Before you start
- A claimed bed, food, repaired equipment and recovery supplies from your first shelter. Map pins are useful before you can build portals.
- For a sea crossing, use the sailing and first-portal expedition for boat controls and the landing kit. This guide adds navigation, not a different cargo route.
- A world with its map enabled. Default keyboard/mouse controls are given below; controller layouts and remapped controls should follow the displayed map prompts. No-map world settings need a different landmark-based approach.
Place a useful pin before leaving the landmark
- Stop somewhere defensible and open the map (M by default). Zoom with the mouse wheel and drag to pan. The minimap keeps north at the top; its facing arrow turns with the camera. Do not confuse camera direction with north.
- Select a marker symbol, then double-left-click the location and enter a short label. On a controller, use the map’s marker-selection and place-pin prompts. Start with HOME at your base and LAND at the boat, then close and reopen the map to check that you marked the intended places.
- Left-click a personal pin to cross it off when its task is finished; right-click removes it. Keep useful landmark pins even after collecting their loot. On a controller, use the separate toggle and remove prompts so completing a task does not erase your return landmark.
Mechanics sources: Valheim Gamecore reference: ControlsValheim Gamecore reference: HUD
Name the action, not just the scenery
These labels are our suggested convention, not special game commands. Mark the actual entrance or landing when you reach it. A boss or resource pin is a destination; it does not establish a walkable route to it.
| Example label | Meaning | Update when |
|---|---|---|
| HOME | The base holding the recovery kit. | You move the supplies or change the claimed bed. |
| LAND east | The actual boat landing and shore approach. | The boat moves or the approach becomes unsafe. |
| P SWAMP1 | A portal whose exact tag is SWAMP1. | The tag changes, or the connection is damaged. |
| CRYPT open | An entrance still needing exploration. | Change to cleared or cross it off after the job. |
| ORE cache | Stored freight that still needs transport. | The chest is emptied; do not confuse it with unmined ore. |
| DANGER | A threat to avoid on the return leg. | You have actually resolved or rechecked it. |
Explore one returnable leg at a time
- Choose the first checked stop between home and the objective: a known shore, pass or portal. Identify where you will turn back if the next leg needs a boat, climbs into an unprepared biome or consumes your remaining supplies.
- Walk the approach and look back at major turns. Add pins for the pass, river crossing or sheltered landing that makes the route work. Avoid placing a line of identical resource icons that obscures the useful stops.
- At the landing, secure access and the return connection before chasing a nearby dungeon. Save the dungeon pin and come back after food, repairs and the retrieval route are ready.
- Return when the planned food, protection or Rested reserve is running short. Choose freight transport separately: a route you can walk with equipment may not be a route you can pull a loaded cart along.
- HomeFood, spare kit and a claimed bed
- Checked stopA marked landing or tested portal
- ObjectiveThe next prepared leg, with an exit
Our planning pattern: return through checked stops if the next leg fails. Revealed terrain and map pins do not prove the route is safe.
Make portal names part of the return plan
- Before departure, build the home endpoint and assign an unused tag such as SWAMP1. Record the exact letters and capitalization. Leave that endpoint available for this expedition rather than retagging a portal somebody else is using.
- At the secured landing, build the field endpoint within Workbench range and enter the identical tag. A map pin named P SWAMP1 records the tag; changing that pin does not change the portal itself.
- Wait for the connection, then travel home and back with a permitted inventory. Only mark the pair as ready after both directions work. Blank tags can also pair, so use deliberate names rather than leaving an unintended blank connection.
- If a pair fails, inspect the actual endpoint tags for capitalization or typing differences and confirm both still exist. Keep names unique to each pair; this guide does not rely on ambiguous duplicate-tag pairing.
| Make | Materials per craft | Station |
|---|---|---|
| 1 × Portal | 20 Fine wood + 10 Greydwarf eye + 2 Surtling core | Hammer; within workbench range |
| 1 × Workbench | 10 Wood | Hammer; no station required |
Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Portal
Fix a failed portal without losing the way home
First distinguish an unconnected portal or wrong destination from a connected portal that rejects your inventory. These checks organize the accepted pre-1.0 portal guidance; check your actual world settings and current item indicators rather than assuming an old restriction list covers every 1.0 item.
- Stop retagging and preserve the last working route. Read the tag on the portal itself, not its map pin. If you are already stranded and cannot reach or confirm the other endpoint, use the physical-route recovery sequence before making more changes.
- Unconnected or wrong destination: confirm that the other endpoint still exists and compare the exact tags, including capitalization. Give each intended pair a unique matching name. Use the naming and round-trip test; do not depend on ambiguous duplicate or blank tags to select the right destination.
- Connected but unable to teleport: inspect the whole inventory for crossed-out portal icons. Bank restricted freight in a marked chest, keep the return kit and food, and try the permitted load. Follow the cargo and entrance-direction checks for ordinary and stone portals. Renaming a pair does not remove its cargo restrictions.
- An endpoint is destroyed or a replacement is needed: keep the boat or another tested route available. Build and test the replacement while the old connection still works where possible, or coordinate with a partner who can confirm the home endpoint. Do not rename the only field portal as an experiment when it is your sole way back.
- Finish by traveling home and back with the inventory you intend to use. Update the map note only after both directions reach the expected endpoints. Keep freight that still cannot travel on its separate physical hauling route.
Mechanics sources: Valheim Wiki: Portal
Recover the last checked stop first
- If lost, stop extending the journey. Find the last recognizable coast, pass or pin and retrace that leg while watching the actual terrain. In poor visibility, return to the known shelter rather than assuming the straight line to HOME is passable.
- If the portal is destroyed or cannot be paired, use the preserved physical route. Mark the failed endpoint and bring a replacement kit from home instead of retagging unrelated portals by guesswork.
- After a death, eat and equip the home reserve before setting out. Use the last tested landing or portal and follow the equipment-recovery sequence. Restore the route and correct stale pins before resuming the original objective.
You are ready when…
0 of 3 ready
Saved in this browserWhen something goes wrong
I marked the boss, but cannot reach it.
Scout a prepared shoreline or pass and record the approach as separate pins. The destination marker does not prove a direct route is safe.
I changed the map label but the portal still goes elsewhere.
A map pin is only a note. Inspect the portal’s own tag at each endpoint, and preserve a working way back while correcting it.
The map is too crowded to follow.
Cross off completed personal tasks and remove only redundant pins. Keep the landing, home, route junctions and outstanding caches visible.