Getting Started

7:32 Getting started in Valheim means the game's first hours, and they begin the same way every time: a Valkyrie carries a newly created Viking down into a ring of standing stones in the Meadows, a raven named Hugin lands nearby with a first hint, and the player is left with 25 health, 50 stamina and an empty inventory. The first hours go on turning branches and stones into tools, a workbench and a roofed hut, eating whatever grows near the stones, and learning that trees and nightfall kill as readily as any creature. This page covers that opening stretch in the 1.0 release of Sep 9, 2026 (Valheim 1.0 Release); the systems it touches have their own pages.

Quick facts

Before the first world

Valheim 1.0 costs $29.99, up from $19.99 in early access, on Steam, the Microsoft Store, the Mac App Store, Humble, Xbox, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2; existing owners received the update free (Valheim 1.0 FAQ, Iron Gate; Platforms and System Requirements). Old worlds still load, but the content added at 1.0 (the Deep North, the alternate edge biomes and the Forge of Potential) only generates in areas never explored, so Iron Gate's advice is plain: "we always recommend that you start the game over from scratch to get the best possible experience" (1.0 FAQ).

Character creation

0:27 The character screen asks for a name (case-sensitive, and shown in chat and on tombstones) and offers a body type, skin tone, hair, beard and hair color. Since 1.0, "all hair and beard styles now available from start" (Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate); the Barber Station from the Hildir's Request Update changes them later. Characters and worlds are separate saves, so one Viking can carry gear and Skills between worlds.

World creation and modifiers

0:52 A new world needs a name and a seed; the game rolls a random one, and a seed copied from the internet reproduces a known map (World Map, Generation and Seeds). Below the seed sit the world modifiers, which can stay on the Normal preset and be changed at any time (World Modifiers). Ticking Start server with a password makes the world joinable by up to ten players through a join code in the pause menu, across every platform (Cross-Play); it exists only while its host is online unless it runs on one of the Dedicated Servers.

Sources: World modifiers, Valheim Wiki.

3:07 Console commands are off by default and should stay off: from 1.0 "most commands will place a flag on your current character and world save" that permanently blocks achievements, with only freefly and a few others exempt (1.0 FAQ; Console Commands, Cheats and Mods). Mods are PC-only, and console players may be unable to join servers running client-side mods.

Arrival

0:03 Valheim's opening cinematic, animated by Brikk and narrated by Claire Vousden, was published by Iron Gate the day after launch. It tells how Odin drove his deathless enemies into the tenth world and cut it adrift, and how the greatest of Midgard's fallen warriors are "plucked from the battlefield by his valkyries, and born again in Valheim" (Lore and Setting).

0:00 The first time a world loads the game pauses to generate terrain, then the Valkyrie flies the Viking in and sets them down at the Sacrificial Stones, the ring of boss altars at the exact center of every map. Inside the ring stands a Vegvisir, a runestone that marks Eikthyr, the first boss, on the map; loose stone and wood lie among the stones, and raspberry bushes and mushrooms grow just outside them. Characters begin with 25 health and 50 stamina (Player, Valheim Wiki).

Hugin

6:37 Hugin, one of Odin's two ravens, is the entire tutorial. He lands near the player with a yellow exclamation mark, keeps reappearing until his message is read, and returns at each milestone: the first death, the first cold night, the first ore, the first dungeon, the first portal (Hugin, Valheim Wiki). His hints are short and sometimes cryptic, but they cover exactly the mistakes that kill new Vikings.

First food

0:17 There is no hunger meter and no starvation; food is a buff, not a need. The raspberries and mushrooms behind the stones are the first meal, and eating both lifts a fresh character from 25 to 47 health and from 50 to 85 stamina. Three foods can be active at once, and each flashes at half its duration to show it can be replaced. Meat is cooked on a Cooking Station (2 Wood) hung over a Campfire, where it turns to Coal if left too long (Cooking station, Valheim Wiki; Food and Cooking).

First tools and weapons

2:56 A few items craft straight from the inventory: the Hammer for building, the Stone Axe for felling beech, the Club as a first weapon and the Torch. Everything else needs a Workbench, which the Hammer builds. Picking up any new material unlocks the recipes that use it (Crafting Stations and Upgrades).

Sources: Hammer, Stone axe, Club, Torch, Workbench, Hoe, Chest and Crude bow, Valheim Wiki. See Tools and Weapons and Shields.

5:07 The axe introduces the game's first real killer. A felled trunk keeps its physics as it falls and rolls, and one landing on a Viking with 25 health is usually fatal; trunks also knock down neighboring trees, efficient for wood and lethal for the woodcutter between them. Trees drop Wood with occasional Resin, Feathers and seeds (Materials and Resources).

First shelter

3:29 The Workbench costs 10 Wood but only works under cover: it "must have a roof and 70% cover to enable crafting and repairing", though building within its 20-meter radius needs no shelter (Workbench, Valheim Wiki). Once roofed, one button repairs every damaged item for free. Building pieces are color-coded for stability from blue (grounded) through green and yellow to red, and unsupported pieces collapse (Building and Structural Integrity).

