Closer Mini-Biomes

Bring Valheim 1.0's alternative mini-biomes closer to the center of the world instead of finding most of them only after travelling several thousand metres.

Closer Mini-Biomes lets you configure a global minimum distance, override individual mini-biomes, and make Valheim consider nearby eligible sectors before distant ones. All normal terrain and placement requirements still apply, keeping generation deterministic and tied to the world seed.

Features

• Configurable global mini-biome distance.
• Independent distance setting for every detected mini-biome.
• Optional preference for the closest eligible sectors.
• Supports all 32 alternative mini-biomes added in Valheim 1.0.
• Logs actual placement counts and nearest sector distances.
• Built-in vanilla-versus-modified comparison mode.
• No Jotunn or other mod-library dependency.

What the distance means

The configured value is a minimum eligibility distance, not a guaranteed spawn radius.

Setting a mini-biome to 1 means it may be placed in a suitable sector beginning one metre from the world center. It does not force a matching sector to exist there. Valheim still checks:

• The underlying base biome.
• Sector size and average height.
• Required and forbidden neighboring biomes.
• Mini-biome incompatibilities.
• Placement chance and minimum/maximum counts.

This is especially important for Swamp, Plains, Mistlands, and Mountain variants. They cannot appear closer than a suitable instance of their underlying biome. Logged distances refer to the center of an entire contiguous biome sector, while the nearest accessible edge may be closer.

Installation

Mod manager

Install Closer Mini-Biomes through Hexium using Gale Mod Manager.

Manual

1. Install BepInExPack for Valheim 5.4.2350 or newer.
2. Extract CloserMiniBiomes.dll into BepInEx/plugins/CloserMiniBiomes/.
3. Start Valheim and load a world once to generate the configuration entries.

The configuration file is:

BepInEx/config/greatcoltini.mods.closerminibiomes.cfg

Configuration

Per-mini-biome settings appear after loading a world once. The global value only lowers larger vanilla minimums; it does not move mini-biomes with an already-smaller vanilla minimum farther away. Individual overrides are direct values and can move a mini-biome closer or farther away.

Multiplayer

This is a Client & Server mod.

Install the same version on the dedicated server or hosting player and on every connecting client. Everyone should use the same configuration. The mod does not currently enforce matching versions or synchronize configuration automatically.

Existing worlds

Mini-biome assignments can affect unexplored portions of an existing world, but already-generated zones are not rebuilt. For predictable results, use a new world and keep the same mod configuration for its lifetime.

Always back up an important world before adding, removing, or reconfiguring a world-generation mod.

Measured same-seed result

In one controlled development test, every mini-biome override was set to 1 metre and closer-sector preference was enabled:

• Average nearest sector center: 4202.1m vanilla → 3149.1m modified, a 25.1% reduction.
• Median nearest sector center: 3445.8m → 2100.6m.
• 21 mini-biomes moved closer, 9 were unchanged, and 1 moved farther away.
• Total assigned sectors remained nearly identical: 96 vanilla → 95 modified.
• Fortress Mountain did not place in either run.

Results vary by seed. Mini-biomes compete for suitable sectors, so prioritizing one modifier may change the availability of another. In this test, Wolf Mountain moved significantly closer while the incompatible Drake Mountain placement moved farther away.