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The Cost of Mortality: Skill Drain

Difficulty

Beginner

Time

5 Minutes
In a standard Valheim world, death results in a 5% reduction to all of your character’s skills. At higher levels, a single mistake can wipe out hours of dedicated training. Using world modifiers, you can adjust these penalties to suit your server’s playstyle.
Reading TimeDifficultyLast Updated
3 minutesBeginnerJanuary 2026

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Customizing the Penalty

Add the following arguments to your Startup tab to change how death affects your players:
ArgumentModeEffect
-modifier deathpenalty casualCasualYou keep equipped gear. Skill loss is reduced to 1%.
-modifier deathpenalty veryeasyVery EasyNo item loss. No skill loss.
-modifier deathpenalty hardHardIncreased skill loss and higher item drop impact.
-modifier deathpenalty hardcoreHardcoreCharacters or inventories may be permanently deleted upon death.

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Server Best Practice

For public dedicated servers, the casual setting is highly recommended. It maintains the challenge of retrieving your grave while preventing the “progression wall” that causes players to quit after high-level deaths.

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Support Channels

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Last Updated: January 2026 | Valheim: Death penalties configured.

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