Hearthlink

Hearthlink

Multiplayer synchronization, faster portals, inventory safeguards, graphics optimizations and moving-ship reconnect support in one package.

Hearthlink helps make playing Valheim together smoother and more reliable. It uses your existing characters and worlds with Valheim's normal save files. No additional database is required.

Features

• More consistent multiplayer updates. Integrated networking adjusts update sending for each player's connection and prioritizes nearby world data. It is designed to reduce uneven updates and some common synchronization problems during multiplayer sessions.
• Recovery from interrupted world updates. When assembling or sending an update fails, affected objects remain eligible to be sent again in full. This helps prevent a failed update from leaving players with outdated world information.
• Faster portal travel. Removes the fixed departure and arrival waits by default and shortens portal screen transitions. The destination must still finish loading and pass Valheim's normal ground checks before you arrive.
• Faster portal pairing. Newly built or renamed portal pairs are checked more frequently, so valid matching portals can become usable sooner. Portal item restrictions and world settings still apply.
• Base Territory portal integration. With Base Territory 0.8.0 installed, travel started through its destination picker also benefits from Hearthlink's shorter waits and screen transitions. Base Territory provides the destination selection; Hearthlink handles the travel acceleration. Hearthlink also works without Base Territory.
• Safer inventory transfers. Failed item swaps can be rolled back, incomplete inventory loads are rejected, and outdated chest contents are prevented from overwriting newer data. These safeguards help reduce item loss during inventory operations and synchronization problems.
• Frequent inventory and position checkpoints. Saves changed inventory and your return position through Valheim's normal character-file writer, without repeatedly rebuilding or compressing the explored map. Unchanged inventory and position do not trigger extra writes. Your character's other small gameplay fields remain together with the inventory to keep the saved character consistent.
• Normal full saves for the map. Exploration and map pins are refreshed by Valheim's ordinary autosave, manual, sleep and exit saves. Lightweight checkpoints retain the map data from the last full save and leave the ordinary autosave clock running.
• World checkpoints for stored items. Additional host/server world saves preserve chests and persistent objects. They do not force every player to perform a full character/map save. Received changes to chests, buildings and portals are marked for the next world save.
• Reconnect support for moving ships. Attempts to return a reconnecting player to the same vessel, including when another player has continued sailing. Ship identity and reconnect state are checked before the restore is accepted.
• Graphics optimizations. Combines compatible rendering work while retaining gameplay objects and interactions. This can reduce rendering overhead around suitable structures and bases.
• Automatic installation of both components. The package includes the main plugin and the required startup patcher. Gale places both in their correct locations when you install the complete package.

Installation with Gale

1. Close Valheim. Select the Valheim profile you want to use in Gale.
2. Install Hearthlink from Hexium, or import the complete Hearthlink ZIP as a local mod.
3. Allow Gale to install the required BepInExPack_Valheim if it is not already present.
4. Enable Hearthlink in the profile and start Valheim using Gale's Start Modded button.
5. After an update, fully restart Valheim before playing.

No manual file copying is needed when installing with Gale. Both Hearthlink.dll and Hearthlink.Patcher.dll are included. Import the whole ZIP rather than selecting only the plugin DLL.

Multiplayer and dedicated servers

• Install the same Hearthlink version on every player and on the host or dedicated server.
• For a hosted game, the host needs Hearthlink as well as the joining players.
• A remote dedicated server needs its own installation. Installing into a player's Gale profile does not also update the server.
• Restart the server after installing or updating, because the patcher runs during startup.
• Keep item and content mods consistent between players and the server.

For a server or installation managed without Gale, install BepInExPack_Valheim first. Copy the package's plugins/Hearthlink.dll into BepInEx/plugins/Hearthlink/ and patchers/Hearthlink.Patcher.dll into BepInEx/patchers/Hearthlink/, then restart. Both DLLs are required.

Compatibility

Hearthlink already includes adapted networking, graphics and ship reconnect modules. Do not install these separate mods alongside it:

• FiresGhettoNetworking
• FiresEasyBakeMeshes
• Meshheim
• CharacterAnchor
• ServerCharacters — incompatible with this native-save edition.

Base Territory 0.8.0 is an optional integration. When using its destination picker, disable TargetPortal as required by Base Territory. Mods with their own inventory transfer or portal systems need separate compatibility testing.

Settings

The configuration files are created on first launch and can be edited with Gale's configuration editor.