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VValheimValheim1.0.20
Valheim official cover art

In this guide

What to do on your first day in Valheim

Quick answer

Stay in the Meadows, gather food and basic materials, make a hammer and stone axe, then build a covered workbench and claim a bed. Finish with food, repaired tools, and the Rested effect before exploring farther.

By

How this guide was checked

✓
Recipes and numbers

Community references, checked 7 Sep 2026. Developer FAQ; used for the general survival, building, food, and progression systems, not for its older release-status answers.

✓
Patch notes

Default survival rules · 1.0 release context checked 9 September 2026

See the 10 sourcesSuggest a correction
10 sources
Kingy played6 steps

Before you start

  • A new or early-game character in the Meadows.
  • Ordinary resource-cost play; no boss defeat or purchased item is required.
1

Choose the first task you can finish on this trip

Prove or fix this

Use the first missing result below as your stopping point. This keeps a short session useful: get one system working, store the remaining supplies, then start the next job. The order is a suggested route, not an additional unlock requirement.

Resume the first-day route from what already works
What works now?Do this nextCheck before moving on
Nothing built yetCollect branches and loose stones, then make the hammer and axe.You can place the workbench from the hammer menu.
Workbench placed, but its menu will not openAdd proper roof pieces and surrounding cover.The bench opens and repairs a starter tool.
Workbench usable, no dependable return pointFollow the bed and fire checks.Your bed identifies the claimed spawn point.
Shelter works, but each trip starts hungryFollow the cooking and Rested routine.Meals and a visible Rested timer are ready.
All four checks passChoose flint or leather gathering, then prepare for Eikthyr.Leave spare supplies at home.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: WorkbenchValheim Wiki: BedValheim Wiki: Cooking station

Open the shelter essentials list

2

Choose somewhere you can return to

Prove or fix this

Walk a short circuit around the starting stones. Choose a Meadows clearing with trees and a route to water nearby. Treat it as a temporary workshop: you can build a larger home once you know which direction your next trips will take.

Use a map pin for the site if your world has a map. Otherwise, remember a visible landmark and keep the first trip short. Avoid committing to an unfamiliar village: some Meadows settlements contain much stronger enemies.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Meadows

3

Eat, collect materials, and make your first tools

Prove or fix this

Pick raspberries and red mushrooms as you walk, and eat what you have. Food raises your available health and stamina; going without it makes ordinary mistakes more costly. Add cooked meat as your third food when the fire is ready.

Collect branches and loose stones until you can make the tools below. Both are made from the inventory crafting menu. Keep gathering until you also have the workbench materials; the material route gives you a concrete shopping target.

Hammer3 Wood + 2 StoneInventory
Stone axe5 Wood + 4 StoneInventory

Press Tab: the inventory's own Crafting panel lists the first tools. On our new character it showed Stone Axe (5 wood, 4 stone) and Hammer (3 wood, 2 stone) once wood and stone had been picked up.

Clip credit & limits

Kingy silent clip (12 s) recorded October 23, 2026 on Valheim Steam build 25909357, Windows · game © Iron Gate. Open the clip (12 s, no sound) ↗

Recorded on Valheim 1.0.20 with a new character holding 1 wood, 3 stone and 1 flint, so neither recipe could be crafted yet. It shows the recipe costs, not the craft itself.

Mechanics sources: Valheim: official FAQValheim Wiki: RaspberriesValheim Wiki: Mushroom

4

Place a workbench and make it usable

Prove or fix this

If a desired recipe is missing, pick up every ingredient type yourself and check its required crafting station. Having enough material and having discovered the recipe are separate checks.

  1. Equip the hammer, open its build menu, and select the workbench. Place it at your chosen site.
  2. Put walls behind and beside the bench, then actual thatch roof pieces over it. An uncovered workbench enables nearby building, but needs shelter before you can use its crafting and repair menu.
  3. Open the bench and use its repair control until your damaged starter tools are restored. Repairing equipment does not consume crafting materials.
Workbench10 WoodHammer; no station required

Equip the hammer and right-click to open its build menu. Under Crafting, the Workbench costs 10 wood. Select it, then left-click to place it.

Clip credit & limits

Kingy silent clip (26 s) recorded October 23, 2026 on Valheim Steam build 25909357, Windows · game © Iron Gate. Open the clip (26 s, no sound) ↗

Recorded on Valheim 1.0.20 with a character carrying 2 stone and 2 wood, so the workbench was not placed. Crafting the hammer unlocked the Workbench, Cooking Station and Repair pieces in our play; that moment was not kept on video.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: WorkbenchValheim Wiki: How to playGamesRadar+: Valheim beginner tips

5

Give the shelter a bed, fire, and storage

Prove or fix this

Follow the first-shelter guide to enclose a small room, add a ventilated fire, and place a bed. Interact with the bed to claim it; placing the furniture alone does not finish your return setup. Check that it shows your spawn point.

Add a chest beside the work area and put spare materials there. Keep food and the tools needed to rebuild accessible. There is no need to carry the whole reserve on your next walk.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: BedValheim Wiki: Chest

6

Leave with a purpose

Prove or fix this

Cook any boar meat, deer meat, or neck tails you gathered. Use food and Rested to prepare for a longer trip, then choose one job: collect flint, hunt boars for leather scraps, or gather the next shelter materials.

Your first-day objective is complete when returning home makes you ready to leave again. The next major progression goal is preparing for Eikthyr, after you have a dependable food and equipment routine.

Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Cooking station

You’re ready when…

0 of 4 · saved on this device

If something goes wrong

The first night arrives before the house is finished.

Finish the small covered work area first. Use it to repair and gather for the missing essentials; a large floor plan can wait.

Nothing new appears in the crafting list.

Pick up each required ingredient type, then use the correct inventory, workbench, or hammer menu. Check the station level shown by the recipe.

I keep losing track of the base.

Mark it before the next trip, or use a clear landmark in a no-map world. Follow a short out-and-back route until your surroundings are familiar.

Sources · 10official · community · checked 7 Sep 2026 · Research-based
Valheim: official FAQ ↗Food affects health and stamina; the game supports gathering, building, crafting, and biome progression.official ·
Valheim Wiki: Meadows ↗Starting-biome resources, wildlife, and the danger of inhabited Draugr villages.community ·
Valheim Wiki: Raspberries ↗Meadows berry gathering, food values, and preserving bushes.community ·
Valheim Wiki: Mushroom ↗Ground gathering, food values, and marking repeat collection locations.community ·
Valheim Wiki: Workbench ↗Workbench cost, placement without another station, cover for interaction, free repairs, and upgrades.community ·
Valheim Wiki: How to play ↗Recipe discovery through ingredients; a small covered workbench arrangement; heat passing through walls.community ·
Valheim Wiki: Bed ↗Bed cost, claiming a spawn point, sleep requirements, and destroyed-bed fallback.community ·
Valheim Wiki: Chest ↗Chest cost and ten storage slots.community ·
Valheim Wiki: Cooking station ↗Cooking station cost, fire underneath, early meat cooking times, and overcooking into coal.community ·
GamesRadar+: Valheim beginner tips ↗Falling trees can kill the player; boar leather scraps support an early bow for deer hunting.community ·
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