Developer Iron Gate Studio has released a new update for Valheim that includes a Unity engine upgrade, performance improvements, and various bug fixes. Iron Gate explained that the update's main goal is to make Valheim smoother and prepare it for the future Ashlands update.

A release date for Valheim's Ashlands patch has not been confirmed yet, but it's expected to launch sometime in the first half of 2024. The major update will introduce the Ashlands biome, which is a barren, volcanic setting always located along the southern edge of the map. The Ashlands update will also add new enemies, weapons, animals, food, and more to Valheim, including the Ashlands Fortress located at the heart of the new biome.

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In preparation for Ashlands, Valheim's April 10 update called Patch 0.217.46 upgrades the game's Unity engine to version 2022.3.17f, which the engine maker released in January of this year. The update also upgrades Valheim's performance by significantly changing how certain locations like Dungeons are loaded and unloaded. However, Iron Gate noted that this change likely affects most mods, so players using these add-ons may run into some issues. The update's other adjustments include various gameplay improvements, like hammers now being able to remove naturally spawned beds and dealing knockback to an enemy on a slope no longer affecting the player dealing said knockback.

The update also includes a bunch of bug fixes, some of which apply to Valheim's boats. For example, boats suddenly stopping when transferring ownership or accessing boat storage and issues surrounding boat ownership after a client disconnects should both be fixed. Also, sails should now blow in the direction that corresponds to the wind.

Since Iron Gate emphasized that this update focuses on laying the groundwork for the Ashlands update, fans have already begun to speculate that the major patch could release quite soon with some hoping for a launch within the month; however, this is of course unconfirmed. Valheim's last major update came back in August when Iron Gate released the Hildir's Request patch. The update added the Hildir merchant NPC, Hildir's Camp, new dungeons, three mini-bosses, and more.

Fans hope that Valheim's Ashlands update will inject new life into the game, which has struggled to return to the massive popularity seen shortly after its 2021 launch. The last time Valheim broke 60,000 concurrent Steam users was in February 2023, partially thanks to a resurgence in popularity with December 2022's release of the Mistlands update.

Patch Notes for Valheim's April 10 Update 0.217.46

Hello vikings! We've got a bunch of fixes and improvements for you today, to smooth out the game and to prepare everything for the upcoming Ashlands update. This patch touches on everything from enemy spawning and build pieces to language issues and memory leaks. Most notably though, it features an upgrade of Unity and a significant change to how the game loads assets such as dungeons. If you mod the game, please see the FAQ linked further below as it will most likely affect yours.

Important note if you have played the PTB patch 0.217.43:

If you have removed a world and then created a new world with the same name, you will need to remove the following files from your worlds folder:

• [mapname]_forestMaskTexture
• [mapname]_heightTexture
• [mapname]_mapTexture

Abbreviated Patch Notes:

• Unity engine upgraded
• Major changes how locations/dungeons are loaded to improve performance
• Multiple bug fixes

Detailed Patch Notes:

Fixes & improvements:

• Upgraded Unity engine to 2022.3.17f
• Changes to how locations/dungeons/rooms are loaded and unloaded. For more information regarding this change, see the FAQ
• Fixed issue where Seasonal groups that extended over a year change wouldn't work in the new year
• Fixed terrain modifications around locations not getting applied properly
• Fixed bug where old pre-Mistlands terrain modification did not blend with newer modifications [Note! you have to run the “optterrain” command to update the terrain]
• Fixed issue with the point emote not orienting the player properly
• Fixed multiple bugs related to the blocklist
• Fixed a bug where menu navigation via keyboard arrows keys stopped working after the setting menu was exited via ESC or back button
• Fixed some UI elements to no longer flicker when the game is running at low FPS
• Naturally spawned beds can now be removed using the hammer
• Fixed a bug where Geirrhafa and Brenna would respawn after game restart
• Turnip inventory stacking fixed to match other vegetables
• Fixed missing text for Fermenter without a roof
• Fixed hardcoded text for Kiln
• Fixed a bug where weight for many items is not displayed for Turkish language
• Fixed text in some languages not being centered vertically in the manage saves menu
• Fixed items in merchants' stores not being centered
• Fixed Sun shafts and Soft particles graphic settings not toggling properly
• Low disk space warning improvements
• Fixed a memory leak when highlighting building objects
• Improve time to validate IP addresses which speeds up loading
• Players can now find friends on Xbox/MS Store via friends tab in server browser
• Fixed missing text when trying to use an item on a cartography table and windmill
• Fixed an issue with Linux dedicated servers
• Fixed window resizing when exiting settings
• Elder no longer spawns on his altar
• Optimised minimap to reduce FPS drops when having a lot of map markers
• Fixed an issue with cloud saves on Microsoft Store
• Weight text in UI Tooltips now show both individual weight and total weight for stacked items
• Fixed a bug that caused 2 days to be skipped instead of 1 when only Xbox clients were connected to a dedicated server
• Tweaked how camera rotation on gamepads behave [Now a lot more similar to how it behaves on Mouse/Keyboard]
• Fixed inconsistent support calculations for “Cage floor” 1x1 piece
• Fixed gap when placing banners
• Fix items to no longer move in the inventory UI when upgrading them
• Fixed creature position not updating properly when transferring ownership
• Fixed an issue where blocklist would allocate 2GB of RAM, now it only allocates what is necessary
• Fixed issues with boat ownership when a client gets disconnected
• Boats no longer suddenly stop when ownership is transferred or a player is accessing the boat storage
• Sails are now blowing in the correct direction compared to winds
• Dealing knockback to an enemy in a slope no longer affects the player dealing the knockback
• Gamepad and mouse now both behave in the same way
• Added caching for minimap creation to make startup time faster
• Portals are no longer connected after the connected portal is destroyed
• Fixed an issue with loading threading to decrease load times
• Show a warning if dependencies are not installed

Xbox and Microsoft Store only:

• Fixed an issue where friends tab on server browser did not display friend's servers at all

Valheim

Valheim is a multiplayer survival sandbox game developed by Iron Gate Studio. It was released in early access on February 2, 2021.

Platform(s)

Linux , PC , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Released

February 2, 2021

Developer(s)

Iron Gate AB

Publisher(s)

Coffee Stain Studios

Genre(s)

Sandbox , Survival