4:09 The goal of the first day is a Bed (8 Wood), because claiming one moves the respawn point away from the stones. Sleeping needs afternoon or night, a roof and 80% cover, a fire nearby, no enemies close and a dry player (Bed, Valheim Wiki). The Campfire (5 Stone, 2 Wood) cannot sit on wooden floor, needs a chimney gap or its smoke inflicts 2 damage per tick indoors, and goes out in rain unless covered (Campfire, Valheim Wiki).

5:38 About 50 Wood and 5 Stone make a workable day-one house: ground flattened with the Hoe, six 2x2 floor tiles, walls two high, a door, the bed inside and the fire in a gap at one end. An abandoned house is often quicker, since a Workbench beside it lets every piece be repaired with the Hammer. Comfort furniture comes later (Furniture and Decoration).

Rested, night and stamina

7:10 Three habits carry a Viking through every later biome. Standing under a roof near a fire grants Resting and then the Rested buff, which lasts eight minutes at comfort level 1, gains a minute per level, raises health regeneration by half and doubles stamina regeneration (Rested, Comfort and Sleeping). Food is refreshed when its icon flashes. Stamina pays for running, jumping, swinging, blocking and building, and an empty bar leaves the player unable to fight or flee (Combat). Each day lasts thirty real minutes, twenty-one of daylight and nine of night; after dark the player becomes Cold outdoors and Greydwarves spawn far more often, so the usual rhythm is to explore by day and sleep through the night (Weather, Cold and Wet, Meadows and Black Forest Creatures).

Death and the corpse-run chest

5:53 Dying drops every carried item into a tombstone and respawns the Viking, naked and unfed, at the last claimed bed or at the stones. Under the default penalty every skill loses five per cent of its level, a ten-minute No Skill Drain buff prevents further losses, and collecting the tombstone grants fifty seconds of Corpse Run to escape whatever caused the death (Tombstone, Valheim Wiki). Because the run back is made with nothing, veterans keep a corpse-run chest by the bed with a spare weapon, shield, armor, food and a torch, and go at once while the No Skill Drain window is open. The Casual death penalty keeps equipped gear (Death and Corpse Runs).

Settings worth changing

4:30 Vegetation Quality, in the PC graphics options, hides branches and flint in tall grass at its default; the lowest setting makes the first minutes of gathering far easier and can be raised again later. It does not exist on consoles. 1.0 added a draw-distance slider to the same menu (Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!). In accessibility, camera shake is strong enough that most guides switch it off along with motion blur, and the immersive camera that rocks with the waves can be disabled by anyone prone to motion sickness. Auto-pickup (toggled with V) is useful until the inventory fills with unwanted drops. Worlds save every thirty minutes and on demand from the pause menu.

What comes next

1:15 With a bed, a fire and cooked meat in hand, the first expedition follows the Vegvisir's marker to Eikthyr, since a base near the altar serves the whole Meadows phase. Killing the stag unlocks Forsaken Powers and, from then on, Raids and Events against the base. The Black Forest with its copper, tin and burial chambers comes next (Metals and Smelting).

Frequently asked questions

What should you do first in Valheim? Gather wood and stone, craft the Hammer, Stone Axe and Club from the inventory, build a Workbench under a roof, then a Bed and a Campfire, so that the respawn point moves away from the Sacrificial Stones.

Do you have to eat in Valheim? No. There is no hunger meter and no starvation: food is a buff that raises health and stamina. Three foods can be active at once, and each flashes at half its duration to show it can be replaced.

What kills new players most often? Trees. A felled trunk keeps its physics as it falls and rolls, and one landing on a Viking with 25 health is usually fatal; trunks also knock down neighboring trees.

What happens when you die? Everything carried drops into a tombstone and the Viking respawns at the last claimed bed, or at the stones. Under the default penalty every skill loses five per cent, a ten-minute No Skill Drain buff prevents further losses, and collecting the tombstone grants fifty seconds of Corpse Run (Death and Corpse Runs).

Do you need a new world for Valheim 1.0? Old worlds still load, but the content added at 1.0 generates only in areas never explored, so Iron Gate recommends starting over: "we always recommend that you start the game over from scratch to get the best possible experience".

Sources

• Valheim 1.0 FAQ, Iron Gate Studio
• Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate Studio, Sep 9, 2026
• Valheim: Intro Cinematic, Iron Gate, Sep 10, 2026
• Do THIS First in Valheim 1.0, Spopes, Sep 9, 2026
• Valheim 1.0 COMPLETE BEGINNERS GUIDE in under 10 minutes!, Annarf, Sep 2, 2026
• Everything You Need to Know Before Starting Valheim 1.0, Lucky Ghost, Sep 9, 2026
• Day 1 in Valheim: What You NEED To Do First, Kysen, May 21, 2026
• Valheim Starter Guide - The Basics for Beginner's, Xaine's World, May 15, 2024
• Hugin, Tombstone, Workbench, Bed, Campfire, Cooking station, World modifiers and Player, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)