How to remove mods and BepInEx from Valheim (PC, server)

⚡ The short answer

Valheim mods don't modify the game's own files: everything is loaded by BepInEx from a handful of added folders and files. Removing mods means either not loading those or deleting them. There are three levels, from lightest to heaviest: remove one mod, disable all of them without deleting anything, or uninstall BepInEx completely. Before you start, back up your world and your character.

🧰 If you installed them with a mod manager

With r2modman or Thunderstore Mod Manager, mods live in a manager profile, not in the game folder. So:

• To play unmodded, launch Valheim from Steam as usual. Mods only load when you start the game from the manager with Start modded.
• To remove one mod, disable or uninstall it in that profile's list of installed mods.
• If you won't use them again, you can delete the whole profile.

📁 Removing a single mod (manual install)

Open the game folder: in Steam, right-click Valheim, Manage, Browse local files. Go into BepInEx/plugins and delete the mod's .dll file, or its folder if it has its own. Its settings stay in BepInEx/config; you can delete them too, or keep them in case you reinstall it.

If another mod depended on the one you removed, it will stop loading. Start the game and check BepInEx/LogOutput.log: it lists the mods that loaded and any errors.

⏸️ Disabling all mods without deleting anything

This is the practical option when a game update lands and you want to play while mod authors catch up. In the Valheim folder, open doorstop_config.ini with Notepad and change the enabled line from true to false. Another widely used method is renaming winhttp.dll, for example to winhttp.dll.off.

Either way BepInEx stops loading and the game starts without mods. To go back, undo the change.

🗑️ Uninstalling BepInEx completely

With the game closed, delete what the pack added to the Valheim folder:

• the BepInEx folder (it holds the mods, their settings and the logs);
• winhttp.dll;
• doorstop_config.ini;
• if present, the doorstop_libs folder and the start_game_bepinex.sh and start_server_bepinex.sh scripts.

Don't delete anything else. If you think you may have touched one of the game's own files, go to Properties, Installed Files in Steam and click "Verify integrity of game files": Steam restores any original files that are missing or changed. That check doesn't remove what you added, so on its own it won't get rid of your mods.

🖥️ On the server

If the server runs mods that must also be installed on the client, removing them only from your PC locks you out: they have to come off the server too.

• At ZentexNode: in the panel's Startup tab, set the BepInEx variable to 0 and restart. The mod files stay where they are but stop loading, and you can switch them back on whenever you like. It's explained in how to enable and disable BepInEx on your Valheim server.
• On your own Linux server: start it with the game's regular script, start_server.sh, instead of start_server_bepinex.sh.

To remove a single mod from the server, the method is the same as on a PC: delete it from the server's BepInEx/plugins folder and restart.

🌍 What happens to your world and character

Interface and quality-of-life mods usually come out with no consequences. Mods that add content are different: their items, build pieces and creatures stop existing as far as the game is concerned, and they disappear from the world and from your inventory.

That's why the backup comes first. On Windows, local saves are in C:\Users\YOUR_NAME\AppData\LocalLow\IronGate\Valheim: worlds in worlds_local and characters in characters_local. Copy the whole folder somewhere else. If you save to Steam Cloud, those saves aren't there: move them to local first from the game's own save manager.

🔁 And to put them back

Once the mods you use have been updated, the way back is in how to install mods in Valheim. And if you play as a group, a Valheim server lets you switch BepInEx on and off for everyone from the panel, without touching files.