mod was written with the help of an AI assistant (Claude).

Changelog

1.1.0

• New: Research tab at the workbench. Research something you can't craft yet: each research uses it up (nothing comes back; stacks use one craft's worth). After 5 researches you learn its recipe. Food is included; a mead teaches its mead base, and oven food teaches its dough. Progress is saved on your character.
• New setting, on by default: Only known recipes. You can only recycle things you know how to craft; others show greyed out as "not known". This stops recycling from handing out materials from tiers you haven't reached.
• New settings: Research Enabled, Stations, Researches needed, Excluded item types.
• The server and players need the same version (1.1.x). 1.0.x and 1.1.x can't be mixed, so update both.

1.0.0

• First release. A Recycle tab at the workbench, forge and stonecutter: gear (upgrades included), tools, arrows, bolts, bombs, nails, bronze and more back into materials. Flat 100% by default, or luck rolls with a Recycling skill. Never more than an item cost to make. Gear asks Yes / No first.