BetterPortals

BetterPortals

BetterPortals replaces one-to-one portal pairing with a Valheim-styled destination menu. Walk into a named portal, choose another named portal, and travel directly to it.

Features

• Lists named portals in a centered, prewarmed lightweight menu based on Valheim's native pause-menu styling.
• Centers and stabilizes the mouse cursor while the menu is open, restores normal hidden gameplay capture on close, and supports controller navigation.
• Closes automatically when you leave the source portal or complete a trip.
• Preserves the nearby glow on named portals even when they are not paired by matching tags.
• Allows portal names up to 32 characters.
• Lets each character mark one Home portal per world with matching Valheim-native favorite stars on both sides of its centered name.
• Supports right-click, keyboard H, or controller X to set or clear Home. Home is initially selected when the list opens, so Enter or controller A travels there immediately unless you select another destination first.
• Uses only D-pad up/down to select controller destinations; the joystick remains available for character movement. Keyboard and mouse behavior is unchanged.
• Shows an optional white biome subtitle beneath each portal name, then sorts portals by biome and stable creation order.
• Validates the protocol, source, issued destination set, distance, request lifetime, and rate limit on the server.
• Does not permanently rewire Valheim's portal connections.
• Provides client-local controls for typography, colors, layout, backdrop, hover timing, fade timing, and trigger range. Text outlines are disabled by default.

Requirements

• Valheim 1.0.12 / network version 40.
• BepInExPack Valheim 5.4.2350.
• The identical BetterPortals version must be installed on the dedicated server and every participating client.

Configuration Manager is optional. If installed, press F1, select BetterPortals, and use its built-in Reset to Default action whenever you want to restore the packaged defaults.

Installation

Install with r2modman or the Mod Manager. For a dedicated server, install the same package version in the server's BepInEx environment as well.

Use

• Give every portal a unique name with Valheim's normal E interaction.
• Walk into a named portal.
• Choose a destination from the list.
• Press Escape or the controller back button to close the menu without travelling.

To set a Home portal, right-click its destination row, highlight it and press H, or highlight it with a controller and press X. Matching Valheim-native favorite stars appear on both sides of the centered portal name. Repeat the same action to clear Home. By default, a valid Home row is selected and scrolled into view when the list opens; press Enter or controller A to travel, or explicitly select any other row first to travel there instead. BetterPortals owns Enter while the selector is open, so confirming a destination does not also open chat.

Notes

• Destination names are read from the current server world. Empty names are omitted.
• A headless dedicated-server start, existing-world load, save path, and server/client package identity have been validated on Valheim 1.0.12. Steam Deck/controller multiplayer validation is still in progress.
• Removing the mod does not require converting portal data because BetterPortals does not store a replacement connection graph.
• Home selection is stored in the character's normal custom data and scoped to the current world. It persists with Valheim's normal character autosave or logout; favoriting does not force an immediate full character/cloud save. Entering the Home portal itself does not erase the assignment.
• Portal creation order is stored in a separate server-side BetterPortals.portal-order..tsv ledger under the BepInEx config directory; the mod does not add fields to portal ZDOs or otherwise modify the world save. Existing portals receive a deterministic initial order because Valheim does not retain their histori