Valheim patch improves dedicated server latency, makes wolves less horny

Valheim
(Image credit: Iron Gate Studios)

Co-op Viking survival game Valheim continues to get frequent updates in Early Access. The latest patch (0.147.3) is mostly aimed at improving dedicated servers and, perhaps just as importantly, making wolves a bit less horny.

"Dedicated servers now always use direct connections instead of using Steam Datagram Relay (SDR)," read the patch notes. "This should result in much lower latency for most players."

The fix hopes to ease some of the connection issues that have cropped up in the wake of last week's patch. There are also some other interesting tweaks included. The Valheim's vendor's head animation should be a bit smoother, if that happened to be bothering you. There's been a "Bonemass puke-effect network fix," which is a fun sentence to read. There's a fix for people grabbing items (ores and metals, I'm guessing) just as they walk through portals, the sneaky devils. 

And tamed wolves won't produce quite as many wolf cubs, which has apparently been an issue. I haven't tamed wolves yet myself but I certainly had my hands full with quickly-multiplying boars.

Here's the full list of patch notes:

  • Localization updates
  • Made Haldor head-turn smoother
  • Object network interpolation is skipped if object was far away, solved issue with network players flying through the air when entering dungeons & exiting portals etc
  • Added -public 1/0 flag to dedicated server again, Allows players to host local lan only servers
  • Join IP-button updated to allow for lan-connections (dedicated servers only) & added DNS support
  • Dedicated servers use directIP connection instead of SDR, solves issues with slow steam relays in some areas of the world
  • Bonemass puke-effect network fix
  • Updated Dedicated-server PDF manual
  • Prevent pickup items when entering portals
  • Lowered wolf procreation slightly
  • Lowered chance of boss trophy talking

That last one is nice. While I guess I'm tempting fate for mounting The Elder's head above my workshop, I probably don't need to get texted by him every single day:

(Image credit: Iron Gate Studios)
Christopher Livingston
Senior Editor

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.

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