Valheim 1.0.17 fixes a rare bug that erased objects from worlds

Iron Gate Studio released Valheim patch 1.0.17 on 6 October. The studio calls it a small bug fixing patch, and three of its four changes are minor. The fourth deals with lost buildings.

According to the patch notes, a rare bug could erase all objects in parts of the world. It happened when one large world save chunk file was split into smaller ones. On a long-running world, that could mean an entire base simply gone.

The rest of the patch notes:

• Invalid item types no longer cause buggy behaviour. Iron Gate singles out an invalid variant of the root shield that was available in 1.0.15 on PlayStation 5. Invalid styles now reset to the default style and keep working.
• Some placeholder text has been updated.
• The credits, hidden in 1.0.16, are back.

The rollout is staggered. Iron Gate wrote that internal restrictions mean the patch will take a few days to reach every platform. Crossplay keeps working in the meantime, so you can still play with friends on other platforms.

Worlds on a dedicated server tend to grow for weeks without a reset, which makes the save fix most relevant there. Update the server and restart it so the new version is loaded. A fresh backup of the world before you do is cheap insurance.

If you have noticed builds or items vanishing from your world recently, this bug is a likely suspect.